Rushmi Chakravorthy bags ITF title

Braving energy-sapping weather conditions, second seed Rushmi Chakravorthy clinched the $10,000 ITF women's title defeating Shruti Dhawan in a tough three-setter at the DLTA deco-turf courts in New Delhi on Saturday.

Chakravorthy who has a flawless baseline game, employed heavy ground strokes from all corners of the court to win 6-4 5-7 6-4.

Fourth seed Dhawan achieved the first break opportunity in the fifth game but squandered it with some bad shot selection.

In the 10th game of the first set, Chakravorthy achieved the crucial break with a neat backhand cross-court winner to bag the set 6-4.

The second set saw a resurgent Dhawan as she used her booming serve to optimum effect. After breaking her opponent in the 11th game for a 6-5 lead, Dhawan held her serve without much ado to clinch the set 7-5.

An entertaining decider saw both players trading breaks but in the 10th game Chakravorthy used her experience to make three blistering returns for a 0-40 lead.

The match ended in a bizzare fashion with Dhawan committing her seventh double fault to gift the match to her opponent after saving two match points with her trade mark big serve.