Trained at the Piatti Tennis Center on the Italian Riviera since age 14, Manas Dhamne (IND, 402) has made Liguria his European home base. In a light-hearted 48-second backstage chat at the local Winter Cup in Bordighera, the 18-year-old Indian talent showed off his fluent Italian and quick wit after cheering his squad to victory.
Stepping in front of the microphone for host Emanuele Leonarduzzi after the Piatti Tennis Center side defeated Bordighera 1887 in the local Winter Cup competition, Manas Dhamne (IND, 402) handled the entire conversation in Italian without missing a beat. The 18-year-old from Pune praised the quality of the contest and congratulated his teammates on pulling through a tight battle under the lights.
Manas Dhamne (IND, 402) speaks fluent Italian backstage (with English subtitles)
The best moment of the exchange arrived when Leonarduzzi put the Indian teenager on the spot with a cheeky dilemma: would he rather watch his Bordighera squad win that night, or win the Wimbledon title himself? Dhamne burst out laughing before joking that the local clash was bigger than Wimbledon, only to quickly admit he would still pick lifting the trophy at SW19—unless the Winter Cup match were a final, in which case it would come down to a coin toss.
“È una partita bellissima, è un’emozione grande per vincere questa partita. Questa è più importante di Wimbledon… però preferisco vincere io Wimbledon di questa partita! Se fosse una finale? Eh, dipende… testa o croce!”
Translation: “It was a wonderful match, and a huge thrill to win this game. This 1 is more important than Wimbledon… though I would still rather win Wimbledon myself than this match! What if it were a final? Well, it depends… heads or tails!”