Y. Pranjala carries the hopes of the Indian girls as she prepares to leave for the junior Wimbledon Championship. Asian junior champion in both singles and doubles, and a member of the ITF Grand Slam Development team, the 16-year-old from Hyderabad is now ranked a career-best World No.19 among juniors, the highest for an Indian girl since Sania Mirza in 2003.
After Sania Mirza, who was ranked No.10 in singles and No.1 in doubles at her prime in 2003, rarely has an Indian girl been able to reach this far in the ranking.
However, the European clay season has not been kind to Pranjala; she struggled to capitalise on her chances in the three events that she played, including Roland Garros.
Without access to grass-courts, coach Ilyas Ghouse has been diligently preparing her for the grass-court season on a fast, low-bouncing surface. He points out that Pranjala will get some grass-court time when she joins the Grand Slam Development team on Sunday, as there will be a training camp followed by the junior event in Roehampton before Wimbledon.
“Pranjala has to grab her chances. She has to play her best on the important points. The tough part begins now. She has to be ready physically and mentally,” said Ghouse.
Ghouse feels that for every two steps she takes forward, Pranjala has the habit of taking one step backward.
“Once she becomes confident and stops taking that step backwards, she will have faster progress. She is getting into the deep end, and has to be at her best,” he says.
At the GVK Tennis Centre at Hyderabad, Ghouse has also been training Shashank Teertha and Sathwika Sama, among others.
With his big serve and a strong forehand, Shashank has made it to the UK under-14 championship, from the ‘Road to Wimbledon’ event.
“He is already 6-foot plus. The boy has scope to gain a few more inches. Once he has a serve like Rohan Bopanna’s, he can have a good career,” says Ghouse.
Sathwika won the Rendezvous Roland Garros junior event and gave a good account of herself at the wild-card event at Roland Garros.
Ghouse says she is a bit defensive and tends to play long matches. But, with a bit of tuning, it is possible for her to be on the offensive and dictate the flow of a match.More than skill, he looks for the commitment in the players and their parents, and a strong work ethic to train with enthusiasm, day after day, for years.
Interesting times ahead for Indian juniors, with Pranjala leading the charge.
