Updated: March 1, 2021 9:43:40 pm
Shrawani Deshmukh said that apart from her tennis practice, twice a day, she also learns from following professional tennis players. However, she aspires to be ‘a someone’ instead of being like someone. (Express Photo) Shrawni Deshmukh, 13, struck a winning streak after consecutive triumphs in qualifying, quarter, semi-final and final matches. Her recent feat was the victory title at the MSLTA All India Ranking Championship Series (3) Under 14 Tennis Tournament 2021. The matches, organised by the Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association (MSLTA), in association with the Pune Metropolitan District Tennis Association (PMDTA), were held at MSLTA School of Tennis, Mhalunge Balewadi.
While top-seeded Niraj Ringangaonkar of Aurangabad outplayed with a 6-2 double set win against Archit Dhoot to claim the boys’ singles title, unseeded player Deshmukh ousted fourth-seeded Serena Rodricks from Navi Mumbai 7-5, 6-3 in the girls’ singles. Both Ringangaonkar and Deshmukh secured eight points at the end of the tournament.
“Serena is a very strong player who I played against in the final match. As for me, I kept changing my game after every point and I kept searching within her game as I wanted her to make more mistakes. The rallies were good between the two of us. I played the match seriously as I want to place myself in the national rankings,” said Deshmukh.
A Class IX student of Sinhgad Springdale Public School who trains at the Maharashtra Mandal under coach Dharnidhar Mishra, Deshmukh said that it was her debut game under All India Tennis Association (AITA). She said that apart from her tennis practice, twice a day, she also learns from following professional tennis players. However, she aspires to be ‘a someone’ instead of being like someone.
“My father was a tennis player before I was born so naturally, I picked up the game from him when I turned five. By the age of 10, I started to take tennis seriously and subsequently began with my participation in competitive matches under PMDTA. I was very excited to play as I had made prior attempts to play the tournaments organised under AITA. I was part of the toughest draw as my first match was with the second-seed, but I nailed my matches as I knew some players since they were local players,” she said.