In an all-Indian finale, Tanisha Kashyap came up with the goods when it mattered to annex the SKME ITF Open at the KSLTA Tennis Stadium here on Sunday.

The 22-year-old Tanisha’s come-from-behind 6-7 (5-7), 6-1, 6-1 win over an error-prone Akanksha Nitture in the $15,000 event ended her title drought at the senior level.

After losing the opening set where fortunes fluctuated like a pendulum, Tanisha stepped up her game several notches to have Akanksha on the backfoot and breezed through the next two sets to walk away with the winner’s cheque of $2,352.

Akanksha, who stunned second-seeded Vaishnavi Adkar in the semis and looked the dominant player in the opening set, suffered a meltdown in the next two even as the spectators looked on in total disbelief at the turnaround. Tanisha wasn’t complaining as she hardly broke into a sweat en route to her victory in two hours and 19 minutes.

“This is a special one, I think it is the first of many more to come,” said an elated Tanisha. “It just feels amazing to win my first title, I want to cherish this moment and work harder for the next ones,” she added.

She certainly did after the loss of the opening set on the day. She began to serve better, her first serve percentage went up, and cut down on the errors to quickly go up 4-0 with breaks in the first and third games.

Akanksha, who began to lose the plot after a splendid show in the first set, managed to hold serve in the fifth game, but she was fighting a losing battle. Even if the crowd willed her to fight back, none was forthcoming as Tanisha closed out the set with another break in the seventh game.

The script was similar in the decider too as the error-prone Akanksha seemed to just go through the motions, while Tanisha kept her cool, kept the ball in play and let Akanksha do the rest. She broke her rival in the second and sixth games to take the set and match.

BAHARMUS-INGALE CHAMPS

It was a bad day in the office for Akanksha, who suffered another setback in the doubles final. Playing three matches on the day, the weary Akanksha and partner Soha Sadiq, the reigning National champions, went down 6-3, 0-6, 6-10 to the top-seeded pair of Humera Baharmus and Pooja Ingale.

Akanksha and Soha had earlier beaten Arina Arifullina of Russia and Malaysia’s Jo-Leen Saw pair 6-7 (6-8), 6-3, 10-6 in the semifinals.

Results (prefix denotes seeding, Indians unless mentioned): Singles (Final): 8-Tanisha Kashyap bt 7-Akanksha Nitture 6-7 (7-5), 6-1, 6-1.

Doubles: Final: 1-Humera Baharmus/ Pooja Ingale bt 2-Soha Sadiq/ Akanksha Nitture 3-6, 6-0, 10-6.

Semis: Soha/ Akanksha bt Arina Arifullina (Rus)/ Jo-Leen Saw (Mas) 6-7 (6-8), 6-3, 10-6.

CAPTION: PIX-1: Tanisha Kashyap (centre), winner of the SKME ITF Open, with runner-up Akanksha Nitture, KSLTA Vice President Shri M Lakshminarayan (second from left), Tournament Director Gayathri Rao and ITF Supervisor Saman Hassani (right) at the KSLTA Tennis Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday.

PIX-2: Tanisha Kashyap (left), the SKME ITF Open winner, with Akanksha Nitture at the KSLTA Tennis Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday.

PIX-3 & 4: Humera Baharmus (left) and Pooja Ingale, winners of the doubles title at the SKME ITF Open in Bengaluru on Sunday.