15-yr old Aishwarya Jadhav has many accomplishments to her credits already in her rising career
- Indian U14 No. 1
- Represented India in BJK Cup & qualified for the finals
- Played Wimbledon U14 event
- Was part of the ATF Asian U14 team to Europe in 2022
- AITA U18 Fenesta Nationals Champion
- ITF Juniors J30 Ahmedabad champion
Indian Tennis Daily caught up with Aishwarya during her QF at the ITF Juniors J60 event in Chennai for a brief interview. Excerpts below.
Journey into Tennis
I’m from Kolhapur, Maharashtra. My father introduced me to tennis, at the age of 6. I started playing at Kolhapur District Lawn Tennis Association (KDLTA).
I started playing U10 tournaments and soon after that I started playing U12 national level tournaments at the age of 10. As I kept on playing tournaments, I felt like I can do much better in tennis and I was enjoying playing tennis.
Then in U14, I was India No. 1 and I played the BJK Cup and we qualified for the finals.
I also played U14 Wimbledon and I was in the Asian team for the 5 weeks tournaments in Europe. I started playing ITFs and I won U18 Fenesta Nationals last year. I also played Khelo India.
At which time did you realize that you were really good at the sport and you wanted to pursue it very seriously?
As I started playing more tournaments, I started winning them. When I used to lose I used to think that I can improve myself and I can do much more in tennis.
At the Wimbledon U14, you played against an elite player like Mika Stojsavljevic. She already won the women’s W35 as a 15 year old. How was the experience playing against Mika?
Playing against Mika was a really good experience for me. She is a good player and the match was a very good match.
I was leading against her in the 1st set by 3-0 score but from there I lost 6-3-6-3. It was a good match.
On your impressive run to the semis recently at the ITF J100 in Harare, Zimbabwe
I played against a lot of good players. I had a couple of good matches. In the semis, I played against a French 4th seeded player Dune Vaissaud. It was good playing against her.
Where do you train and who are your coaches?
I train at Altevol Sports under Coach Shrimal Bhatt in Ahmedabad. Arshad Desai is my coach in Kolhapur.
For people who have not seen your game, how would you describe it?
My idol is Roger Federer. I like to copy or do something like him. I play defensive and aggressive both.
Are there any parts of your game that you are looking to improve further?
I need to work a lot on my fitness level. This is where I am lacking nowadays.
Quick rapid fire
| Hobbies | Sketching and Drawing |
| Fav tennis player | Roger Federer |
| Fav movie | Bajirao Mastani |
| A loss that hurt you the most | So many matches I have lost from leading position, but it is ok. It is a learning process. |
| Fav travel destination | London |
| Fav grand slam | Wimbledon |