India Junior No.2 Aryan Shah recently joined his compatriot Manas Dhamne as a trainee in the Piatti Tennis Academy in Bordighera, Italy. Piatti is well known for being a former coach to rising ATP star Jannik Sinner.
Shah won a round in the Wimbledon Juniors qualifying before losing to an Italian player. His coach, Mr. Alessandro D’Itri, who was travelling with him, shares his thoughts on the matches, Aryan’s progress, future plans, etc.
EXCERPTS
Q) Your assessment of Aryan’s game in the Wimbledon qualies. What were key moments and what were areas where he performed well and areas where he could have done better?
Aryan played the first match against a good opponent. He was 5-3 up in the first set, but he came a little tight – first match playing in qualies, then he lost 4 games in a row. After this, things went in a good direction. He started playing aggressive and won the 2nd set easy. This was a very good reaction in a first round match.
Second match was against an Italian guy who’s a very good clay court type player. Today it was around 30 degrees and the grass was dry, so the ball was bouncing high. So this was the perfect situation for the opponent, and less for Aryan, as he is aggressive and likes short points. The first set was just one break. Second set also he tried to fight, but couldn’t find the right balance being aggressive and defensive. So it was a little too much for him today.
Q) What has your experience been working with Aryan so far?
Aryan started to work with us only 3 months ago. We think he is a very talented guy and has the right feeling in the head. He is super smart. We have been working on some technical things in the forehand and serve, the toss and the left arm positioning. For sure, he will progress from juniors to professional in a few months.
Q) Aryan was one of the seeded players in qualifying. Are you keeping a tab on a lucky loser spot?
We will sign in for doubles and the singles lucky loser. It is important to get as much opportunity you can get to play in such a stage. So good luck for him.
Q) What is his schedule for the next 1-2 months?
He will go to Bordighera in our academy for training. And after that we will go for the American tournaments – College Park, Canada, US Open, etc. We will finish the year in juniors with this tournament. It will be a good experience in the last half of the year.
