Chennai, Nov 12 (IANS): Wildcard Saketh Sai Myneni of Hyderabad picked up his first ATP points after defeating eighth seeded James Marsalek of England 6-1, 6-4, in the final of the TNTA-ITF Futures tennis tournament here Saturday.
Besides the 18 ATP ranking points, the 24-year old Myneni received a winner's cheque of Rs 62,300. Incidentally, it was Marsalek's maiden ATP tournament final.
Myneni said: "I wanted to play to my potential. This win is the encouragement that I was looking for to do better in the next three events in Pune, Delhi and Kolkata."
Two service breaks set up Myneni in the first set that he clinched with an ace. He then survived an early break following a double-fault before taking a decisive 5-4 lead as Marsalek dropped serve that was always under pressure. Myneni held serve in the 10th to wrap up the set and match.
A total of 10 aces reflected Myneni's superior serve that he delivered from considerable height given his 6-ft, 3-inch frame while Marsalek sent down two.