Goal is to improve every day: Digvijay Pratap after winning ITF Chennai

The 22-year-old Digvijay did have to be patient and persevere, with conviction in his ability, as he had lost three first-round matches in the previous three weeks.

FILE PHOTO: Digvijay Pratap Singh in action. | Photo Credit: Kamesh Srinivasan/The Hindu

Digvijay Pratap Singh is a capable tennis player with a big game. It was not a surprise that he won the title in the $15,000 ITF men’s tournament in Chennai.

The 22-year-old Digvijay did have to be patient and persevere, with conviction in his ability, as he had lost three first-round matches in the previous three weeks.

Coach Zeeshan Ali, who has been taking care of Digvijay at the National Tennis Centre in the Capital, put it nicely by saying, “Digvijay lost some close matches which he should have won. It was just a matter of time, having patience, and continuing to work hard for better results. This week was rewarding for Digvijay and all of us at NTC. Nitin Kumar Sinha winning the doubles title with Vishnu Vardhan was a bonus”.

On his part, Digvijay, who has had a training base in Madrid since 2015, was composed, even as he landed in Indonesia for three more tournaments.

“It is a great feeling, winning the title in Chennai. I was confident physically and mentally all the time. Despite the losses in three earlier tournaments, I felt good about my game. It is a process and tennis teaches you that. Every week is a new start. The goal is to step up the game and improve every day”, said Digvijay.

Conceding that it was a crucial stage of his career, Digvijay said that he would train better to step up the quality of his game to meet the target of being eligible for the qualifying events of the Grand Slams.

Grateful to Zeeshan and coach Arun Kumar at the NTC, Digvijay said that the support was vibrant owing to the positive energy from both.

It was his second singles title in the professional circuit for Digvijay. He should be winning more matches by tuning his level of concentration. He had his chances in his three first-round losses against quality players Niki Poonacha, Evgeny Donskoy and Florent Bax, in Delhi, Lucknow and Mysuru. Those matches helped Digvijay tune his game to a higher level for a better reward.

Digvijay understands that the more he competes, the better he would become in his pursuit of excellence.