Playing on a wildcard, Govind Nanda notched up his first Grand Slam qualifying win on his third attempt. He defeated his Italian opponent Andrea Arnaboldi in 3 sets : 4-6 7-5 6-3. Govind will now take on Portugal’s Nuno Borges for a place in the final qualifying round of US Open.
Govind Nanda caught up with ITD post match to share his thoughts on the match, difference between Futures and Challenger level and his next plan for rest of the season.
Q) This is your Grand Slam debut win, how did you view the match and prepare for it ?
GN : I mean, I tried to prepare the same for every match. Try not to do too much extra. I mean, there are some plus sides to play in a slam like this. There’s a lot more access to recovery stuff such as ice baths, massages, trainers, just a lot more of that kind of stuff. But in terms of my actual preparation for my tennis, it was pretty much the same as it always is. Try to keep it the same.
Q) How did you prepare for Grand Slams ?
GN : This is actually my third time playing in qualifying I played in 2019, and I played last year as well. First time I’ve won a match. Yeah, actually. But yeah, there’s definitely some nerves. Only the third time. It’s still not very many opportunities to perform you know. You have to take advantage when you can. And I came out a little bit tight. I would say a little bit, but I mean, I got through it, which is great.
Q) Thoughts on your upcoming match?
GN : I haven’t given it too much thought. I’m going to let my coach kind of come up with a game plan and I’ll just trust him and stick to that, to be honest.
Q) What are differences with Challenger Level and ITFs?
GN : The guys at the Challenger Tour don’t really let you get away with much. I mean, I played a lot over the summer so far, and I’ve lost some super tough matches. I know my level is right there with those guys. It’s just getting over that little hump of winning those matches instead of losing those tight ones. With the wins comes to confidence, and with the confidence, it just kind of cycles on you know, hopefully snowball effects as the winds come. So just trying to take it one step at a time.
Q) Anything you’re specifically focusing on as you move deeper into the Challenger Level?
GN : Just the offensive part of my game. Mostly I feel like on defense, in the neutral aspect of the game, I’m very solid, but being able to finish points a bit quicker sometimes, as well as making more for service when I need them, those are two of the things I’ve been working on quite a bit.
Q) What caused you to leave college and go pro in 2021?
GN : I mean, that was kind of always my plan was to stay for a few years and go pro, and I kind of wanted to stay through that and give myself a shot because I kind of worked my whole life to give myself a shot. So I didn’t want to overstay my welcome in school.
Q) Has your progress in life with the expectations?
GN : There’s been a lot of ups and downs. I had some injuries at the start of the year that kind of screwed me up a little bit in a few tournaments. And also mentally it’s been a bit of a grind. Week in and week out,
just making sure I’m there, present in the moment, not wishing I was somewhere else. Right now I have a good head space right now, but a few months ago I was struggling a bit, but I’m glad to be doing a bit better.
Q) You played a lot of tournaments in North America, is there a reason for that?
GN : I mean it’s just easier to travel, travel arrangements, honestly, that’s the main reason. And I might actually be starting to travel outside the US a bit more after the open – actually, I was thinking of maybe going to South Korea for a few weeks, but we’ll see how that goes.
