Samarasinghe fights back against 14-year-old Anika to clinch U-18 national tennis title

Medhira Samarasinghe battled from being a set down against Anika Seneviratne in the finals of the Under-18 Junior National Tennis Championships to surge to a 3-6 6-2 6-1 victory at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association courts yesterday.      

Samarasinghe, a 17-year-old Fed Cup player, took advantage of a string of errors from Seneviratne in the second and third sets and used her experience to annex the Under-18 national title.

Seneviratne, who at 14 stars on the country’s Junior Fed Cup team, started strong, capturing the first set easily and taking a lead in the second set. However, she went on to lose four very close games which all went to deuce before surrendering the match. Seneviratne had a tough time on her way to the finals, playing three matches that lasted over two hours, and at times seemed sapped of energy during the gruelling 2 hour and 40 minute finals. 

Pix by Dennis Muthuthanthri

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