Perseverance is the main thing they have learnt from their grandfather Ramanathan Krishnan, and their father Ramesh insists that his daughters enjoy every moment on court. Gayatri, 16, and Nandita, younger by two years, are proud of their lineage, but insist there is “no pressure or expectations” being part of the first family of Indian tennis.In the city to take part in the ITF event, Gayatri told The Indian Express that it’s in fact an advantage to have Ramesh as a father-cum-coach. “My father’s been through all this, so he knows the circuit inside out and that according to me is an advantage.” And how much of an influence has their legendary grandfather been?“While dad is more involved with the technical aspect of our game as we practice with him at the Krishnan Tennis Centre (KTC), our grandfather keeps himself updated with our results. He is always very encouraging and tells us to be positive as well. He has also worked on my serve,” Gayatri said. Interestingly, in addition to practising at the KTC, Gayatri also goes to other clubs for hitting sessions. Being aware of the phenomenal heights the senior Krishnans have achieved at the highest level, the soft-spoken and petite sisters said that while it would be a dream-come-true playing the quarters at Wimbledon or at the US Open, one must not set unrealistic goals.“Both of them were extremely talented. It’s not easy to play at that level. We would also like to get there some day, but then one must be realistic too,” Nandita said.While Gayatri has been a regular on the ITF circuit for the past three years, Nandita started out only last August. The former’s best performance till date has been a quarter final appearance at a Grade 3 event in Bangladesh two years back. She also made it to the last-16 stage at Grade 4 events in Sri Lanka and the Philippines. For Nandita, her best showing till date has been making the quarters at a Grade 5 event in Sri Lanka.With tennis taking most of their time, the sisters have switched to open schooling. Gayatri admires Lleyton Hewitt for his “attitude on court”, while Nandita likes Kim Clijsters and Rafael Nadal.
