24-yr old Pranjala is back on the Pro circuit after a 20-month hiatus due to injury and personal setbacks. As a 20-yr old, Pranjala was ranked in the top-270 of the WTA rankings and was ranked as high as World No. 15 as a Junior. 

Pranjala had a straight sets 6-1 6-0 win over Vanshita Pathania (qualifier) in her comeback match at R1 of the ITF Womens Tour W25 Bengaluru Bowring Institute event. Pranjala spoke to Deepthi Indukuri post the match to share her thoughts. 

Hi Pranjala. Your first match in 20 months, how are you feeling and what has been happening the last 20 months?

The past 20 months have been pretty tough mentally and physically going through the injury and all. It just took really long time to recover back. There

were a few setbacks and everything but with the right people by my side who supported me, I am now over here competing back. So I am just really happy.

How do you feel tennis wise?

I feel pretty good and slowly I have to get back into competing consistently, one tournament after another, get back into the match practice more like playing tournaments and everything. Currently, I am training under Prahlad Srinath Sir in Bangalore and he is really a great coach and experienced so feeling pretty good now.

I just have to be healthy and take care of my body first. I think that’s the most important thing and then everything will fall into place.

How would you review the match today?

I think it wasn’t bad, after 20 months and that too on a clay court. I played well, hanging in there. It was pretty hard as I didn’t train with that full intensity and all. So I was just hanging in there and pushing myself hard.

How are the courts, how is it like in Bowering Institute?

The courts are pretty good, a little bit slippery and I actually like it. They are fast, not too slow, not too fast. I think they are perfect, they’re pretty good.

Anything on the tourney so far?

I really like the tournament here. They’re organizing it really well. They’re really taking good care of the players no matter whether you’re playing qualifying or main draw. They’re

giving everyone good importance. Whether we’re eating food and if you want anything else you know and so on – all the hospitality it’s really great.

Anything for you to work on from your Tennis level perspective?

At the moment, nothing. I mean I’m sure there is always something or the other to improve for sure but I’m just very happy to  get out there and compete. The main important thing is

for me to be healthy – physical fitness and doing all the things which I do but yes everything just needs to fall into place. Just happy to be out there.

Any detail on the injury. Was it the knee?

Yeah it was the knee. It had a little bit wear and tear and it was just tipping me a little bit. So I had to do a proper rehab and take care of it. I was doing pretty well in between but suddenly there’ll be some setbacks.  I’m just happy to be here and slowly get better and manage everything properly like tournaments, practice, fitness, diet and everything.

Tennis is obviously a tough and lonely sport. What is your support system like? Do you have sponsors? What are the challenges?

At the moment, I do not have any sponsors. Tennis is a demanding sport. You have to put a lot of intensity into it and it’s very expensive as well. Currently I don’t

have any sponsors, so I’m looking. I think if I play and do well then hopefully I can get the sponsorships.

So what has been your support system?

It’s my parents, my family. I’m very lucky, they support me a lot – they are like my best. They take care of me and support me financially and mentally. They push me through these tough times. They were with me even in the worst times. They never gave up and you know they really supported me in these 20 months which was the longest break since I started playing tennis. 

Now training under Coach Srinath Prahlad sir. They are really great and support me a lot. He’s very positive and I really like that so just very happy.

R2 match against your good friend Rutuja. What’s the plan?

She’s in great form, great shape and she’s doing amazing. So yes, we are really good friends. We used to play doubles and all. We always have fun on court and hope it’s going to be a great match and I’ll try to give my best. I think it’s going to be a good one.