New Delhi: Jeevan Neduncheziyan has been handed the top billing at the the Fenesta Open National Tennis Championship after the big guns pulled out of the tournament due to international commmitments.

With the seniors players missing, the championship will provide an opportunity for the youngsters to make an impression in the tournament that gets underway here at the Delhi Lawn Tennis Association from Monday.

Players such as defending champion Yuki Bhambri, runners-up Vishnu Vardhan, Saketh Myneni, Divij Sharan who are busy fulfilling their international commitments are the headline absentees from the tournament and it will provide unheralded players to prove their worth at the national stage.

In their absence, the title race is expected to be between Jeevan Neduncheziyan, Ranjeet Virali Murugesan Sidharth Rawat and Ashwin Vijayaraghavan.

Jeevan who is coming back from an injury will lead the field and starts as one of the serious contenders of the national crown. The 24 year old Tamil Nadu lad has won an ITF tournament on clay in April, but then lost three semifinals on hard court. So it will be very interesting to see how how his body reacts after the injury and also his ability to adjust to the hard court.

While in the women’s competition, the absence of defending champion Rutuja Bhosale , Kyra Shroff and veteran Rushmi Chakravarthi, the field will be led by former champion Prerna Bhambri.

The Delhi girl who is fresh from her victory at the USD 10,000 women's ITF in Gulbarga last week will face a stiff challenge from her state-mate Rishika Sunkara.

The winner in men’s category will get richer by 1.5 lakhs, whereas in the women’s competition the prize money is 1 lakh

By Indian Sports News Network