Singh won 3 Asian Games medals for India, including a Gold partnering one of his best mates Somdev Devvarman. Singh also competed for India in 4 Davis Cup ties, whilst achieving career high rankings of 266 in singles and 138 in doubles.
Sanam Singh, once a fierce competitor on the tennis court, has traded his racquet for a clipboard. This interview delves into his transition from Asian Games gold medalist to Associate Head Coach at Harvard University.
Singh opens up about the challenges of meeting his own high expectations as a player, the decision to retire early, and the fulfilment he finds in helping the next generation of tennis stars reach their full potential. Catch everything below:
Cover Photo Credit – Harvard Men’s Tennis
Q) You retired pretty early at around age 30. What was the reason behind it? We wanted to see you for longer!!!
SS – I think the biggest thing for me was mentally I wasn’t able to put in the work that it took to play at the highest level. I had high expectations of myself and I had not reached the goals that I had set for myself. And I was kind of falling in the rankings a little bit and I think a decision needed to be made at that time whether to commit fully to one side or the other.
I felt like I was kind of not being fair to my professional career and my personal life. So my decision was more based on the kind of commitment it took to play at that level.
I could have switched to doubles and played some doubles maybe a little bit earlier in my career when I was 130 in the (doubles) rankings. But at that time I was ranked 290 in singles as well. So I felt like I still wanted to give singles a shot and the commitment it takes, like I said, with the training, with the sacrifice and all that stuff. I just wasn’t seeing myself do it on a daily basis.
I had to be just honest with myself that I just wasn’t doing it. So that’s why I took the decision to not give it a shot anymore and move towards something else.
And luckily for me, the coaching side of it kind of fell in my lap a little bit, working in Virginia (UVA) for one year where I played as well. So that kind of got me kick started. And a year later I was at Harvard.
The transition on the outside looks very easy, but on the inside, obviously it wasn’t. Because I still thought I was playing at a pretty good level.
I’ve definitely had my fair share of challenges with accepting that I was done playing professional tennis and competing at that early age. But I was luckily able to put my experiences, abilities, and love for tennis in another area.
Q) You said you had high expectations of yourself. And that’s probably because you were ranked 4 in ITF Juniors. You beat some players in juniors who went on to become top 50 pros – Bautista Agut, Berankis, Gonzalez, etc. How would you describe your junior career? And your pro transition thereafter?
SS – Amazing. A lot of success in the juniors. I beat those guys you mentioned, but also played alongside the likes of (Marin) Cilic, (Juan Martin) del Potro, etc. Now they are Grand Slam champions. When you are the same age, playing the same tournaments as these guys, winning some matches in the junior Slams – your expectations are higher. I would describe my junior career as very good. Because of that, my goal was to get into the Top 100 of the ATP Rankings like any other high level junior.
My journey to the pros went the way I wanted. I picked the US College route and I got better there. I was ready to take on the challenges of the Pro Tour when I did eventually start playing pros. Sometimes I think the high expectations actually hurt me. That’s something I use a lot with the players I work with now – you need to have high expectations but it’s equally important to have perspective and gratitude to succeed at the highest level in Tennis.
For instance, in College I got to No. 1 in the rankings. There came a point when I thought my wins weren’t good enough and I wasn’t stopping to see and realize that I was actually progressing. I felt like those expectations got the better of me. At one point, I felt like nothing was good enough for me unless I got to the Top 100 or Top 50. The more I expected from myself or the more I wanted it, all the losses became harder and harder, and all the wins became insignificant. That’s another reason why I feel mentally I had to give it up at an early age because I was not focusing on the process and my results were the only thing defining me. I just needed a better perspective.
Singh during his time at UVA (Credits – ZooTennis)
Q) A lot of Indian juniors and their parents struggle with the decision between going to college and going pro. What would your advice be to them?
SS – I’ve always been a great advocate for US College Tennis. My biggest advice would be: if you are dominating at all levels – Juniors, Futures, Challengers, by all means go for pro tennis. If you’re 16-17 years old, and you are making semis and finals in Challengers, I would say that maybe you’re ready for the challenges for the pro tour.
Sometimes where it goes wrong is the seduction of the pro tour gets to the juniors and their parents. You get few good wins in the juniors, 1 ATP point here and there, and suddenly people around you might start talking about things like playing in a Grand Slam, playing on TV, or being famous. Again, it comes back to perspective. The average age of a Top 100 player is still 24-25. In the early 2010’s, it was 26-27.
So if you get a Division 1 college, you take that path and give yourself a little more time to mature, you’re going to have a better mindset when you actually go out on the pro tour. You will be able to deal with the losses, challenges, and loneliness better than when you are 16 or 17 years old.
College Tennis is a great pathway. The level speaks for itself. The results speak for itself. Even if we talk about just Indians, we have so many who went to College. Somdev (Devvarman), Saketh (Myneni), Jeevan (Nedunchezhiyan), myself – obviously I didn’t get to Somdev’s level but generally, played at a pretty high level. But then again, you have examples of people who didn’t go to College. You have Prajnesh, who went for just a couple of years, Sumit (Nagal), Bops (Bopanna), Yuki (Bhambri) – they’ve done really well.
So there’s both pathways but I think it’s very important to not get seduced by the pro tour (laughs). I use that word to describe the pro tour because it can reel you in and force you to make decisions that your playing level isn’t in alignment with. Hence, it is very important to have the right team and honest voices guiding you.
Q) Let’s talk about the 2010 Asian Games Gold you won with Somdev. Take us through emotions and feelings you felt before, during and after the tournament
SS – I can’t believe it’s been 14 years!!!! I was still in College then and Somdev was obviously super established on Tour. I was very grateful and lucky to get selected to play. I still remember going there on a long flight from Washington DC to Guangzhou. My back was completely locked up for the first four days. So I have to give credit to Anand (Dubey) Sir who was our physio that time – he fixed me and I was able to play.
We lost in the semis of the Team event to Chinese Taipei – I lost a tough singles match to Yang, then Somdev won, but me and Somdev lost the doubles. Even though we lost, I am grateful that I got another opportunity to play with Somdev in the doubles event. Credit to Somdev for choosing to play with me.
Funny story I always share is that we actually played a practice set against the Philippines team which had our good friend Treat Huey – we lost 6-0. This was a day after the Team event. Both of us were distraught. We were thinking that this is just not working. I was down on myself. But sometimes that’s what it takes in tournaments – to be down. We took it round by round and started playing free. Once we got to the quarters, we actually thought that we might be able to do something special. And the finals was obviously incredible, beating China in China in front of 6000 people in a super tiebreak.
It was crazy emotions after. Honestly, I didn’t even realize the magnitude of what we had done until I got back to India in December. At that age to do that was a pretty big deal. I was pretty happy with all the attention I got. It motivated me even more to put more time into my tennis. It gave me more belief that I could do special things in the sport. It was unexpected, but definitely one of the best and happiest memories of my career. And to do it with Somdev, one of my best friends, was like a big cherry on top.
2010 Asian Games Gold with Somdev Devvarman (right)
Q) Your friendship with Somdev. How did it start? How has it evolved over the years? Do you guys still stay in touch?
SS – Yeah. I just talked to him last night actually (laugh). When I got to Virginia, Somdev was already in Senior year. I knew him from before too and we were friends. But getting that alignment of going to the same college and spending that year together was a factor. I obviously spent three more years there. He was always in and out of Charlottesville because when he was playing pro events in North America, he trained there and he had a place there.
We kept in touch through the years, and when I eventually started playing pro tennis, I did a few off seasons with him and his S&C trainer Milos (Galecic), who’s working with Sumit now too. It just ended up being like a good group being together.
Even now after we both stopped playing, we keep in touch. Obviously I am based in America and he is in India, so we don’t meet that often. But we definitely keep in touch.
Q) My next question was going to be about Milos. So perfect. What’s your equation with Milos like?
SS – Milos has become like the Indian S&C magician. He has now worked with two Indian guys who’ve made the ATP Top 100. Besides that, I think he is as Indian as he is in Serbian now (laughs).
He’s just a really good guy and a lot of fun to be around. And his knowledge of the game is second to none. And that’s why he is able to help these guys get their bodies strong and ready for the rigors of the pro tour. I just saw him in Miami a few months ago and we had a great time. I keep in touch with him and hopefully I get to see these guys again very soon.
Q) You had a solid partnership going with Saketh (Myneni) in doubles. Thoughts on that?
SS – Saki (Saketh) is an amazing tennis player. Amazing guy. That was the time I was talking about earlier – when we were playing at a high level in doubles. We complimented each other’s games really well – he had a big serve and I had great returns and was quick. So it was great fun to play with him.
In fact, he’s still out there doing so well. It’s great to see. Even Yuki, he just made the semis in Dubai. But yeah, I had the best time playing with Saki and maybe that was the time for me to make the switch to doubles. But like I said, I felt like I wanted to give singles one more shot. And that’s what I chose.
Again, 2014 Asian Games – we fell a little short to Korea in the finals. I would have loved to get another Gold there. But it was still a great run which ended with a Silver medal.
2014 Asian Games Silver with Saketh Myneni (right)
Q) How’s the experience coaching at Harvard been like? People from around the world dream of going to Harvard. You found a unique way to get there.
SS – If you asked me, would I end up at Harvard studying? Probably never (laughs). But yeah, you are pretty much set for life if you get an education here. It’s been awesome, man. The people I have met here, the relationships I have built. The program we have built here has been amazing. We are ranked 6 in tennis in the country now, which is the highest Harvard has ever been ranked. It’s just been very gratifying to see the fruits of all the work that the guys have put in the last 6 years. It’s been a good journey. It gives me a lot of happiness. Hopefully we can keep building and helping the kids who come through this program become the best version of themselves at the end of their 4 years.
I have a lot of gratitude for the fact that my transition from playing to coaching has happened at a place like Harvard. Getting the kids to believe that you can do both education and tennis at a very high level. My goal when I took this job was that people should not give up their dreams in tennis and still get the best education in the world. The culture that we build here is of excellence on and off the court. We want kids to continue developing in our system and keep their pro tennis dreams alive and kicking.
At the end of the day, It’s all about developing into a good human being. If they take on pro tennis, so be it. If not, they are ready to take on the world.
Singh with Harvard Head Coach Andrew Rueb
Q) Which Indian players do you most enjoy following right now? Can we expect to see you coaching some Indian players in the future?
SS – It’s tough to go past Bops (Bopanna). What he’s done is truly incredible. He keeps the excitement alive. I mean he’s 43 years old (laughs). It was great to watch his matches at the Aussie Open. It’s great what him and Ebden are doing.
In the younger group, seeing Sumit (Nagal) win the Chennai Challenger, beating Bublik at the Aussie Open, and just getting into the Top 100 in the world. I was so happy for him. He can go a long way. He has got the game and I hope he can keep progressing. And hope that Bops can stay at number one.
And then you have 7-8 boys in the Top 100-150 of doubles, which is absolutely amazing. Some who have been playing from the time I was playing. For instance Vijay (Sundar Prashanth), I’ve played some doubles with him. Then you have Yuki, Saki, Jeevan and a lot of others.
Mukund is doing well too. He said he was about to quit and now he made the quarter-finals of a couple of Challengers. So it’s just exciting to see guys, whether young or my age, keeping the hope and the faith alive.
When it comes to me coaching Indian players – I think of this a lot. My goal is to build a resume and the trust in my own coaching journey and in my people around me. It’s to be the best coach I can be and my coaching philosophy is to build good relationships with my players and help the player be the best they can be. So if I do get an opportunity to be a part of any sort of system in India or get Indian Tennis to where it can be, nothing like it. Because I grew up there and I would love to use my experiences and expertise to help Indian players excel. So hopefully in the future, who knows!
Q) Thoughts on Indian Tennis Daily (ITD)
SS – Unbelievably informative. You guys are doing an incredible job. I wish it was there when I was playing (laughs). It just started back then. But now the level you guys have gotten up to is amazing to see. I am sure it’s a lot of work. But just keep it up guys.
The exposure you are giving to all these kids through social media to be seen – it’s not only going to help them keep continuing their journey, but it also gives them a little sense of satisfaction that they matter, they are important, and they are seen out there. It’s not just about someone getting to world number one, but it’s also about the people winning a Futures match here and there. They also get some footage, which is awesome to see. So thank you all for the work you are doing. I am far away here in America, but trust me, because of you guys I am able to keep a track of everything in Indian Tennis.