The small-built, but strong willed, 17-year-old Mahak Jain successfully defended the women’s title in the Fenesta National tennis championship.
Coach Sajid Lodi, who has a vision for the efficient Mahak, spoke to The Hindu in an engaging interaction.
Mahak has stopped competing in the junior circuit internationally and given up on the junior Grand Slams. What was the reason for competing in the National championships?
“It was very important to retain the confidence and set an example for all youngsters that if you shift from junior circuit to the women’s, keep courage and don’t look back,” said Lodi, pleased that Mahak sailed through, except for the semifinals against four-time national champion Prerna Bhambri.
It was not a surprise as Mahak has consistently been beating most of the Indians in the international circuit. She has only lost to Zeel Desai and Rutuja Bhosale, in the finals in Gwalior and Aurangabad, respectively.
The only other girl she had lost in more than a year was Karman Kaur Thandi. All of them are better ranked and more experienced than her.
“I am certainly happy with her performance in the international circuit, as she is the only girl in her age group in the country to do so well.
Aspirations
“However, our aspirations are more. I not only expect her to give better results, but also evolve her game stronger and become more accomplished,” said Sajid.
By cutting down on the junior circuit and focusing only on the women’s events, does Mahak get enough matches in a season.
“Even in the women’s circuit, we expect her to play tournaments only in the $25,000 level.
“So far, in $15,000 events, she has made the semifinals or finals. It is about five matches in a tournament. Competition at the next level will be fierce.
“So, losing before the quarterfinals may mean less number of matches, but we can’t compromise on the standard. She has to rise and play more matches in the chosen events,” was the candid observation of the coach.
Mahak aspires to make her serve more precise and powerful.
“To see her playing more net game, to see her in the top-500 of the WTA in the next four months,” said Sajid, of the immediate goals.
Ranked 655, Mahak is the sixth best Indian on the WTA computer, which incidentally has only 22 Indian players. Ankita Raina (206), Karman (214), Rutuja (381), Y. Pranjala (449) and Zeel (562) are the ones ahead of her.
Mahak Jain promises to step it up in the near future, to make the big strides towards progress.