Tennis is where Myneni's heart lies

Saketh Myneni is on a dream run. Returning to India after six years after imbibing the basics of finance and economics in the United States, tennis is what on Myneni's mind. The last three weeks have been busy for the Hyderabad lad, having won a $10,000 ITF Futures tournament in Chennai, reached the pre-quarters of another Futures meet in Pune and on Tuesday, he got rid of third-seeded Karan Rastogi in the first round of the $15000 ITF tournament at the DLTA Stadium.

Updated on: Nov 23, 2011, 24:40:38 IST

Hindustan Times | By Sharmistha Chaudhuri, New Delhi

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Saketh Myneni is on a dream run. Returning to India after six years after imbibing the basics of finance and economics in the United States, tennis is what on Myneni's mind. The last three weeks have been busy for the Hyderabad lad, having won a $10,000 ITF Futures tournament in Chennai, reached the pre-quarters of another Futures meet in Pune and on Tuesday, he got rid of third-seeded Karan Rastogi in the first round of the $15000 ITF tournament at the DLTA Stadium.

"Yes, I can describe it as a dream run," said the University of Alabama graduate. After returning home in September due to ranking technicalities, he made it to the semifinals of the men's Nationals Hardcourt Tournament as a wild card.

"I started playing the Futures events to try and gather as many points as possible to improve my ranking," said the world No. 751. "After playing the US college circuit, I had no ranking points to my name."

Myneni had lost to Rastogi at Pune last week. "I didn't change my game plan at all. Tried to get to as many balls as possible and mixed up my game to unnerve Karan," said the former top-10 player in college, the tone heavily accented. Needing seven match points to triumph, he won 5-7, 6-4, 7-5, but Myneni made quite a few unforced errors along the way.

Instead of sticking to the usual baseline game, it was interesting to see him rush to the net regularly in an attempt to hustle Rastogi. "I always try and mix up the game. If the game does not work to my strengths, then defence comes in," he said.

The double major will help Myneni if his sports dream does not work out. But, for the time being, the heart is set on tennis.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sharmistha Chaudhuri
Sharmistha Chaudhuri has covered sports for over eight years. She follows tennis with unrelenting passion and also writes on badminton.

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