BENGALURU : The case of Saketh Myneni is of few hits and misses. Whenever he showed promise, injuries have him down. After being sidelined for almost eight months due to a foot injury last year, he wasn’t sure if he would be able to continue to play singles. But here he is back on his feet again and at 31 years of age, still motivated to push his body to the limit. A wild card entrant at the Bengaluru Open, a Challenger Tour event, Myneni, who reached a career-best rank of 113 back in 2016, is slowly regaining his form and fitness after retiring from the first round match against Johan Tatlot at the Shenzhen Challenger in China last week.
“I am very happy to be back. Last year, the foot injury took a lot of toll on me. I wanted to come back quicker but my body wasn’t supporting. Now, I’m competing well but I am still a little away from where I want to be. The confidence is still there though. The more matches I play, I think, the better I get,” he said.
On Thursday, he brushed aside compatriot Sumit Nagal 6-4, 6-4 in the quarterfinals to enter his second semifinal of the year after the Fergana Challenger in Uzbekistan back in June.
Barring a shaky period in the second set, where both failed to hold on to their serves for five consecutive games in windy conditions, it was an easy match for Myneni. He broke the 21-year-old in the very first game of the match and served four aces to dismantle him in just 57 minutes.
“I didn’t have a great start. The condition was also a bit different than usual. The wind caused us a few problems vis-a-vis first serves. It then put pressure on the second serve. Our first serve percentages went down, which especially at this level you have to keep up. But we had too many errors and that’s what caused the breaks.” Apart from the semifinal finish in Uzbekistan, he has won a Futures title there back in April. After starting the year at 620th, he has slowly regained his ranking points and climbed up to 312th at present. But it isn’t the title or the points he is looking at. Myneni’s aim is to stay fit and play as many matches as possible while focusing mainly on the singles.
“To play as many matches as possible is the key this year. I don’t want to rush up thinking about the points. The last four-five tournaments I had to play qualifiers. It’ll be tough for the body, coming into the main draw. I’m still a little away from the level of speed or endurance I want to be at. But this is what it is,” said Myneni, who switched to lighter racquets to help his shoulder.
Myneni will face Aleksandr Nedovyesov of Kazakhstan in the semis. The other Indian in the fray, Prajnesh Gunneswaran, who got a walk-over from fellow countryman Sasi Kumar Mukund, will play Canadian Brayden Schnur in the other semifinal.
Results (Indians unless specified): Quarterfinals: 4-Prajnesh Gunneswaran W/O Q-Sasi Kumar Mukund; WC-Saketh Myneni bt WC-Sumit Nagal (IND) 6-4, 6-4; Aleksandr Nedovyesov (KAZ) bt Frederico Ferreira Silva (POR) 6-4, 6-2; Brayden Schnur (CAN) bt Cem Ilkel (TUR) 6-3, 6-4.
krishnendu@newindianexpress.com