Rutuja Bhosale announced her comeback on tour with a semi final finish last week in an $60K ITF tournament in Germany where she partnered Arianne Hartono of Netherlands, they went down to the top seed who were the eventual winners. She finishes as runners-up this week in Estonia partnering Magali Kempen of Belgium.
Shashank Sharma spoke to Rutuja after the match for ITD.
Q) So you are back on tour again with a good run in Germany last week reaching semis in doubles. How does it feel to be on court competing after a long break?
It feels good to be back on tour…the last few months were just trying to get as much training as I could with the lockdown situation in Maharashtra. And then trying to leave to play tournaments so yes feels good to be competing.
Q) Post Covid there has been lot of changes like the number of tournaments happening, travelling is limited & other restrictions. How are you managing with these changes?
I had been trying to leave for competition for a while but either my visas weren’t getting processed or something other. I luckily had a Schengen visa so the moment covishield was approved in the EU, I chose to leave. With the tournaments happening in Europe it is tough to get in the… since my ranking has been dropping…at this point it was more like the place I could enter Europe. Now I’m hoping to get in to tournaments and play as many matches I can. Rough but hanging in there.
Q) You played couple of ITF in India in March where you also won the doubles title in Pune with Emily. How would you classify the competition level there in comparison to Germany last week or even Estonia this week?
Well, definitely not having competed in while makes it a little tougher …the European girls I saw or played against in Germany looked sharp as most of them have been playing for a while without having to miss out on much.
Q) Since you are getting good results in Doubles and your game is picking up. How have you planned to mix your future events in Singles/Doubles?
At the moment I am looking to play as many matches I can doubles or singles. But yes, I will plan my schedule keeping that in mind.
Q) It’s almost a year now since you got married. How has life changed in this last one year?
In 3 days it’s our first year marriage anniversary. Sad we haven’t seen each other in nearly 4 months. It hasn’t changed much actually, we both are doing what we love and both our parents are very supportive of what we do. Especially his, since they had no idea how my days or calendar can be like. Swapnil’s father is someone who tells me keep my head up no matter what which is just a blessing to have along with my parents who have always been my pillars.
Q) Do you have any target in mind as per year end ranking is concerned ?
Yes, I do ! I know I can give a number but I really want to improve a lot more with my game and see how that works out for me.
