Tavish Pahwa has been making his presence felt on the World Junior Circuits. The 14-yr old, who trains under Coach Todd Clark, has exemplary accomplishments already.
- Ranked in the World Top-20 in his age group by UTR
- Orange Bowl U12 Semi Finalist
- Eddie Herr U12 Quarter Finalist
- ITF Juniors J60 Colombo Champion
- Part of the Asian Team for the 2024 European Junior Tour
- Represented India in multiple sub-junior team competitions
Harini Raman caught up with young Tavish during one of the recent ITF Junior events in Chennai to know more about him
On your journey so far.
I was 4 years old when I started playing tennis. My father and my brother used to play tennis. They motivated me. I started playing with my father in my courts in my home ground, Faridabad in Haryana, India.
When did you realize you were really good at the sport and you wanted to pursue it seriously?
I’ve always – since childhood wanted to do something in sports only. I thought tennis is the right match for me. Then in U12s, when I won the nationals that time, it struck me the most that I can got for it.
You reached the U12 orange ball semis and the U12 Eddie Herr QF as well. So how was that experience for you?
Great experience to play against players from all over the world. It’s a 128 draw, the biggest draw and was a really good experience.
Talk about your training setup.
I train in Gurgaon, Haryana. At Accelerate Tennis Academy with Coach Todd Clark.
And for people who have not seen your game, how would you describe it?
I’m a really good sports person. I am really athletic. I like to run around the court and now I also have an aggressive game.So that’s what I like to do.
Any parts of your game that you’re trying to improve upon?
Of course. Everyone has some aspects of the game that you have to improve. I would like to become more solid on my first serves and develop that as a weapon.
Quick rapid fire.
| Favorite travel destination? | Miami, Florida |
| A place that you haven’t been to but you would love to go there. | Sydney, Australia |
| Favorite tennis player? | Novak Djokovic |
| Favourite movie | Final destination 5 |
| A loss that hurt you the most? | Fenesta open – I lost in the quarterfinals. I didn’t play my best tennis that time. |
| Favourite grand slam | Australian Open because of Djokovic. |
| Dream doubles and mixed doubles partners. | Novak Djokovic wont be there at that time. So Carlos Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka. |
| Toughest opponent faced so far. | Arnav Paparkar |