Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi finds her feet on clay at the Junior French Open

Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi during the J300 Beaulieu-sur-Mer in France. (Instagram) New Delhi: India has two teenagers honing their skills in Europe at two prestigious tennis academies. Eighteen-year-old Manas Dhamne is at the Piatti Tennis Academy, which built, among others, Jannik Sinner. At the Rafael Nadal Academy in Mallorca, Spain, 16-year-old Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi hopes to pave the way for future success.Once someone who liked to play on slow hard courts, Revathi has also taken to clay. She has already played seven tournaments on red clay this season with two semi-final finishes and the J300 title in Beaulieu-sur-Mer, France.He will continue to test this knowledge at the Junior French Open in Paris from 31.“I think when the physical side develops, I think you’re going to love playing on clay. In general. Because being based in Europe, I train on clay a little bit more than earlier in my career. I think the more I train on a certain surface, the more I feel like I belong to that surface,” said ITF No. 27 Maaya in a virtual interaction with SAI from India.“To be honest, I don’t mind playing on any surface. Because as long as I step on the court and I’m ready to compete and I’m there to fight it out, I think I’m happy to play on any surface. And the fact that the experience I’ve gained in the last year playing multiple tournaments in multiple places, so many surfaces, it’s just that it’s just how you want to continue to play, rather than the court.”It will be her fifth appearance at a junior major when she takes to the court in the French capital. Her best performance was last year at the US Open, where she reached the second round.It’s baby steps before the 16-year-old from Coimbatore takes a giant leap towards the senior circuit. However, it remains a delicate balance between exposure and growth. Signs of potential were visible earlier in the year when she reached the semi-finals of the WTA 125 Mumbai Open.

Maaya Rajeshwaran at a junior event in Beaulieu-sur-Mer. (Instagram)

“Our idea at the beginning of the year was that Maaya would play as many matches as possible, compete a lot and get comfortable. She has a very big game. So we want her to develop it even more and have that confidence in the matches,” explained coach Polina Radeva, who goes to tournaments with the Indian youngster.“We started with junior events in Australia, then she played a couple of ITF events in India. And our idea was to stay with the junior tour and see how it goes. Because if you finish well in juniors the following year, you get a head start. You get some direct entries into pro events. That’s our goal. That’s one of the reasons we do so many junior events.”“The ultimate goal is to transition to the professional tour. The life of a tennis player is unpredictable. Sometimes we cancel events and go back to training,” continued the player who became Radev’s coach.‘Focus on what I have to do’

File photo of Indian tennis player Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi. (Instagram)

Like Dhamne, Revathi is clear in thinking far beyond her years. In the top 150 of the WTA rankings, she has something to look up to as fellow teenagers Iva Jovic, Lilli Tagger, Alina Korneeva and Emerson Jones. Instead, they focus firmly on themselves.“I think we’re in a very fast-paced competitive environment where right now I’m just focused on what I have to do and what makes me feel the best on the court when I’m competing and what I’m comfortable with. I think it’s just based on me and figuring out how I want to be on the court more than imitating someone else,” she said.