Indian No. 2 Sahaja Yamalapalli became the 3rd Indian Woman to win a pro title in the US after her W15 title win in the SoCal pro series held at the Jack Kramer Club in Los Angeles.
The results are below
[R1] (1) Sahaja Yamalapalli (IND,320) d. (Q) Elise Wagle (USA,763) 76(1) 76(4)
[R2] (1) Sahaja Yamalapalli (IND,320) d. (Q) Klara Kosan (USA,696), 62 64
[QF] (1) Sahaja Yamalapalli (IND,320) d. Kate Fakih (USA,1621) 61 61
[SF] (1) Sahaja Yamalapalli (IND,320) d. Rachel Gailis (USA,1161), 60 64
[F] (1) Sahaja Yamalapalli (IND,320) d. Amy Zhu (USA,655), 64 76(4)
Prof R Jayakrishnan caught up with Sahaja for a brief interview for www.sports-india.com and indiantennisdaily.com
On the final win against Amy Zhu
It was a tough match. I’m happy I got that match under my belt and mentally too I’m happy the way I was. The game plan coming in was just to not care about the score and just play my game.
I know that she had a big serve. She’s a hustler and she’s going to fight till the end. So my game plan was to stay in with her first serve, try to neutralise it as much as I can.
When I broke her serve that one game and I think that changed the whole 1st set. In the 2nd set it was at that 30-all point, where we had 16 or 17 rallies back – that was a crucial point there. But credit to Amy as she didn’t give up. She kept fighting till the end and I didn’t at any point feel like I got this match. I always felt that I had to keep this intensity to win.
On the win against Rachel Gailis, Collegiate top-10 player
I knew that she was a good player and had a high UTR. I was just expecting a good match. I was mentally locked in and was happy the way I played.
After the match, I got to know her Collegiate rank. I was like wow, that’s a really good win. Back when I was in college I would dream that one day I could be a top 10 college player and so I’m happy I was able to win that match and that too convincingly.
On playing a W15 event
I played a W15 because I just wanted to play a tournament. There’s nothing around in the US this week apart from this event. I know that in summer, a lot of college players come to play tournaments and it’s not easy. Lot of them are under-ranked and can play really well. I decided to try and play this so that I can get some good matches in. It would give me some good match play as well.
On this week overall
The week was really good and also the previous weeks in Kansas and Santo Domingo. I’ve been playing really well, game wise, mentally, and trying to improve many things in my game.
I’m satisfied so far with how I’ve been playing, especially on the hard courts. I hope to continue this same form and see where it goes.
On the coaching team behind you
I have a fitness coach from Prakash Padukone Tennis Center PBI Bangalore – Joewin Edberg. He is awesome, and he has helped me a lot, especially get stronger physically with strength and conditioning. He works every day, sends me the schedule at night, and I’ve been very thankful for him. And he’s been a big part of my success lately.
When I am not at tourneys, I go to the Ashley Hobson Performance Academy at Bradenton, Florida, USA.
When I’m on the road, I have Mr. Rick Sanford helping me out. He is generally going to be there at all tournaments for me. I’m mostly playing tournaments and I’m not getting to go and do a lot of training in Florida. So his support is extremely important.
When I am in India, I go to the PBI Academy and the physios there help me out.
My family and family friends have been very supportive. Especially Kiran Devaa Namadevan – he’s been a really big support in my tennis life because he understands how I am, especially mentally and if I tell him this is not working, this is how I’m feeling. He really helps me get out of it. I am really thankful for him for being a part of my life and he’s been very supportive.
Techwave, a global IT Major, has been supporting me for the past 3 months which covers a huge part of my USA tour expenses. Special thanks to founders Damodar Rao Gummadapu & Rajashaker Gummadapu. They are my biggest sponsors and I am grateful for their support.
Lakshya Sports and Bharat Forge stepped in when I really needed the support and have been that strong pillar of support for me.
I owe a lot to Prahlad Jain sir, the owner of Kunal Pharma Distributors Pvt Ltd. He was a tennis coach and owns a pharmaceutical company. He has been taking care of me since I was 15 years old without expecting anything in return. He is like God to me.
Neeraj Kedia uncle (Neekedia Furniture & Interiors) and Subramanyam Reddy sir (Bank employee) have supported me from the age of 14 without expecting anything in return.
Their children were also playing tennis along with me at the Sinnet Tennis Academy before I moved to College Tennis. They used to observe me very closely and believed that one day, I would become a great player.
Mr Neeraj Kedia (left) and Mr Subramanyam Reddy (right) – the pillars behind Sahaja`s tennis rise.
At that time, my father quit the job to prepare me for the college tennis but was facing financial problems to bear the tennis expenses.
Coach Ravichandran reduced coaching fee for us and Neeraj uncle and Subramanyam sir along with Jain sir started supporting my expenses for the tournaments.
Other family friends and people who support me from behind the scenes in whatever way they can and I’m fortunate to have a support team like this.
Photos by Jon Mulvey/SoCal Pro Series
