The jeevan force

Vishnu Vardhan retired on the day citing fatigue after a long season,and others from the new,newer,newest kids on the bloc brigade like Saketh Myneni,Arjun Kadhe and Sriram Balaji suffered defeats on Wednesday,leaving Indian hopes to centre on Jeevan. He sees this as a crucial time for Indian tennis with about 10 guys stacked into the Top 500,with quiet curiosity about who will take the important lunge. A group of youngsters took on New Zealand in the last Davis Cup tie,but Jeevan hadn’t made the cut there and says that he is keen to pitch himseolf into contention the next time by getting his ranking up.

Post injury test

The nationals don’t matter in those scheme of things,but since Jeevan was coming off a tricky stomach injury,he’s grateful for the matches where he could test his fitness. “It turned out to be a blessing as I could test my game. There was a partial tear on right side of the stomach. And as a left-hander,it kept cropping up as an issue. It will never fully heal but the nationals win gave me confidence after the last setback,” he explained. Rehab in Germany where he trains at the Schuettler-Waske Tennis Academy,followed soon after,and he was back to his peak-game with some minor alterations to the serve toss.

Frankfurt’s enhanced his fitness levels and added a glint of steel to his mental toughness as was seen on Wednesday against Mohit Mayur,an aggressive youngster whose pounding ground strokes were quite a handful for Jeevan before he allowed his tempestuous head to rule over his bombastic darts and messed it all up. Jeevan hung on,and as the rallies got longer,the courts slower,the ball dipped lower and the legs came into play,Jeevan stamped his self-assurance on the match and turned the tables after dropping the first set.

The ace German academy where Jeevan enjoys hitting opportunities with the likes of Janko Tipsarevic has helped him strengthen those legs which dig challenging conditions when heat and humidity weaken the skating soles of his rivals. “Fitness is one of my weapons. And I’ll need to work really hard on it to outlast the best in the world.” The early physical conditioning had begun at Seattle’s University of Washington and its structured programme. He learnt to play smart,as it was apparent he didn’t have the biggest of games,and managed some good results in doubles. “I had a really good doubles record in college,it was all-time best for the university,” he says adding that collegiate tennis basically refreshed the way he trained in the sport. Germany,where he plodded on for seven months of the year on indoor hardcourts and on clay in the summers,helped him mature.

He had Sriram Balaji for company and adjusted smoothly to the new regimen – not missing Indian food,he insists. On the cuircuit,he’s trying to reduce his reliance on counter-attacking and has learnt to take the initiative,though the iffy backhand remains something that needs frequent attention. Jeevan grew up alongside Indian star Somdev Dev Varman through the u-15,u-18 years in Chennai,and says he’s not surprised his pal did so well. “We all believed that Indians can break into the Top 100. With him going on to do it,it’s provided us a huge inspiration that we can do it.” Jeevan also believes that the pre-Olympic selection fiasco actually yielded some positives – opening up doors for youngsters,as Vishnu Vardhan earned an opportunity to play at the quadrennial. Vishnu,incidentally,had first come to prominence after he won the Nationals.

Hitting with the stars

Setting up training bases predominantly in Europe and the US,young tennis pros often run into the big-names courtside and at times enjoy opportunities of hitting practice with the stars. Mumbai’s ITF event boasts of many such who have benefitted from the experience — while trying their best to not look star-struck. They cherish the memories and snatch a few pointers,but as youngster Mohit Mayur explains there’s a world of difference between the pace of a hitting session and the intensity of real-time match play. He hit against Milos Raonic and his booming serve in Barcelona,and is candid when admitting that the Canadian would tell him precisely where he was serving. “That’s how I could deal with his serve! When it comes to actual points,players hit harder and are more mature. It’s different.”

Other famous ‘hits’

Jeevan – Janko Tipsarevic in Frankfurt

James Marsalek – Andy Murray in Roehampton

Mohit Mayur – Milos Raonic in Barcelona and Leander Paes in Chennai

Vishnu Vardhan – Somdev and Roddick in Austin

Arjun Kadhe – Juan Carlos Ferrero in Valencia