Junior tennis talent Aryan Shah hoping to realise potential with blend of fun and passion

Aryan Shah is the best junior tennis player in the country, with an ITF world junior rank of 74.

Aryan Shah with the ITF junior champion’s trophy in Sarawak, Malaysia.  | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Aryan Shah is the best junior tennis player in the country, with an ITF world junior rank of 74.

Having risen above a bunch of strong juniors like Asia-Oceania junior champion Manas Dhamne, Aman Dahiya, Yuvan Nandal, Rushil Khosla, Saheb Sodhi, Denim Yadav and Chirag Duhan, the 16-year-old Aryan is ready to step it up further with the guidance of coach Vaidik Munshaw.

The best way to progress for a young player is to have a mix of junior and men’s matches.

“Aryan will play the four ITF men’s tournaments in India and then play the Grade-A junior tournament in Plantation, USA. Thereafter, we focus on training and preparing him for the Australian Open junior event”, said coach Munshaw, who has been meticulously mentoring the youngster for the last three years.

“When he came to me in 2020, I found him to be super talented. But, a lot of doors were closed from a tactical point of view as fitness was lacking. We worked more on fitness in the last two years. Our main focus on Aryan now is to improve his mental strength and help him read opponents’ game”, said Munshaw.

The approach of the coach is a little different as he moulds the player to enjoy the training and competition.

“I have always guided him to blend fun and passion in his game”, said the coach.

In recent weeks, Aryan finished runner-up in an ITF grade-2 junior tournament in Thailand, after having won the grade-3 event in Malaysia. Last month he finished runner-up to Manas Dhamne in the Asia-Oceania junior event in Pune.

In his only ITF men’s event so far, in July, Aryan won three rounds in the qualifying event before losing in the first round of the main draw.

Aryan is another exciting talent, in the process of blooming into a quality player, with suitable guidance and possibly adequate support.

‘’He is a great student and open to learning new things”, said Munshaw.