Wildcard Mukund Sasikumar, who beat 8th seed Federico Gaio from Italy 6-3 6-2, talks about the win today, representing India at the highest level, and the advantages of playing at home.
Excerpts below:
On the upset win today
Definitely a lot of fun. I think it’s the best tennis I’ve played since COVID. Probably in my entire career. I don’t remember beating such a high ranked player that convincingly. So definitely it was very enjoyable and for that to happen in Pune, one of my favorite cities where I lived in, it’s very special.
On representing India at the highest level
Obviously, a very proud experience because we are still not up there with many other countries in so many other aspects. Which leads to not many athletes, not many citizens of India taking up sport. So it’s only a very handful who go through all the adversities and still go at it. So definitely very lucky to be one of the chosen ones.
On the advantages/challenges of playing in India
Well, the advantage is definitely there are so many known faces around you. So you feel less lonely because tennis is a very lonely sport for the rest of the year. You’re traveling by yourself and here you have people you grew up with and you spend so many good moments and memories with. So of course, when you see all of them, your state of mind is much calmer and you’re more motivated.
But on the other hand, you also want to do well in front of them, which is kind of an expectation you put on yourself. So it’s important to not let it get into you.
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