At the beginning of 2008, Yuki Bhambri evinced a fair bit interest in the tennis world of up-and-coming youngsters, a Slam semi-final at the Australian Open bearing testimony to his potential. Now, just about two weeks from the year’s end, the Delhi player ensured hopeful talks of his bright future won’t be dying down anytime soon. The 16-year-old swept aside his competitors at the Orange Bowl Grade A tournament to win the title, and put himself within touching distance of the world No. 1 spot on the ITF junior circuit. Though at No 2, the high of being at the top doesn’t seem to spur him on as much as a Slam trophy — his aim for 2009. “This year has been way above my expectations, but the No 1 ranking is not on my mind, I’m targeting a Slam. The Australian Open is first up, so I’m going to try getting that one,” said Yuki, speaking to Sportline from Florida, where he trains at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy.Ankle troubleComing into the Orange Bowl — an event just below the Grand Slam level — Yuki didn’t expect to do much. “I hadn’t played much after my ankle injury at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune. I couldn’t walk for three weeks, and I had to have plenty of rest. I came here to enjoy myself, and see what I could do against a strong field,” he said. The answer to that turned out to be the winner’s trophy. He set himself up for a busy final day with both the singles and doubles crown to play for, but Yuki couldn’t make it a twin victory, losing the doubles final with partner Chase Buchanan against Americans Jarmere Jenkins and Devin Britton 7-6 (7), 6-2.2009 hasn’t been perfectly planned out yet, but Yuki says he will start playing more tournaments on the senior circuit, “I want to get some points in the Futures and Challengers which happen in India. It’s getting a bit difficult to travel as I don’t have any sponsors at the moment.”Yuki has been training at the Bolletieri Academy for a couple of years, and this year has seen him pay Florida the most visits, a fact his coach Aditya Sachdeva cites as a huge factor in his improvement.“At Bollettieri he gets a lot of hitting practice with class players who have played extensively on the men’s ATP tour, like Ivo Karlovic and Xavier Malisse. If you play with players like that, you will obviously raise your own game,” says Aditya Sachdeva, his coach.
