Teenage sensation Divij Sharan stumbled at the final hurdle and saw his dream run come to an end in the DSCL Open National Tennis Championships in Delhi on Saturday.
After a spectacular run in his first senior tournament, which saw him defeat some seeded players including top seed Vinod Sridhar in the semi-finals on Friday, the 18-year old met his match in Punna Vishal in the men's singles final.
Sharan, who had lined himself up for a triple crown after also entering also the men's doubles and boys' singles final, perhaps succumbed to the punishing schedule as he went down 3-6, 2-6, 1-6 to the second seeded Vishal.
The women's final between the Bhambri sisters, Ankita and Sanaa, also turned out to be a one-sided affair with the former routing her younger sibling 6-3, 6-3 in an hour.
Ankita, who had not entered the girls' event, will later vie for the doubles crown when she partners her sister against the pair of Archana Venkataraman and Geeta Manohar in the final.
Another player to cause a flutter this week, Punam Reddy clinched girls' title, defeating second seed Madura Ranganthan of Tamil Nadu 6-0, 6-7(3/7), 6-2 in the final.