Sharmal Dissanayake and Anika Seneviratne will be the cynosure of all eyes when the Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA) Clay Court Nationals gets underway at the SLTA Courts in Green Path on Friday.
The top seed Dissanayake and Seneviratne who is ranked number two, will be determined to retain the title for another year as they look to underline their supremacy in the local tennis arena.
Dissanayake of course has received a bye into the second round of the Men’s Singles but his real challenge would start from the semi-finals onwards where he is set to meet the third seed Sankha Atukorale or the number six Sean Sanderson. Meanwhile, the bottom seed in the Men’s Singles Vimukthi Akila has also received a bye into the second round and his first major hurdle will come when he confront the 15th seed Dinuka Sandaruwan in the third round.
The defending Women’s Singles champion Anika Seneviratne would start her campaign as the bottom seed and her first major challenge will come when she take on the third seed Tania Doloswala in the third round.
However, Janali Manamperi is the top seed in the Women’s Singles and she would take on the unseeded Chalani Gunathilaka in the opening fixture.
Fourth seed Savini Jayasuriya is the other seeded player in the Women’s Singles and she will meet P. Chandramohan in the first round encounter.
The other events that will be worked off are the Men’s and Women’s Doubles, Mixed Doubles, Boys and Girls Under-18, Under-16, Under-14 and Under-12 Singles and Doubles.
