THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Shreyas Krishna’s tryst with tennis began when he was just six years old. He has been the state under 14 (U-14) champion for the past two years and has an all India ranking of 163. He is also the best-ranked U-14 player from the state.
Before joining the Trivandrum Tennis Club (TTC), he went to three coaching academies in Chennai. It was under his first coach Ashok J that Shreyas learned the basics of tennis like the forehand and backhand serve, volley and smash. Shreyas participated in his first national tournament at the age of nine.
Since then, he has played in many national tournaments conducted at various venues like Chennai, Bengaluru, Coimbatore and Hyderabad. “I take half-day leaves from my school to attend the practice session from 3.30 pm to 5 pm,” said Shreyas.
Shreyas is a fan of the current tennis world number one, Novak Djokovic. “His attitude, body language and serving technique is something that I admire,’’ said Shreyas. He is not the only one from his family who played tennis, his elder brother Krithin Krishna was also into the sport.
As the parent of a promising young tennis player, Shreyas’s father, Krishnakumar highlighted the lack of coaching facilities for national-level tennis players in the city. “There is a dearth of certified coaches in Thiruvananthapuram as compared to other cities like Bengaluru and Chennai. Even though the facilities are good, we have been looking for a permanent coach who can train Shreyas for the last 3 years,’’ he added.
Currently, Shreyas trains with a senior tennis player and also attends group sessions at TTC in the evening where he plays matches with his other competitors in the U-14 category.
Shreyas will be next playing at the all India tournament that will begin on August 23 at TTC. His other notable achievements include winning the under 12 state tennis championship and G V Raja memorial championship in the U-14 category.
For now, Shreyas is focusing on performing well at the national tennis tournament that will be conducted at Mysuru on September 9. Shreyas, a class VIII student of Saraswathi Vidyalaya and lives with his family in PTP Nagar.