Manish Sureshkumar showed some red hot form in the two futures which held in Colombo, Sri Lanka last month. Manish lifted the Singles title first week and the Double title next week. Apart from that he also had some fine runs finishing runners-up in doubles and reaching singles semis. Thanks to this Manish is now close to his career high ranking (#508) in singles.
Speaking to ITD, Manish reflected his thoughts on his form, future goals and much more.
Q1) A singles and a doubles title along with a runner-up finish in a span of just two weeks, how satisfied are you with your performance all together in Colombo ?
Yeah Colombo is like my second home so I know the conditions there quite well and whenever I go there I stay with my relatives so I feel like it is an added advantage for me and I have also done well there in 2018, so yes happy with the results but I have to keep going and work hard.
Q2) Mr Bijender Kumar, secretary at the Indian High commission of Sri Lanka was seen with the players. Does the interaction with him and support from someone from home helps as a player considering the crisis in Sri Lanka ?
Yes of course, because the situation is quite unstable and there were lot of players who have come but they always have doubts, and it was very good to see them to come and support us for our matches. And they came for our semi-finals, finals and they watched our entire doubles so it was really nice of them to come all the way and support us.
And actually thanks to you guys because I heard you were the one who contacted him and he found out that the tournament is going on, that’s what he told me.
Q3) It’s difficult to balance your performance and fitness together when you are playing both singles and doubles matches in a day. How did you cope up with that ?
Actually I have done some good trainings in Spain for a month and a half and it was quite good for me. I don’t think it was difficult for me to play singles and doubles, it was fine I was able to manage and going forward I think I have to play both the events so I have to train accordingly and it’s not going to be easy. So yeah, for me I was able able to manage and it was not very tough.
Q4) Players come across certain opponents they face for the first time. What is your preparations going forward to these matches ? Do you try to analyze their game before or try to play on your strengths ?
Normally I just try to play on my strengths just focus on the aspects on where I have to improve and I keep trying in the match. And yeah sometimes I watch their matches like if possible and I also try to see like where I can make a tactic or something that can help me win the match. So, I do both ways but mostly I focus on my strengths and if I get to watch my opponent player before that is also helpful for me.
Q5) We are in the final quarter of the year, how would you rate your performance for the year ? And what are the positives you will take from here ?
Yeah so far it’s okay compared to the years before and I feel like I am better now. 2020 was a bad year for everyone so after that to recover it was quite tough and yes this year has been quite good and I hope it would be even better going forward. And I also want to play Challengers consistently so that is my goal. So hopefully by year end if my goals are met I will be very happy.
Q6) With couple of good runs in singles, you are now close to your career high ranking of 508. What are your goals for the rest of the year ?
So for rest of the year I would like to mix up with futures and challengers preferably 25K in futures and get to a stage where I can keep getting entries in challengers and I want to stay in the challenger level that is my goal for the end of the year.
Let’s have a quick rapid fire round :
| Favorite Surface | HARD |
| Dream Destination | PARIS |
| Favorite Dish | BIRYANI |
| Best Friend On Tour | RAMKUMAR |
| Favorite Shot | BACKHAND DOWN THE LINE |
| Favorite Movie/Book | THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MONEY |
| Dream Opponent | RAFAEL NADAL |
| Indian Tennis Idol | SANIA MIRZA |
Thanks Manish for your time, before we finish the interview do you have anything to say for Indian Tennis Daily (ITD) ?
Yeah, you guys are doing a great job like I told it was very nice of you guys to contact the High Commission in Sri Lanka and ask him to come for matches, it was really nice of you. And you all are doing a really good job and promoting Indian Tennis is also very nice to see and thank you so much for all your efforts.
