A tennis player from Hyderabad with a big forehand showing a lot of promise. Hmm…where have we heard that before? Indian Tennis Daily caught up with Shrivalli Rashmikaa Bhamidipaty, the 21 year old from Hyderabad, on the sidelines of the W25 in Bangalore, where she won her first ITF title after defeating Zeel Desai 6-0 4-6 6-3.
Shrivalli has had a great couple of months, during which time she has won the Fenesta Open National Tennis Championship 2023, and reached the final of the W15 in Hua Hin. In the interview, she talks about her introduction to tennis, her tennis idols, life on the tour and a lot more!
Q How did you get into tennis? Can you tell us a little bit about that?
I’m actually the first sports person from my family. My journey into sport or even tennis has been very accidental, because initially, I just got into the sport, because I saw cute kids wearing cute dresses. So I just wanted to buy good dresses and just wear pretty dresses. So I think that’s the reason I got into it. Further, I was learning classical carnatic music under Dr Nookala Chinna Satyanarayana, when I first joined tennis, but it was becoming difficult to manage both tennis and classical music lessons along with school. And then later after a year, or a year and a half, I took it up professionally when my parents asked me “Do you want to try it out?”. So I was just like, yeah, I would, I would take it professionally. And then years went by and then I started loving the sport. I think it just became me and it was something that I couldn’t live without every day. So I had to play tennis and I had to be on the court.
Q. At what point did you personally decide, okay, this is what I want to do professionally?
I think majorly when I played my first ever tournament, though I lost in the first round and though I lost miserably. But then there was some kind of feeling that this is something that belongs to me. So whatever I’m doing on court is because of me. If I hit a winner, it’s because I have done it, if I lost a point it was because of me. So I think that’s what made it special to me. And maybe like a year or so after it up professionally I think I was ready for the challenge.
Another motivating factor was winning the Roland Garros wild card tournament in Delhi in 2018. I played at Roland Garros courts to qualify for the junior French Open in May 2018 .
Q. Could you tell us a little bit about your childhood coach, and the coaches you’ve had subsequently?
I started training at LB, LB Stadium (Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium) in Hyderabad under Mr Yadagiri and Mr. Sudershan. But that was just for recreation and fun. I later joined A R Anand tennis academy and trained under Mr Anand Kumar for 2 years. Subsequently, I trained with Mr. Praveen Bharghava for a year and then moved to Indore to train under Mr Sajid Lodi for 2 and half years .
Currently, I’m training with Mr. A.R Anand Kumar. So my base is Hyderabad. So when I’m in Hyderabad I train with Mr. A.R Anand Kumar and Mr. Ravichandran. Sometimes I do go to Mr. Vishal Uppal in Delhi to train with him. So I’m currently with two coaches.
Q. Could you tell us a little bit about the arrangement that you have with Mr. Vishal Uppal? How often do you train with him and how often does he travel with you for tournaments etc?
I have started working with him in the past three to four months. And this is just the third tournament that he’s been coming with me. The initial tournament was in Thailand. He came there for around two weeks. And then I played the Nationals (Fenesta Nationals) so he was there, Delhi being his base. So this is the third time that he’s been traveling with me. Also, because Anand sir is a little busy right now, and he did come to this tournament for a few days, but then he had to leave for some work.
Shrivalli with coaches Vishaal Uppal (left) and AR Anand Kumar
Q. Could you tell us a little bit about the impact of winning the Nationals and what it did to your confidence? And about the quality of the tournament etc?
Winning nationals was a major boost, that’s for sure. The last one and a half years was a little bit of a downfall for me. Post COVID, my symptoms were bad. So I was constantly getting sick and everything. So my performance was not so great and not up to the mark. So after that, winning Nationals, brought all the motivation back, I can say, and I started trusting myself even more. I played the finals against Vaidehi [Chaudhari], who’s one of my closest friends. We also played doubles together. It was a tough match and until the last point, we didn’t know who’s gonna win the match. So I was so glad that I could pull off that match and that kind of boosted my confidence to the next level and I was like OK, I’m back at it.
Q. What is your training regimen like and how has it changed in the last year or two?
Well, I haven’t made any major changes as to my training. I have specific coaches for a few different things. I have a strength, conditioning and endurance coach, Mr Shiva Prasad, who I work with like four to five days a week. I also have a trainer for my movements and court work, Mr. Naidu, with whom I work for two to three days a week. I get recovery sessions from physio Mr. Bharghava and NKT specialist Ms. Shruti Desai .So as such there’s no major plan which I’ve made, but it’s just a common plan that players follow.
Q. What about your childhood heroes when you grew up? Who are they in the tennis sense and who is it now and who do you look up to?
Like I said earlier, because I got in because of the dresses, it was initially Maria Sharapova cause she was one of the prettiest dressed players and that was it. She’s an icon, I can say that. So yeah, she was the initial role model for me, but currently I admire Novak [Djokovic] a lot. And among the women I just can’t particularly mention any player because each individual is incredible. And there’s no, there’s not a constant person that you can admire.
Q. Coming from the city Sania Mirza is from, how much of an impact has her career had on you and generally on the Hyderabad tennis culture?
Honestly, Sania has been a great player on tour. She’s inspired a lot of juniors and everything. It was always a dream for all of us to reach up to her level and play Grand Slams, because she was the one who made us believe that this sport can take us somewhere to a higher level. So she has played a certain role in every Indian player.
Q. Has it transformed the tennis scene in Hyderabad as well?
(Laughs). That I’m not quite sure.
Q. And what about life on tour? Can you talk about how it is to travel, In terms of financial support and sponsors?
I do have a few sponsors and it’s working out pretty well. I am currently sponsored by Phoneix Group and Lakshya Sports Edelgive Foundation
But it is a little tough in India to get sponsors.
Traveling continuously, because this is an individual sport, you’re at the end of the day, a little lonely because you got to focus on your work, and you got to be in your routines and be prepared for the next day. So it gets a little lonely, but at the same time when you see yourself on court, and when you know what your priorities are and what you gotta do, I think it works really well.
Q. What do you think about currently the number of tournaments that are happening in India? And what changes would you like to see to them?
Well, right now, I would say everyone’s doing a great job because the number of tournaments in India has increased compared to before. But it would be great if there are a lot more, because honestly for Indians it’s tough to get visas. In Hyderabad, if I apply for a Schengen visa for Europe, it takes me four months just for an appointment. So if we had tournaments at home, I think a lot of players would compete and more players would get their ranks close to top 700, and everyone would just get into tournaments. It would become easy for everybody to just compete in and around, rather than actually putting so much expenditure and going there, because once you go there, you just can’t go there for a week or two, you need to spend a few months, that’s when it’s a little feasible. It doesn’t make sense if you just go for a week and then come back.
Q. What are your plans for 2024? What are your goals?
(Laughs) I haven’t said any plans for 2024. I’m just gonna say that I’m gonna focus on next week, because I’m gonna be competing at the 15K in Ahmedabad [W15 Ahmedabad]. I’m just gonna focus on the Indian leg right now. The 15K, then the 25K [W25] and 40K [W40] in Solapur and Mumbai. And we’ll see how it goes. And then I think that’s when I’m going to plan my 2024.
Q. Could you talk about the mental aspect of your game? Even today, coming back from winning the first set, losing the second set, and then coming back to win the third. Could you talk us through it?
Today, walking into the court, I was confident, I was ready for a challenge. I knew that she’s a wonderful player. We have played against each other in the past. So I was up for the challenge that she’s going to put me in a tough spot. But I was glad that I could pull out the first set quite easily. She’s known for making comebacks in her matches, so when she pulled off the second set, also, like there were a few ups and downs here and there and I had a few lapses here and there, but I was quite okay with it because I was one set up. I also believed in myself until the end, because I was in the finals, I had nothing to lose. This is my first finals and I’m so young. So I just believed in myself and I thought I’ll just take one point at a time. Okay, if I lost the first, I still have another set to try and come back. So yeah, I think I just held my nerves and I just believed in what my strengths are and played my match.
Q. Is there something you do specifically to hone the mental side of your game as well?
I just try to stay calm by just taking deep breaths or just doing a positive talk to myself.