In conversation after their Round of 16 and Quarterfinal wins at ATP 75 Cary Challenger
After beating wildcards Leroux / Manning in the Round of 16, and then coming back from a second set tiebreak to beat Bianchi / Harper 6-4 6-7(6) [10-6] in the quarterfinals, Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha and his Thai partner Pruchya Isaro sat down to reflect on their doubles run, their partnership, and what lies ahead.
Interviewer: How do you like this tournament so far?
Niki: This is my third year in a row here. Pretty excited. I think it’s one of the best facilities out here. Pretty happy that I’m back. Only thing is the weather, it’s killing us. But luckily we are not playing in the sun. We are playing at midnight. This is the first time I’m playing so late, finishing around 1 am. I’m getting used to it.
Interviewer: How is your partnership with Isaro working out? You’ve been playing together for a while now?
Niki: So far it’s going great. I know him since long back. We used to play ITF together as singles. I think we started playing together in September, first week, or maybe last week of August. Since then I’ve seen him on the tour, seen him playing doubles here in the US as well. So far it’s going great, nothing to complain about. Would love to improve more and go up the rankings.
I think our energy matches, and that’s the most important thing. I was just looking for a partner and he was available, so I asked him. Everything went smooth, so we thought we’d stick together longer.
Interviewer: Talk us through the quarterfinal. How did you pull it off?
Niki: I think the hardest part was that we did not play great. But we survived it. We were confident enough in our game and the energy brought it up. We were able to pull it off.
Interviewer: How did you come back after the second set?
Niki: The second set was not great. We had a couple of chances to break them early but in the tiebreak we were up 5-4 and just could not finish it. Going into the super tiebreak, we knew we had a better game than them. We executed well and that is what made the difference.
Interviewer: What’s next? Who do you face in the semifinals?
Niki: We are playing Nam and Niklas-Salminen. We’ve played them two times back-to-back in India. They are experienced and play explosive tennis. It is going to be a good match. The idea is just to play better tennis than today.
Interviewer: What is the goal for the rest of the season?
Niki: We have around six to seven more weeks until the US Open and then the Asia swing starts, so another six to seven weeks after that. The main goal right now is to secure a direct entry spot. We need around 350 points for that. Would love to make that happen.
Interviewer: What are your Wimbledon predictions?
Niki: I would say Sinner. But I would also love to see Novak win. Let’s see.
Interviewer: What is one thing you carry in your tennis bag that nobody would guess?
Niki: Nothing, everything is pretty simple. But I do have a few gifts from fans. One kid from Japan gave me something like a small clipper, about two years back. I still have it.
Interviewer: Any message for the young kids watching?
Niki: Come and enjoy tennis. Most people want to get onto the professional circuit from the age of ten. That will not happen. You just have to enjoy the sport first. Spend energy, spend time. If you are good enough, of course you can play professional. But first, enjoy tennis. That is the most important thing.
Pruchya: I want to thank the people who came to support us. See you tomorrow.
Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha and Pruchya Isaro fell at the semifinal stage against J. Nam and P. Niklas-Salminen, going down 6-4 5-7 [9-11] in a match that went down to the wire in the super tiebreak.