Aryan Goveas, 21, who started his tennis career in Mumbai and now training at Deccan Gymkhana in Pune, has yet again bagged a wild card entry into the sixth edition of the KPIT-MSLTA Challenger which is Shiv Chhatrapati Mhalunge-Balewadi Tennis Complex’s 25th international event. The Challenger will commence from November 11 and will conclude on November 17.
Goveas started playing Tennis at the age of 7 and trained at the Track Tennis Academy in Mumbai. In 2015, Goveas started visiting Pune to train at the Solaris Sports Club, and then eventually moved to Deccan Gymkhana, where he currently trains under the guidance of his coaches Aditya Madkekar and Kaifi Afzal. Goveas has been training under the same two coaches for ten years. The 21-year-old will partake in the upcoming challenger and will be hungry for his first ever win at the event, especially after his performance at the Fenesta Open 2019, where he finished as a runner-up in September.
Astonishingly, Goveas, who is ranked 894 in the ATP rankings, has earned a wild card entry into the challenger for the fourth consecutive year, but the youngster is yet to get off the mark as he still has not won a single match in the KPIT-MSLTA Challenger. “When I played the first couple of years, I was still a junior and my ATP ranking was not very high. The following year, I could not play because of an injury. Ever since then, I have made progress and there has been an improvement in various aspects of my game”, said Goveas.
According to him, the tennis training in Pune has been better than that in Mumbai. “It is very easy for me to get to the court. I do not have to travel too much. Everything is good, including the facilities at the academy. Comparatively, people who come to train here are more motivated and that brings more positivity to the sport”, added Goveas.
{{/usCountry}}According to him, the tennis training in Pune has been better than that in Mumbai. “It is very easy for me to get to the court. I do not have to travel too much. Everything is good, including the facilities at the academy. Comparatively, people who come to train here are more motivated and that brings more positivity to the sport”, added Goveas.
{{/usCountry}}Due to the new 48-draw format, the qualifying cut-off, which was previously 500, has now been extended to 1,170. A move that will ensure participation of more Indians in this year’s Challenger. The Main Draw already boasts four seeded Indian players for the first time in the tournament’s history. While Prajnesh Gunneswaran, Sumit Nagal, Ramkumar Ramanathan and Sasikumar Mukund will lead a strong Indian contingent at the tournament, two more players from Maharashtra - Dhruv Sunish and Dhruv Mulye - will enter the tournament as wild cards.
Aryan Goveas, who has played alongside Arjun Kadhe on various occasions, is focused on the single’s category in this challenger. Goveas has learnt a lot from Kadhe and will be determined to put that into good use. “I am going to play in the single’s category and will also try for the double’s, if we can make the cut. But for now, I am focused on the task in hand”, said Goveas.
Goveas’ coach, Aditya Madkekar, who is also the head-coach of Deccan Gymkhana, feels Goveas has matured as a player. “As a player, he is far more mature and aware now. Two years ago, his ranking was 679, but he was not as intelligent as he is today. Rankings apart, his overall maturity has improved. He knows where he has to work hard, what he needs to work on”, said Madkekar.
Due to many aspects, Madkekar left Mumbai to come and train players in Pune. “Mumbai is too crowded, the kids cannot travel too far, and the climate is not pleasant. As a player, you get tired, and you need a pleasant climate to cool off and Pune is perfect for that”, added Madkekar.
Indians in the main draw
1-Prajnesh Gunneswaran
3-Sumit Nagal
6-Ramkumar Ramanathan
8-Sasikumar Mukund
Saketh Myneni
Sidharth Rawat
Arjun Kadhe
Manish Sureshkumar
Vijay Sundar Prashanth
Kunal Anand
Adil Kalyanpur
Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha
Anirudh Chandrasekar
Wildcards
Aryan Goveas
Dhruv Sunish
Dhruv Mulye
Past winners
Singles
2014: Yuichi Sugita (Japan) bt Adrián Menéndez-Maceiras (Spain) 6–7 (1–7), 6–4, 6–4
2015: Yuki Bhambri (India) bt Evgeny Donskoy (Russia ) 6–2, 7–6 (7–4)
2016: Sadio Doumbia (France) bt Prajnesh Gunneswaran (India) 4–6, 6–4, 6–3
2017: Yuki Bhambri(India) bt Ramkumar Ramanathan (India) 4–6, 6–3, 6–4
2018 : Elias Ymer(Belgium) bt Prajnesh Gunneswaran (India) 6-2, 7-5
Doubles
2014: Saketh Myneni & Sanam Singh (India) bt Sanchai & Sonchat Ratiwatana (Thailand) 6–3, 6–2.
2015: Gerard Granollers & Adrián Menéndez-Maceiras (Spain) bt Maximilian Neuchrist (Austria) & Divij Sharan (India) 1–6, 6–3, [10–6]
2016: Purav Raja & Divij Sharan (India) bt Luca Margaroli (Switzerland) & Hugo Nys (France) 3–6, 6–3, [11–9]
2017: Tomislav Brkic (Bosnia) & Ante Pavic (Croatia) bt Pedro Martinez & Adrián Menéndez Maceiras (Spain) 6-1,7-6(5)
2018 : N Vijay Sundar Prashanth & Ramkumar Ramnathan (India) bt Hsieh Cheng-Peng & Yang Tsung-hua (Taipei) 7-6(3),6-7(5),10-7
Pre-tourney chatter
“The tournament is placed strategically because the winner inevitably makes it to the main draw of the Australian Open. Players who are on the fringe of the main draw at the Australian Open make it a point to enter the event in a bid to cement their spots. Over the last five years, the winners of this tournament have progressed into the Top-100. We hope the winner of the challenger this year moves into the coveted Top-100 bracket.”
- Kishor Patil, president, PMDTA
“This tournament has become popular worldwide. Bigger and better players are participating regularly, making this event stronger every year. With the new 48-draw format, the cut-off this year is 1,170, which makes it a challenger with opportunities to Indian players. It is a need of the hour for our Indian players to compete at a world class level, especially on the home turf.”
- Sunder Iyer, secretary, MSLTA.