The Hindu : Sport : Yuki Bhambri wins junior boys’ title

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Yuki Bhambri wins junior boys’ title

Becomes the fourth Indian to win a junior Grand Slam

— Photo: AP

GREAT GOING: Yuki Bhambri delighted Indian fans with a consistent display that culminated in a triumph on Saturday at the Australian Open.

MELBOURNE: Yuki Bhambri outplayed Alexandros-Ferdinandos Georgoudas of Germany 6-3, 6-1 in the final of the Australian Open junior tennis championship in Melbourne on Saturday.

The 16-year-old Yuki took a mere 57minutes to triumph thus becoming the first Indian to win the Australian Open junior title.

He joins Ramanathan Krishnan (Wimbledon, 1954), Ramesh Krishnan (French Open and Wimbledon, 1979) and Leander Paes (Wimbledon 1990, U.S. Open 1991) to win a junior Grand Slam singles title.

With this win Yuki assured himself of the World No.1 rank, in the next list to be released on Monday.

He had made the semifinals of the Australian Open last year and had made the big strides towards the No. 2 rank by winning the last two Grade ‘A’ tournaments, the Osaka Mayor’s Cup in October and the more prestigious Orange Bowl in December last year.

Irrespective of the fare in Australia, Yuki had decided to focus only on the Grand Slams in the junior circuit and to preserve himself for the tough men’s professional circuit for the season.

He reiterated his stand and said that he may still play the remaining junior Grand Slams.

After losing the first set in the opening round against German Sanchez Delfin of Mexico, a match that he eventually won 8-6 in the third set, Yuki did not drop another set in the next five rounds.

Former Davis Cup captain Naresh Kumar who had helped Leander Paes plan his career with sound advice after he had done very well in the junior Grand Slams, observed that Yuki deserved the best coaching and physical trainer support to make the transition into the tough men’s world.

Yuki had been trained from his childhood by coach Aditya Sachdeva who accompanied him to the Australian Open.

His two sisters, Ankita and Sanaa, have also reached Australia for the Fed Cup to be played next week in Perth.

The president of the All India Tennis Association (AITA) Yashwant Sinha congratulated Yuki on his feat and said that it was great to find him emulate such champions as Andy Roddick and Marcos Baghdatis in recent times.

“Yuki is part of the government scheme for preparing players for the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

“He is one of the promising medal prospects,” added the AITA president in the statement.

The secretary general of AITA and the president of the Asian Tennis Federation (ATF), Anil Khanna, was equally pleased with Yuki’s achievement and expressed his confidence that the Asian players would “keep setting new benchmarks and bring laurels to the region.”

Pat from Ramesh

Former Indian Davis Cup captain and two-time junior Grand Slam title winner Ramesh Krishnan lauded Yuki Bhambri’s triumph, saying the teenage sensation has all the attributes of making it even bigger at the senior level.

“Though an Indian youngster winning a Grand Slam junior title comes after a long gap, I am sure that given the present scenario many more such good results are bound to come for Yuki and he will, I am sure, come through the hard grind at higher levels,” Ramesh, who won the Wimbledon and French Open junior titles in 1979 said.

Ramesh said it would have been even more delightful if Yuki had gone on to win the doubles’ title as well.

“If Yuki had won the doubles title too, it would have been even nicer.

“But on the whole, it is a superb effort on Yuki’s part and an Indian winning the junior title is always a happy tiding. It is a fantastic achievement,” he said.

Here are excerpts from Yuki’s post-match interview:

How was it to play on the big court today?

Well, I was actually quite nervous in the beginning. That was the first time actually playing on such a huge stadium. I mean, you don’t get opportunities like this to play. As the game and match progressed I felt much comfortable over there.

What was your plan before you went into the match?

I had seen him play in the semis, so I knew a bit about him. I knew it was a big match, so whoever probably put more balls in the court would probably win the match. That was my aim, and to try and cut down unforced errors.

You played through some pretty hot conditions here this week. Did that affect you at all in the final?

Actually, no. It affected me more in the semis…I was kind of drained out and had to go and play doubles. Being an Indian is kind of helpful…you can’t really get used to the heat, but you’re playing in similar conditions.

Because you won this now, are you going to switch out of junior tennis? What impact is this going to have on your career?

Even if I wouldn’t have won it, I had already planned to focus more on men’s tournaments, playing more in the men’s circuit. I might still just play the Grand Slams. — Agencies

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