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For hitherto obscure teen Manas Dhamne, Tata Open offers road to recognition
'Come on Manas!' chants echoed through the Centre Court as the 15-year-old became the first player born in 2007 to play a main draw match on the ATP tour. The loudest of them was eight-year-old Ridit Navale, a budding tennis player himself, who has avidly been following his career for the last one year.
Manas Dhamne did not have a player's bio page on the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) website until two days ago. The day when he was named as the third wildcard player in the singles draw for the 5th Tata Open Maharashtra, a google search of his ATP page showed only his age, birthplace and nationality. There was no picture. Even the ardent followers of the sport would have to type out his name on the google search bar to know his achievements thus far. However, for those hundred, who had flocked to the Balewadi Stadium in Pune on the Monday afternoon following the New Year's blast, Dhamne was a known star. 'Come on Manas!' chants echoed through the Centre Court as the 15-year-old became the first player born in 2007 to play a main draw match on the ATP tour. The loudest of them was eight-year-old Ridit Navale, a budding tennis player himself, who has avidly been following his career for the last one year.
Holding his father's hand, Ridit, a Pune native, cheerfully walked towards the entry gate of the Balewadi Stadium. In his hand was a small placard that read, 'LETS GO MANAS'.
"I have been following tennis since the age of four," he said hesitantly before his father corrected by saying that he has been playing tennis since he was four and is presently participating in under-8 tournaments as well. Ridit, who is a Novak Djokovic fan, added, "I am here to support Manas and Ramkumar (Ramanathan)".
Covid restrictions had banned the entry of fans to the stadium in the 2022 edition of the tournament as matches were held behind closed doors. But the gates have been opened for the entry of fans for the 5th edition of the tournament. Tickets were free for the qualifying matches which had also seen a almost a packed side court for matches of India stars like Ramkumar. For the preliminary rounds in the main draw, the lowest price has been set to INR 150 and the highest being INR 750. On the other hand, the lowest ticket price will be INR 250 for the semi-finals and INR 500 for finals while the highest set at INR 1500 (semi-finals) and INR 1750 (finals).
"We come here every year, said Rahul Deshmukh, an IT professional, who patiently stood next to the entry gate with his tickets, waiting for his family to arrive. Playing tennis is my hobby. I watch it on TV as well. Par jab live dekhne ko milta hai na (But when you get to watch these players live)...you can't imagine the joy it brings me. Humlog toh har saal dates check karte hai ki iss bar Tata Open kab hai (Every year we check the dates for Tata Open)," he smiled.
When asked whom here is here to support, Rahul, a Roger Federer fan, said," Today, definitely it is Manas Dhamne, who is just 15 years old and is set to make his ATP debut. We are all excited to watch him play."
Much to the dismay for those hundred who cheered for Manas on Day 1 of the main draw matches of the Tata Open Maharashtra, the 15-year-old lost 2-6, 2-4 to 113-ranked Michael Mmoh. But he did leave an impression with his fearless brand of tennis.
Playing his first ATP match, on the centre court, with the crowd behind him, Manas showed no nerves against an opponent who has seven years of experience in playing at the Grand Slam level. A forehand down the line winner and holding to 15 on serve left Manas at 2-all early in the match. He eventually failed to sustain that level against Mmoh, who was serving at an average of almost 190. But he did show a glimpse of a fightback in the second set, bouncing back from 1-5 down to break serve and make it 4-5 before Mmoh closed out the match in the next game.
Sumit Nagal, another wildcard entrant into the singles draw, also put on a brilliant fight against sixth seed Filip Krajinovic before going down 4-6, 6-4, 4-6 in an intense tie that lasted two hours and 24 minutes.
Following the defeat, he explained the importance of home crowd support and rued lack of similar tournaments in India. "On one hand you are lucky that you have one ATP, but at the same time you are sad because you do not have too many tournaments. Look at Italy and France, they have so many tournaments in their country. There is a guy in the top 100 who has not played a single match outside America. And we have four tournaments in last three years. So you know how much these things help when your fans are around, when your friends and family are around. It makes a huge difference," he said in the post-match press conference.
India still has two more players in the singles main draw, both of whom will be in action on Tuesday. Ramkumar, who made his way through the qualifiers, will be up against Pedro Martinez while India's No.1 Mukund Sasikumar, who is also a wildcard entrant, will face qualifier Flavio Cobolli.
