BRIGHT PROSPECTS: N. Sai Kartik, a promising tennis player from Visakhapatnam.

VISAKHAPATNAM: After Vinay Kamineni made a mark for himself in the junior tennis circuit of the country, the city has thrown up another budding talent in Nagireddy Sai Kartik.

Kartik has been playing tennis since childhood. His hard work paid dividends and he emerged as No.1 in the country in the under-12 category and 26th in the under-14 category. He ranked No.1 in the School Games Federation of India's national tournament in 2005.

Coaches Anil and Khan taught Kartik basics of the game and another coach Srinivas honed some of the lad's skills. Gopi, the coach at the NRI Academy, with whom Kartik shares a special relationship, introduced him the modern techniques and power tennis. Those who watched Kartik on the court opine that he has good potential. They are impressed with his topspin and the ability to cover the court well.

Opportunity missed

This talented boy's recent and most impressive achievement was the victory at Nike Masters tournament in Kolkata in September which earned him the qualification to play in the selection tournament for the Nike International Masters held in Bangalore in October.

He lost the final narrowly and finished runner-up, missing an opportunity to attend the Nike International Masters tournament in France. Kartik's performance, since he started playing seriously for the last two years, is impressive.

The list of his titles is long: starting with the under-10 category, he claimed almost all the tournaments he had played in Andhra Pradesh and some important titles were the all-India junior ranking tournament, the Tennis Foundation Cup AITA Talent Series and the Kiran Tennis Foundation sub-junior tournament (all in Hyderabad) during 2003.

Next year, playing in the under-12 category, he won the AITA Talent Series sub-junior tournament of Bhagyanagar Club and the Moin-ud-Dowla AITA Talent Series Tournament of Secunderabad Club and followed this with the victory at Nike Masters held in Kolkata in 2005.

His impressive show continued during this year as he made it to the semi-finals of the Super Series tournament at Cubbon Park in Bangalore in June and also the Super Series tournament conducted by the KSLTA in Bangalore in September. He picked up the doubles title in the KSLTA tournament.

Distinction

He has been representing Visakhapatnam in the School Games tournament for the last three years and was seeded No. 2 last year in the all-India School Games tournament and earned the distinction of being top seeded for this year's tournament.

"My role models are Vinay and Roger Federer. I am studying Std. VIII at Bethany School. I owe a lot to my teachers and the school management for the way they encourage me. Vinay's father, Koteswara Rao, is a source of inspiration for me. He encourages me a lot. He is more than a guru for me," says Kartik.

Regarding facilities, he feels that the city must have synthetic courts and gyms for training purpose, as these facilities are mandatory at almost all international tournaments.

Kartik's father N.A. Naidu and his mother take care of every need of the boy, but are now increasingly feeling the need for a sponsor to take care of the heavy expenses involved in preparation and for participating in the tournaments.

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