Hello everyone, we are in Navi Mumbai for the W50 Championships. Today we are delighted to be speaking with Mr. Harsh Mankad. Harsh sir has been working with India number two, Sahaja Yamalapalli. He’s the founder of the Ten City program and he’s a former Davis Cup player.
Harsh sir, thank you so much for doing this interview. Thank you for your time. How are you?
Harsh Mankad: Good, good. It’s a pleasure to be here. And thank you to ITD Indian Tennis Daily for all the work that you do following Indian tennis, supporting them. So congratulations and thanks for all the work that you all are doing.
Yash: Thank you so much, sir. It’s our pleasure. So I want to ask you, you have been with Sahaja for the past two to three months. How has the experience been?
Harsh Mankad: It’s been fantastic. You know, I’m really enjoying the experience and it’s a pleasure to have a student who’s so dedicated and committed as Sahaja is. So it’s a real pleasure to work with her.
Yash: Sir, when and how did you both decide to work with each other?
Harsh Mankad: So, as you know, I’m based in Minnesota and Sahaja was playing tournaments in the US and our common contact, Jaykrishnan, who is also an initial founder of Indian tennis community…
Yash: Right? Yes.
Harsh Mankad: Jaykrishnan, who helped me so much in my career. So he connected us. Sahaja was playing tournaments in the US and had a need for more stability, more coaching, guidance. And Jay thought that connecting with me could help her to get the support that she needs. So we connected and right away, Sahaja was very interested to connect and explore the opportunity to work together. And then she came up to Minnesota to train. So that’s how it started.
Yash: Jai sir was right. Sahaja couldn’t have found a better coach than you, thanks to him.
Harsh Mankad: It’s a pleasure to be able to support any Indian tennis player who’s on a journey that’s very similar to what I went through. So I think I can relate to what she’s going through at a personal level and provide the guidance and support that will help her to get to the next level.
Yash: Sir, what was your initial review of Sahaja’s game? What were her strengths? What were her weaknesses? According to you.
Harsh Mankad: Yeah. So Sahaja is a great ball striker and she has tremendous pace. And so that really struck out to me. And she has great dedication, commitment to the game, tremendous passion. So it’s, you know, those are the strengths upon which I think she has tremendous potential.
Yash: Sir, we’ve seen noticeable improvement in Sahaja’s volleys and overhead smashes. What were your off season focus with her on? What areas were you working with in the off season?
Harsh Mankad: Yeah, so the coaching that we are providing is a comprehensive set of services and it covers tour planning, which is important in tennis. The season is so long, really there are tournaments every week of the year. So how you plan your tour schedule is very important. So that’s an area that I’m guiding her with. The game development. What areas of the game need to be developed? With a lot of the players that we work with, we’re always striving to have an all court game and looking at pieces that we can add, then strategically understanding the game plan, how to play the game. So we cover that and then our team enhancing the fitness aspect.
We’re collaborating with one of the top fitness trainers in the U.S. so Cal Dietz, who works with the University of Minnesota and is guiding Sahaja’s fitness. And then the mental aspect also, as you know, that’s a key piece, getting the mindset, development, helping Sahaja to perform at her best, really covering all those pieces which is necessary for a player at this level. All of those areas need to be covered and I feel we have the experience and the expertise to provide that complete set of coaching services and guidance to help Sahaja improve and reach higher levels.
Yash: So we noticed Sahaja was doing a lot of gym work in the past few months.
Harsh Mankad: We notice that, yeah, that fitness aspect is, you know, as you play higher and higher levels, it’s a key part. And this is what I also, you know, through my experience, through my playing, just enhancing that fitness becomes very important, particularly as you are playing at the top 200, top 100 level. So that’s definitely an area that Sahaja is working hard on. She has a fitness trainer in Bangalore, so she has already been doing a great job with the fitness and we’ve been able to add more value and enhance it. And I’m happy to see that in that aspect she’s already showing improvement.
Yash: Great. Sir. Sir. Last week at the Solapur W35, Sahaja had three easy wins and she had a loss against Shrivali. What are your thoughts on the W35 Solapur?
Harsh Mankad: Yeah, it was an excellent week. You know, the wins were, I wouldn’t say they were easy. There’s no easy win at this level. But she played well, she had a good run and I think every match was an opportunity to learn and progress. And if you look at the overall week. I think we’ve taken away positives, we’ve had some valuable learning. And she’s already started here yesterday. She put in a great effort and she’s, you know, come through. We’re playing doubles today and singles again tomorrow. So I think last week overall was an excellent week. It was the first week she was playing in India after many months. So she’s still getting, you know, used to the conditions here. And I think, you know, it was a good experience to have several matches in Solapur.
Yash: It’s very hot over here in Navi Mumbai and also it was a tough match, tough first match against Zeel. So she did very well. Sir, you have been a big name in Indian and college tennis. How does it feel to be back on the pro circuit with an Indian player?
Harsh Mankad: No, it’s great. I’m enjoying it. I’m reliving and seeing the life that I lived, you know, 15, 20 years ago. So I can relate very personally to what all the players and their parents are, you know, going through. But it’s great to be back at the professional level. I’m enjoying it and I feel that my experience and the expertise that I’ve developed through the journey, I can add value in Sahaja’s tennis. And it feels nice to be able to connect at that level for me to be able to share my experience, which is so relevant to what she’s going through. So I’m really enjoying working at the professional level and I hope to do more. And for TeniCity to grow our support of professional tennis players, I think we can really help players to maximize their potential and reach the highest level in world tennis.
Yash: So you’re doing a terrific job, sir. Any other Indian tennis player which has impressed you in the past week?
Harsh Mankad: You know, I think the whole group of players that I’ve, that I’m seeing are, you know, I’m impressed with the overall group. I see so many players. They’re here training, they’re working hard, you know, on a training day, competing hard in matches. So there is a lot of dedication and commitment that I’m seeing from the entire group of Indian tennis players. That’s great to see. And, you know, they’re all committed to the journey. As we all know, this is a tough, tough journey. Tennis is a very tough sport to make it at the highest level, but it’s nice to see how committed and, and, you know, how each player is working hard.
Yash: So. So what is the schedule of Sahaja for the next few months and how closely would you be working with her?
Harsh Mankad: So her schedule is… So we’re playing this week in Navi Mumbai and then she goes to Thailand for two tournaments W75s in Thailand, and then she’s going to come back to India and play the ITFs leading up to the Mumbai WTA125 in early February. So the plan for her is to compete, play a lot of tournaments in Asia and then back in India. And, you know, I really hope to… We are working to solidify our support of Sahaja for 2025. I think it’s essential for her that she has our support in a solid, consistent way for next year to help her make this next jump. And so that’s what we are working towards. You know, she… She requires the funding, support to put together the coaching team. Right. So that’s an area that we’re making efforts and I think our top players need the support from the public, private sector. I’d love to see the support for Sahaja so that she can have a solid coaching system and support team for her tennis as she aspires to get into the Grand Slams and play at the top hundred level.
Yash: Thank you so much for your time. Thank you so much for this insightful interview. We’re glad to have you back. Thank you so much.
Harsh Mankad: Yeah, thanks so much. Pleasure.