THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Considering his father and uncle were yesteryear volleyball players, it would have been natural for N Sriram Balaji to take up the sport as his career. But he says it was his will to win individually that lured him to the game of tennis.
That will was on display at the Trivandrum Tennis Club here on Thursday where the World No. 363 braved heat and humidity to overcome Ranjeet Virali Murugesan 6-4, 6-2 to make the semifinals of the Indian Oil XtraPremium ITF Futures.
"I have played Ranjeet many times before and we know each others' game very well. But today was different as the conditions were tiring. In the end, I was physically and mentally in a better condition that helped me win," Balaji said.
This is the Coimbatore lad's sixth ITF Futures in as many weeks and the final one before he joins the national team camp in Bengaluru ahead of the second round Asia/Oceania Zone Group 1 Davis Cup tie against Uzbekistan.
"I will have a week's rest as my body and mind is tired. I have played more than 45 matches, singles and doubles, over the last six weeks which is a lot of matches. So, I am really match sharp and looking forward to the Davis Cup fixtures," he said.
"Any Uzbek side is bound to be strong and Dennis Istomin is very high on confidence at the moment. But we also have players like Yuki Bhambri who is playing a lot of Challengers as well as me and Prajnesh Gunneswaran who are winning tournaments," he said.
India's new Davis Cup captain Mahesh Bhupathi has hinted he prefers to have a combination of three singles players and a doubles specialist which means the third singles spot, after Bhambri and Ramkumar Ramanathan, is up for grabs between Balaji and Prajnesh.
"We train together at Schuttler Waske Tennis-University in Frankfurt and have known each other for like 10 years. We are good friends off the court. The third spot should go to me or Prajnesh. Either way, I will be happy," the 27-year-old said.
Whatever his role be in the Davis Cup tie, Balaji will return to Germany after the fixture where he will train under his longtime coach Bastian Suwanprateep. "I have to prepare hard for the rest of the season," he said.
Balaji is hoping to improve his world rankings to 250 by July. "That way, I can make it to the US Open in August. I would have improved my rankings to 300 in the next update. Then, I will play a couple of Challengers and Future which will help me reach the target," he said.
adwaidh@newindianexpress.com