Digvijay Pratap Singh, went down fighting 2-6, 6-7 to James McCabe in the Qualifying Finals of the Chennai Open ATP Challenger 2023. ITD caught up with Digvijay after the match for an interview regarding his experience playing Challenger matches.
Q) Thoughts on your first qualifying match here. You came back from a set down.
Digvijay: “I think yesterday’s match I was playing after almost 3 months. I had a couple of doubts, I wasn’t sure about my decisions. The only thing I could do was to just keep going on. In the end, I got my opportunity and I took it. It worked for me.”
Q) Thoughts on today’s match, a tough loss to No. 3 Qualifying seed James Mccabe.
Digvijay: “It was a good match overall. I mean, I lost but I’m still not disappointed about it. Things could have been better, but lots to learn and congrats to my opponent. That’s pretty much it. It was a good match mostly in the end.”
Q) How has it been playing in Chennai weather?
Digvijay: “I come from generally colder weather. But I’m pretty used to the heat on the tour. I really like playing in the heat because I feel like I am good physically.”
Q) You seem to have shifted base to NTC, Delhi from Spain. Is this a permanent move?
Digvijay: “I am based in both places. NTC in Delhi and also in the Madrid Tennis Federation. So, I move between both of them.”
Q) You didn’t play any tournaments in January. Any particular reason why?
Digvijay: “I got injured in November when I was playing in the M25 in Mumbai. I had to retire in the semifinals because of my feet and it took me time to recover. I was taking it very slow. Then I decided to utilise it for a better pre-season to be more well-prepared and get back on the tour. So, I was out for 6 weeks.”
Q) What are some aspects in your game you need to improve to transition to Challenger level?
Digvijay: “I think I just need more match experience at this level. I feel I have the game. I’m pretty confident about myself. I’ve been feeling good. So, I think it’s just a matter of time and I just need to keep going.”
Q) What are your goals and plans for this season?
Digvijay: “I’ll try to play as many Challengers as I can and I’ll try to mix it up with some Futures.”
Photo by Srividya Balayogi
