CHENNAI: “IT has been a long year,” young tennis prodigy Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi said with a sigh. It is not what you would usually hear from a 17-year-old, especially when they are trying to enjoy life until adulthood hits them. But since the 2025 Chennai Open, a lot has changed, on and off the court, for Maaya.
And when she takes on eighth seed and World No 106 Katarzyna Kawa in the round of 32 of the women’s singles, she has an opportunity to show how much she has grown from her first-round exit in this event last year. Firstly, Maaya, whose reputation shot up after she joined Rafael Nadal’s academy in Mallorca last year, left the academy after the Wimbledon Junior Grand Slam event in July. She made the switch to the Elite Tennis Center in Cannes, France, run by French-Monegasque Jean-Rene Lisnard. The academy has produced the likes of Daniil Medvedev and Mirra Andreeva. “There were no problems with the Rafa Nadal Academy. It was just that I felt like I needed a change. And people (her agent, family members) were thinking about it and we thought this would be better for me. I'm just happy with where I am now. I'm just training, I'm getting used to the place,” she said after practice at the SDAT Tennis Stadium on Sunday.
On the court, the 17-year-old from Coimbatore has had a lean patch both in the senior and junior circuit until October, as she failed to get past the first round in most events. With Junior Slams, she endured a similar fate, with the best run being a second round appearance at the Junior French Open in May-June this year. But she won the W35 Lagos event in Portugal, a USD 30,000 event. “Winning a senior title has been a goal for me this year and I'm happy with that. Even the following week was not bad (a quarterfinal run in W35 Monastir, Tunisia).
Ever since joining Lisnard’s academy, Maaya said that there is gradual improvement. One thing she is pleased with is the alignment of goals with her and the coaches. “We know what to do, and I have the best people around me to help me with it. And that has helped. So, when I step on court, I know that I have the right people around me, and I just have to do what they tell me to do. So, I've got that trust in the people that I'm with now. I think that is something that not many people get, and I'm happy to have that,” she explained.
Need to improve Maaya's defensive skills: Coach
Along with Maaya, coaches Thomas Finck and Pierre Thiebaut were alongside her on the court giving her inputs on her movement, her serves and her returns. They were actively working with the 17-year-old. “She has some great weapons like serve, forehand, backhand, and groundstrokes. There are a few things we will be working on in the upcoming pre-season to be better at, especially defensive skills. Her main strength is her serve and forehand. Mentally, she is very tough; she likes when practices and matches are hard, and that is where she brings the best out of herself,” Finck said on the sidelines on Sunday.
The coach felt that she worked on her serve and first shot in the first few months of the academy and that helped her in her title-winning campaign in Portugal. “We worked a lot on the serve and first shot and it helped her in Portugal,” the coach added.
Finck also revealed that the work for the next season will begin after the Chennai Open. “After that tournament, she has a few days off, and then she will do the pre-season in France and get ready for 2027. She'll be continuing in the juniors (slams, juniors) next year, and WTA tournaments,” the coach said.