Yuki raring to start again

However, an injury — a tennis elbow — kept him out of action for seven months and when Bhambri returned to the courts, he had slumped a whopping 444 places to start at 532 from his best ranking of 88. The 24-year-old player suffered a tennis elbow during the Chennai Open in early 2016 admitted that he rushed through the injury in an attempt to realise his dream of taking part in the Australian Open. “I got greedy. I wanted to play the Slam and some of the top tournaments. The opportunity doesn’t come often and I finally reached there. It was a mistake but probably a blunder I would have made again and again because I was so desperate to play. I worked hard to get there and when it’s finally there I wanted to go and play at that level. But it did cost me and if it was different I wouldn’t have lost six or seven months. But I keep learning from these things,” Bhambri said on the sidelines of a practice session ahead of the Chennai Open. 

For Bhambri, the new start gives him an opportunity to set realistic goals. “It is very hard to keep oneself motivated especially in the beginning. But as I gradually play and start to compete, the motivation’s again to get back into it. I want to get back into top 200 as soon as possible. I was training in Thailand to acclimatise to the Chennai weather. I played a warm-up tournament in Hong Kong to get some matches and to be ready for the Chennai Open qualifiers,” he added. The Delhi-born player said he still believes that he belongs to the top-50 and hopes to take it tournament by tournament to get better. “I do believe the top- 50 is a realistic target for me. I am focussed on playing the qualifiers, something I have done before and hopefully can do again (get into the main draw). It is just about playing more matches and tournaments on a consistent level. I would personally like to, by the end of the year, give myself a chance to play in the main draw here next year,” Bhambri added. 

Despite the dip in ranking, Bhambri said he wasn’t surprised to see his name in the Davis Cup squad. “I would have been surprised if I did not get picked. I am sure that I would have been first pick even if I am not high in the rankings. I don’t think anyone doubts my ability to compete for the country if I am fit,” he added. Bhambri said being plagued by injuries has been the most frustrating bit in his career. “Only injuries have held me back. I have always felt my game has been up there. Every time I come back, I try to change and do things to be better but at times it is frustrating and I cannot do much about it. I have always been adapting and incorporating minor changes to my game to be better. The basics stay the same but if I injure myself, I end up focussing more on that body part. The only good thing has been that I have had different injuries and not one recurring  injury,” he added.