Going beyond the expected

It is an extension of their coaching stint far beyond the tennis court. Former Davis Cupper Vasudev Reddy and former national champion S. Narendranath, who run the NVK Tennis Academy, have joined hands with Empower Sport through which they encourage young talent by offering financial, emotional and resource support, besides focussing on the finer aspects of the game.

And they have started their ‘mission’ with the 13-year-old tennis player Amineni Shivani, India No. 3 in the under-14 category, and Shrivalli Rashmikaa, ranked No. 10 in the same category.

Shivani, a student of Meridian School, will be representing India in the 2015 ITF Asia girls under 14 Development Championship (Division I) having won the singles title and finishing runner-up in the Aurangabad Nationals recently. She was also second in the ‘Road to Wimbledon’ tournament held recently.

Not being new to Asian circuit, Shivani, who was runner-up in both singles and doubles in the recent Pune Asian Championship, is now focussing on the ITF juniors circuit. “I am grateful to Dodla Dairy for supporting my tennis career. I am confident of living up to the expectations of my coaches,” she says.

Rashmikaa of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan has also been a consistent performer with six semi-final appearances in the Super Series events. Proving that her performance in the domestic circuit is no flash in the pan, she also has made it to the last four stages of Asian under-14 circuit twice besides winning gold in the CBSE National School Games in Indore.

“I am lucky to find Asterminids Enterprise Solutions as my sponsor and hope to do well in the circuit. I love this sport and dream of making it big,” she explained.

And, both Mr. Narendranath and Mr. Vasudeva insist that the young girls have lot of promise.

“But again, the key to be a successful player is what kind of an effort you put in to reach your goals. The best part is that they don’t complain of long training sessions and are really passionate about the sport,” they concluded.

Former Davis Cupper Vasudev Reddy and former national champion S. Narendranath are encouraging young talent by offering financial, emotional and resource support besides focusing on the game