Srinath thrives on improved net play

Speaking to The Indian Express after entering the singles quarter-final of the ATP Challenger tennis tournament at the AGETA courts, he said after the Mumbai Challenger, he will rest for a few weeks.

The year has been quite eventful for Srinath. His major achievements are returning from the Asian Games at Bangkok with two bronze medals, almost pulling off an upset against Andrei Goudenzi in the Davis Cup match against Italy and this is his second ATP Challenger quarter-final this year.

The reason for this turnaround are twofold — quantity of play and quality of practice. Srinath has been a regular feature on the ATP Tour events in USA and Europe plus playing the team events– Davis Cup, Asia Cup and the Asian Games was got him valuable match practice. Moreover, being part of the Indian squad has helped Srinath slug it out with the likes of Mahesh Bhupathy and Leander Paes and a bit has rubbed on him.

The other value addition to his game has been his net play. Though very much a baseliner, the occasional net rush have helped Srinath quite a lot. On his weapon he say, “These days, if you stay back, however good you are, the guys will blast you off the court. The net play helps to finish off the rallies,” he says.

On the expectations for the coming year he keeps it short and simple. “These days, I have stopped expecting anything, I just go out and play,” he says. The “go out and play” comments sounds more like a mother’s scolding to her spoilt brat. But whatever it surely is working well for Srinath.