Yet to turn 18, Sinha ready for next phase in development

After winning the junior clay nationals in August and U-18 boys nationals in October, Sinha clinched a maiden ATT-level crown on Sunday.

CHENNAI: Seventeen-year-old Nitin Kumar Sinha is quietly going about building his CV. After winning the junior clay nationals in August and U-18 boys nationals in October, he clinched a maiden ATT-level crown on Sunday in his own backyard.

At the $5,000 India M8 Kolkata tournament, Sinha scored an anticlimactic 6-7 (12/10), 7-6 (7/3), 0-0 (ret) triumph over Olympian Vishnu Vardhan, as the latter threw in the towel due to cramps in the final set. But as the saying goes, ‘a win’s a win’. Vardhan was going for back-to-back crowns after winning the India M7 event at the same venue early last week.

My current aim is to take part in Junior Grand Slams next year.
I hope I can make that happen. But in the long term, I’d like to
play for India in Davis Cup one day. That’s an important goal. 
 Nitin Kumar Sinha


While he was born and brought up in the City of Joy, Sinha’s family is actually from Bihar. “My father is self-employed — he’s into business. At the moment, I’m in Class XII. I took up the sport eight years ago,” he told Express. Sinha credits former Davis Cup skipper Naresh Kumar for footing travelling expenses.
According to Sinha, ranked T-1538 in the world, his forehand and fitness are his best traits. Also, he doesn’t feel the need to adhere to any particular kind of diet. “I keep working to improve myself and my ranking. I love running and eat everything.”


Having represented India in World Junior Tennis (U-14) and Junior Davis Cup (U-16) in the past, Sinha has set his sights on the Majors for 2017. “My current aim is to take part in Junior Grand Slams next year. I hope I can make that happen. But in the long term, I’d like to play for India in Davis Cup one day. That’s an important goal.”


The vanquished Vardhan, meanwhile, has little doubt that Sinha has improved a lot since the time the duo practised together a few months back. “Nitin is a very talented and hard-working junior. He is a counter puncher and, therefore, very good defensively. A few months ago, he came to Hyderabad to train with me for few days. He has improved a lot and I’m happy he won both the clay and hard national titles this year,” the 29-year-old opined.
rohan@newindianexpress.com

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