Rashmikaa sets sights on entering WTA 300 rankings
Hyderabad: Hyderabad tennis player Shrivalli Rashmikaa Bhamidipaty has been putting on impressive performances of late. The 20-year-old pocketed ITF doubles title along with Humera Baharmus at Gurugram in February while she emerged runner-up at the ITF tourney in Nagpur with Sama Sathwika the other week. She also had an impressive outing in singles in the […]
Hyderabad: Hyderabad tennis player Shrivalli Rashmikaa Bhamidipaty has been putting on impressive performances of late. The 20-year-old pocketed ITF doubles title along with Humera Baharmus at Gurugram in February while she emerged runner-up at the ITF tourney in Nagpur with Sama Sathwika the other week.
She also had an impressive outing in singles in the ITF tournaments reaching semifinals in Ahmedabad, quarters in Gurugram and pre-quarterfinals in Nagpur. Speaking about her consistent performances, Rashmikaa said, “It was a really good experience playing in the back-to-back ITF tournaments. I went with no expectations. We just played match by match. When we played against good opponents and won, we realised that we can do well against top players. The performances are a big boost to my confidence.”
Having entered the senior category two years ago, Rashmikaa won the senior national title at the Hard Court National Championship last year defeating Vaidehi Chaudhari in the final in Haryana. However, she could not play many tournaments owing to Covid. “We started playing tournaments only last year. The pandemic restrictions also didn’t allow us to travel. I played only in India. I reached the semifinals at the ITF tournament in Bengaluru last year,” she added.
Beginning the year with impressive performances, the B Com Honoours final year student of St Francis College wants to cash in on the good run. “Initially the target was to reach top 400 in the WTA rankings by the end of the year. But after these performances and the level of game I played, I feel I can achieve top 300 ranking,” added Rashmikaa who is currently ranked at 914.
“The plan is to play more international tournaments this year. Once I finish my exams next month, I will travel to play tournaments in Turkey, Tunisia, Greece and a few tournaments in Europe and Korea,” added Rashmikaa who is sponsored by Phoenix Group and Praneeth Group.
She also felt that she has the game and fitness levels to succeed at the top level. “I have been getting better consistently. I like to be an aggressive player on court. I have to build my game around it. I have been working on consistency using my aggressive strokes and variations, and also have the fitness levels on a par with top players. I do my strength and fitness training with Shiva at the Suchitra Badminton Academy,” added the athlete who trains with AR Anand Kumar at the Anand Tennis Academy and with Ravichandran at the Sinnet Tennis Academy.
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