There is a lot of stress in his game, lest anyone ignore him in a hurry in a milieu of talented youngsters. In the fast growing world of Indian tennis, the newly crowned National junior champion Sacchitt Sharma, promises to impress more with his game rather than place undue stress to his name!
The 6’3’ tall, 11th standard student of M.M. Public School in Pitampura in the Capital, who has been coached since childhood by Md. Arif Khan, has the big game, to make a target of top-10 among the world juniors, sound realistic.
“He has a very strong and sharp mind. That helps him win tough matches. His serve has improved a lot after a correction of the swing. He will be playing in an ITF grade-2 tournament in Hong Kong followed by the Asian juniors in Korea’’, said coach Arif Khan, who trains Sacchitt from 5.30 a.m. every day at his Mastermind Academy.
There is an all-round growth of the boy, both physical and mental. His doting mother, who wakes up at least two hours before the boy hits the first ball on the tennis court, has ensured proper nutrition and a strong focus towards tennis, sacrificing social life and a career, despite high educational qualifications.
“It is the matches in the international circuit that will make him better. Training on clay courts, hitting forehand, backhand, serve and drill is like staple food. The progress will come when he plays different types of players and finds a way to beat them, match after match’’, said the coach Arif Khan.
Sacchitt had made his first big impact two years ago when he won the UK under-14 championship in Wimbledon, after having topped Road to Wimbledon contest in India. Quite, interestingly the players who had done well before him, Siddhant Banthia and Adil Kalyanpur have done well to be the top two juniors in the country.
While Banthia has been able to play the Grand Slams this year, Adil who trains in Spain at the Rafael Nadal Academy has been kept away from the Grand Slams, with a distinct plan for grooming.
Sacchitt will aim to play the Grand Slams next year. For that he has to improve his ranking from the current status of 218.
Except for Adil, all the juniors ranked above Sacchitt like the Asian junior champion Nitin Kumar Sinha, the 63rd ranked Banthia, Dhruv Sunish figured in a draw of 64 for the National junior championship.
Sacchitt beat the top seed Nitin Sinha 7-5, 6-0 in the quarterfinals and the talented Abhimanyu Vannem Reddy in three sets in the semifinals, after being down 3-5 in the decider. Abhimanyu, it may be recalled, had won the Rendezvous Roland Garros under-18 event and clinched the French Open junior wild card in Paris this season.
Apart from his numerous achievements at the school level, Sacchitt was also the leading player in the Junior Davis Cup this year. He had earlier represented the country in the World Junior Tennis. Two things will ensure further growth and progress of Sacchitt. His physical health, to stay injury free in the intensely competitive world of international tennis, and the financial support that will ensure that he competes against the best on a regular basis. On his part, Sacchitt is ready to play his best, to stay on the road to glory.
