Fatehdeep: the next big thing on tennis circuit

Since then there has been tremendous improvement in his game. He is 14 now and blessed with a height of 5 feet 11 inches. Fateh spells terror for his opponent when he is on the roll and he announced his arrival at the big stage in the U-14 category when he defeated top seeded Basil L. Khuma and Vignesh Prabhu _ both of the junior Indian team _ in the Sunfeast-AITA Junior Super Series in Kolkata to clinch the title. Apart from that,Fateh has numerous other titles to his credit.

Ranked sixth in the U-14 and nineteen in the U-16 AITA rankings,Fateh is fast becoming a sought-after tennis talent on the regional tennis circuit. “I love tennis. It is my life. When I hold the racquet in my hand then it is all about winning. I cannot imagine my life without tennis,” says exuberant Fateh,who is a student of Class 8 in DAV Model School,Sector 15,Chandigarh. Such is the passion for the sport in the family that his younger brother Karanbir also took up the game and represented Punjab in the U-12 category. “My aim is to do well in the U-16 and U-18 category and improve my rankings and then move into the men’s circuit with confidence. Next two years will be of great importance to me,and therefore my total attention is towards my game right now. I am training hard under Sir Gary,” explained Fateh,whose height has increased by five inches in the last one year alone. He plans to do everything required to put himself in a position to succeed.

Sharing his thoughts on his trainee,Gary O Brien,says,”Fateh is a natural talent who has worked very hard over the past two years to become a mature player. He has a big serve and also covers the court very well. The combination of aggression and talent gives him the edge over others in his age group.”

His coach adds,”I think he’ll definitely become a pro-level player. It’s hard to say how good because he’s still very young and so many factors come into play. But he’s certainly a good athlete and a hard worker and very competitive. He’s definitely got the potential. If he stays away from injuries he is going to go places.”

These days Fateh is doing some work on his strength building and hitting hard from the baseline. The next tournament he is going to take part in will be the Junior National tournament to be held in Chennai (U-14 and U-16). “I want to begin the season with a top-performance in the Chennai nationals. I hope to deliver the goods and keep playing top-class tennis,” remarks Fateh.

For their son’s future sake,Fateh’s parents are ready to move base from Ludhiana to Chandigarh. His mother Sukhbir says,”We want our children to represent India in tennis. They are talented and willing to put in the required hard work,so our support is with them. We will ensure that they get the right atmosphere.”