Tamil Nadu debutants’ learning curve

The TN players — Ramkumar Ramanathan had to carry the hopes in the singles, while Prajnesh Gunneswaran was chosen to replace Yuki, getting a chance to emerge from the shadows of being in the side lines, and N Sriram Balaji literally stepped into Paes’ shoes. 

The tie was a learning and an unforgettable experience for the two debutants, Prajnesh and Sriram. They hit the courts early and never looked like first-timers for the country. 

Prajnesh had a huge serve and equipped with a good forehand return, he was capable of causing an upset any day and he disappoint his captain when he brushed aside Uzbekistan’s topranked player Sanjar Fayziev challenge 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to put India 2-0 up after Ramkumar won his first match. 

“It just couldn’t get better for me. Ramkumar put us ahead and all I had to do was win the match and I knew with the kind of doubles team we had, we would put the contest to bed on the second day itself. I should thank Ram to have put me in my comfort zone. Another fact that helped me through was that, Mahesh had discussed our strategies with us very early and it gave us enough time to prepare and execute them,” Prajnesh said. 

The pressure was less on Sriram. Although he was playing with Rohan Bopanna for the first time, the TN lad didn’t show any nerves. “I was nervous as I was constantly thinking that I had replaced Leander. But Mahesh and Rohan didn’t put any pressure and let me be myself. They worked on my game (a few corrections on my returns and movements) and all I had to do was stick to the basics and Rohan carried the entire game on his shoulders,” Sriram said. 

The camaraderie, which is very important in a doubles tie, was evident and Sriram said he learnt a lot by how the top-pros prepare before a game. “We served well and that was the key. We never allowed them to take two consecutive points and they never had a break point opportunity in the match. We then put pressure on their service game by attacking and we emerged victorious,” Sriram added. 

Both Sriram and Prajnesh said they had the self-belief that they belonged to the highest level. “We were waiting for this opportunity and fortunately we had made it count. We know we can fit into the elite group and we are elated for this.”