Karman Thandi scored the biggest victory of her career to upset 8th seed Chloe Paquet 4-6 6-4 6-3 and move into R2 of the WTA 250 Chennai Open. She will face Eugenie Bouchard next.
With this win, Karman also becomes provisionally the No. 1 ranked player in India. Transcript below from her press conference
Thoughts on the win
It is a great win for me especially considering that this is a home event and it’s happening in Chennai which has such a great Tennis history. I am happy to get the win. I fought hard.
The support from the crowd was amazing. I could feel the energy every time I stepped onto the court from the changeover.
It was windy at certain times. It was very humid but that is Chennai. I struggled a bit at the end of the 2nd set but all that physical hard work came into play at that time which helped me to come back stronger.
How do you review the match?
Me and my coach sat down and prepared for the match. However, at the end of the day, every day is different and we have to just trust the process. We had a few plans and they came in handy at important moments.
I was 3-1 up in the first set. It changed around after I lost the service game and then ended up losing the set 4-6.
After that, I refreshed myself and told myself to start again as 0-0 and aim to find solutions to what was happening. I was able to do it pretty often and so that’s why the match came my way.
You recently worked with fitness coach Gerald Cordemy, who had worked with Serena Williams in the past. How has that helped you?
Gerald Cordemy had come down for 3 weeks. Those 3 weeks were really intense – only eating, sleeping and training. He has the experience at the highest level and working with him helped me learn not just the physicality but also about the mental aspects.
I am thankful to Round Glass Tennis Academy (RGTA) for creating this opportunity.
How do you review the past 3-4 years? Has your career progressed the way you wanted it to be?
After reaching top-200 rank 3-4 yrs ago, my body took a toll as I was playing a lot of tournaments. I injured my shoulder and I was away from Tennis for about 9 months which was a tough phase. Then COVID happened and nothing much was happening but I took it as a positive as it gave me more time to recover.
I am feeling very good physically now and I am really happy to be back competing at this level.
You are up against Eugenie Bouchard next. Any thoughts on that match-up?
Eugenie has played at the highest level and she has that experience. I am going to put my best foot forward and see how it goes.
Influence of Sania Mirza
Womens Tennis started with Sania Mirza for our generation in India. She has inspired a lot of young girls to pick up the sport in general, not just Tennis. I am grateful to have spent some time with Sania Mirza during the Billie Jean King (BJK) cup over the past 6 years.
Detail on the support staff
I have my Coach Aditya Sachdeva and Physio Dr Deeksha Gautam with me here. We then have a huge team back home at RGTA in Chandigarh. Round Glass is a new initiative and it is a very good opportunity for the new generation to pick up the sport and get all the expertise under one roof.
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