By becoming the fourth Indian-born player in the main draw of the Sunfeast Open, Sunitha Rao realised a long-cherished dream of playing in a WTA tournament — without having to qualify. In the process, the 19-year-old joined the likes of Sania Mirza, Shikha and Neha Uberoi among the elite 32 and even if she fails to make it to the main draw, the crowd will still have something to cheer about.Sunitha, currently ranked 161, was slated to play the qualifiers from tomorrow but things changed when German Marlene Weingartner pulled out because of injury. “It’s a dream-come-true. This is the first time I am playing in the main draw without taking the difficult route and the fact that it’s in India makes it all the more special,” she said.This is Sunitha’s first visit to the city, although she has played Challengers in Mumbai, New Delhi and Hyderabad and she is enjoying every bit of her stay here. “I was born in New Jersey, but that doesn’t take away the fact that I am an Indian at heart, especially since my father is from Chennai and mom from Bangalore,” she said.It’s been a rough ride for Sunitha. Her ranking fell to 300 last year due to various injury problems and that, coupled with her tumultuous relationship with her father, only added to her woes. The dusky baseliner, though, has managed to get over her past that not only threatened her career, but almost put paid to her chances of representing India. Her father Manohar Rao had demanded $100,000 per year for five years of her training if the All India Tennis Association (AITA) wanted her to represent India. The AITA had refused her case and since then Sunitha has fallen off with her father. “I am very eager to represent India in the Fed Cup. The process had been in the backburner for some time now and I want to bring it back on track. But, I would only like to do that by improving my ranking,” she said.Like her co-players, Sunitha too is relishing the surface here. “I always liked to play on hardcourts and the ones here are just great. I am comfortable on all kinds of surfaces, although, clay used to be my least favourite,” she said.
