India Davis Cup coach Ashutosh Singh sees a bright future for Indian tennis youngsters

Beating the Togo team in Davis Cup tennis may have looked like a walk in the park for the strong Indian team last weekend, recording a 4-0 victory without dropping a set, or more than three games in a set.

The welcome result was accomplished, much to the delight of the fans who visited the venue, especially on Sunday, mainly because of the meticulous preparation, ensured by the soft-spoken coach Ashutosh Singh.

The purpose and direction for the preparation was indeed charted by the captain Rohit Rajpal, as he made it a point to have three youngsters Aryan Shah, Chirag Duhan and Yuvan Nandal be part of the squad and train with the team.

Along with Karan Singh, who is getting ready to explode into the big league, and with the likes of Dhakshineswar Suresh, Manas Dhamne and the 17-year-old national men’s champion Rethin Pranav, working their path in different ways, the future of Indian tennis does look quite bright.

Coach Ashutosh, a former national champion who had risen to world No:150 in doubles, winning 17 professional doubles titles, including two Challenger titles with Harsh Mankad, was willing to dissect the potential of the youngsters, and make suggestions, when sought by Sportstar.

“With his studious approach to the game, Aryan absorbs all the knowledge he can from team members. After a few seasons, and trying out different training bases around the world, he would find what works for him. I would like to see him gain more solidity from the backcourt before bringing the variation. It will work wonders. At 19, he carries a sensible head on his shoulders,” Ashutosh said about Aryan Shah.

The player who is catching everyone’s eye is the tall Chirag Duhan, trained by coach Gaurav Sharma, who has found the resources to get the boy to travel for tournaments and have a regular training stint at the Patrick Mouratglou Centre on the French Riviera.

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“I am quite surprised that Chirag hasn’t yet made a few jumps in his game and rankings. He has a very strong serve on which he can build a base for the next level. He needs a lot of work on the net game. It would be fruitful if he could take time off from the trap of many tournaments and work harder on his understanding of the game. We worked on the slice serve for him. He needs to be educated to understand his tall physique first and take care of the unique challenges it brings,” he said.

Yuvan Nandal’s free-flowing backhand is “a treat to watch,” observed Ashutosh.

“If Yuvan can find a way to translate and channelise his raw physical power into on-court athleticism, added with an improved understanding of court geometry, he will be a very tough opponent for anyone. He is young and still developing. I look forward to seeing him progress to the next level,” the coach said.

Karan is already a star in the making with his explosive power, which is being noticed as he has started winning more matches.

“Karan also brings the rustic and brute force in his game. There is scope for him to work on court craft and court positioning possibilities,” said Ashutosh, quite crisp with his comments.

The coach did feel that Karan, Aryan and Chirag need to have a recovery protocol in place and practice it on a regular basis.

“Maybe they should spend time on the bike after every session and ensure proper stretching,” he said.

Quite pleased with the discipline and sincerity with which the entire team worked to a plan for the tie, Ashutosh said, “The team followed the plans for each day. Man management is the key in a team scenario. The team got everything it wanted, and it delivered the result.”