Indian Doubles Tennis player Anirudh Chandrasekar and Ray Ho from Chinese Taipei defeated the defending champions of the ATP Bengaluru Open Challenger by a scoreline of 6-4 2-6 10-8 to move into the finals.

After reaching the finals of the ATP Bengaluru Open Challenger, Indian doubles tennis player Anirudh Chandrasekar and his brother and coach, Vignesh Peranamallur, share their thoughts on the match and Anirudh’s development as a player.

Interviewer: Congratulations on reaching the final. Just your thoughts about the match in beating the defending champions.

Anirudh: Thank you so much. It was definitely a tight match and in altitude conditions playing big servers is always tricky. So our game plan was to just try and stay solid as much as possible and execute our game to the best.

So I feel Ray and myself, we did a good job communicating and expressing ourselves well on court. So I’m happy with the win.

Interviewer: And when you lost the second set, what do you think about like at the starting of the tiebreak what were the thoughts going into tie break?

Anirudh: Tiebreaks are generally like a coin toss. So we were just being optimistic, being positive and most importantly aggressive. So our mindset was aggressive from start to finish, irrespective of the result. So I think that’s what helped us get better through the finish line.

Interviewer: So to you, just your thoughts about the match today

Vignesh: It was a good match. They played solid, especially the first set. The way they broke, it was a good returning game from Anirudh and Ray supported him very well and I felt the first set was a little crucial and yes, second set, it didn’t go our way.

But the super tiebreak, as Anirudh said, they were very positive, you know, they were aggressive and that got them over the line.

Interviewer: You are also Anirudh brother, you’ve seen his evolution since childhood. Just your thoughts about the journey and his evolution as a world class doubles player.

Vignesh: The evolution, I would say that he always had the belief, even I would say from the age of 10, 12, he was something different from me because he wanted to compete, he wanted to win and that quality was there from very young age.

So that is something that is helping him big time. And he’s a very very positive person, very calm and very composed on and off the court. And that is the second thing and the third thing is he’s always ready to listen and keep working on his game and that is helping him become a better player and best version of himself.

So I’m really happy with the way he’s progressing.

Interviewer: Question, what’s it like to have your coach, closer brother who’s been through the world circuit before as well and experienced there, what’s it like to have that support?

Anirudh: It’s definitely a pleasure having him around because gives me a lot of comfort while traveling. As you know, tennis is a very lonely sport and it’s always important to have someone who can be with you on and off the court. So I’m very happy with how he’s been helping me.

He’s very, very passionate about what he does. So the fire to progress together as a team is always there. So I’m just hoping good things come our way, and we are hopeful to see what the future hold.

Photos by Deepthi Indukuri, KSLTA