Rise in ranking will help Karman enter bigger events, face better challenges, says coach Aditya Sachdeva

Karman Kaur Thandi made a massive jump of 91 spots to become World No. 217 and India’s top-ranked singles player on Monday after her title-winning run at $60k ITF event in Saguenay, Canada.

FILE PHOTO: Indian tennis player Karman Kaur Thandi (left) with long time coach Aditya Sachdeva (right)

When she was 16, Karman Kaur Thandi made the initial waves by playing two successive semifinals of $10,000 ITF women’s tennis tournaments at home in Delhi in 2014. In the first of those two events, she made it to the main draw by winning three rounds in the qualifying event.

The serve and forehand were her weapons then, and more importantly she was being guided by coach Aditya Sachdeva.

Eight years down the line with a lot more promise along the way, guidance from Bobby Mahal in Canada, training at Patrick Mouratoglou Academy in France, support from Mahesh Bhupathi and dealing with injuries and uncertainties caused by the pandemic, Karman finds herself as the No.1 player in the country with a rank of 217.

After winning the $25,000 ITF event in Gurugram in July, Karman showed sparks in the Chennai Open WTA event last month, beating Chloe Paquet and fighting in a tight match against Eugenie Bouchard.

The presence of coach Aditya Sachdeva and physio Dr. Deeksha Gautam did play a significant role in Karman’s fine performance then.

“Now with the rank going up, the entry to bigger tournaments open up. We will get her to play those, and face better challenge. Seeing the way she deals with those challenges, we close the gaps and help her evolve as a better player. Something we did after Chennai’’, said coach Sachdeva, happy with Karman winning the title in the $60,000 ITF event in Saguenay, Canada, last week.

“Mentally she has worked a lot on her awareness skills on court as a player. Physically, we try to build her strength and speed, cautious about avoiding injuries, and planning as per body requirement. I am happy with the way she is developing as a player, as the improvement areas we identified in Chennai have been addressed. There is, of course, a long way to go as we all know, and there is no end to getting better”, observed Sachdeva, confident that Karman would go far, with the backing of a committed sponsor in RoundGlass.

Thanks to the support, Sachdeva has been able to get former player Christopher Marquis to be with Karman for the tournaments in Canada.

“Since Christopher has trained and played at a high level, he understands the game and is sharing his experience. Before they left for Canada, we discussed some points that we needed to work. He is emphasising those things, making sure that we speak the same language”, said Sachdeva.

Like in Chennai, Sachdeva plans to be with Karman in big events in future to help her make the breakthrough at that level.

“Going forward, I will be travelling to the bigger events to see the gaps and close them, Once she does the work and gets the belief, Karman can achieve a lot. Hope she keeps getting better and inspires a lot of youngsters”, he said.

For sure, the training stint with the renowned Gerald Cordemy at the RoundGlass training base in Chandigarh in July, has helped Karman tap into more resources in her wiry frame to make her game that much more vibrant.