HYDERABAD: It was double delight for Saketh Myneni of Hyderabad - first he became the India No. 2 in men's singles and then celebrated that with the men's singles title in the Vietnam Challenger tennis championship last Sunday.
This 27-year-old highly rated player, who has been showing great consistency of late in the circuit with a decent run by entering the final of the ATP Challenger in Agri (Turkey) and including some big wins against the likes of World No. 115 Ebvgeny Donskoy of Russia, is clearly looking far beyond the circuit.
Significantly, Saketh is proving to be a quality doubles player too, partnering Divij Sharan winning the Challenger title in Izmir and entering the last four in Agri.
It’s been a remarkable journey of passion in tennis for this 6-foot, 3-inch Saketh, who after finishing his Majors in Finance and Economics in Alabama University, has come back to India in 2011 and has been training with his childhood coach C.V. Nagaraj at the School of Power Tennis Academy at RRC Ground (Secunderabad).
The 27-year-old Saketh, who was part of the Indian Davis Cup squad for the first time in 2012 and some of his major feats include winning the 2014 Asian Games mixed doubles gold partnering Sania Mirza, believes that his big serve often touching 230 kmph - is his strong point.
“I would say Saketh is a complete all-court player now for he can hit the ball hard and slice it too with lot of craft. Now showing the desired consistency in the circuit, he looks to have stepped into a different zone now,” says the proud coach Nagaraj, who has the enviable record of producing four Davis Cup players from his relatively less-publicised Academy tucked far away from the madding crowds.
A big fan of Andre Agassi, Saketh is very practical when he says that he can never think of being considered as close to being a replacement for Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi. “We all grow up watching these great players script some glorious moments in Indian tennis. We can only keep learning and improving,” he says.
A member of the Pune Marathas which won the inaugural edition of Champions Tennis League last year, Saketh rubbed shoulders with the likes of former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash, Marcos Baghdatis and Agnieszka Radwanska. "It is a true reward for all my hard work to climb up to 30 spots (to be ranked 168 last week) in the ATP rankings. I have been very determined from a young age to make a mark in the sport. I am obviously delighted to be the India No. 2 and hope to rise further by doing better in the next month's CTL," says Saketh.
For his part, Vijay Amritraj, the brain behind CTL, is also pleased with the kind of consistency Saketh is showing.
"He seems to be getting better and better in the circuit," he concluded.
