BENGALURU: The Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Pune, Maharashtra saw a whirlwind of action earlier this month, as four teams of the Tennis Premier League (TPL) vied for championship glory. Following a narrow victory over Delhi Binny’s Brigade earlier in the day, Bengaluru SG Mavericks squared off against Bengal Wizards which ended in a dominant win for the Bengaluru-based squad, handing them their maiden title in the tournament.
“It’s been an amazing week. It’s not easy to win any team event, because it doesn’t just depend on your individual effort, but how the team performs as a whole. We kept all our differences away, stuck together, fought well and improved day by day,” says Ramkumar Ramanathan, who joined the Mavericks for the 2023 season, alongside Vishnu Vardhan and Arina Rodionova.
Vardhan, along with teammate Rodionava, played a crucial role in the team’s title win, with a dominant performance in the mixed doubles match during the final against Bengal Wizards. “Normally in mixed doubles, the male player takes a more aggressive role, trying to intimidate the opposition. The male player also usually covers the female player's side as well.
But pretty soon, I realised that Arina likes to play aggressively as well. And I didn’t have to cover for her and it meant that we could really combine our strengths. I don’t think we lost a single match,” he says, adding, “I’m really happy that I could contribute well towards my team and together with Ram and Arina, we ended up clinching the title.
Despite a rocky start to the tournament, the Mavericks quickly found their footing. “The first match, we lost by just two points. It was a very close finish, but I think we were just getting used to the format. While Vishnu and I have played this format before, it was Arina’s first time. So getting used to the conditions and the quick pace of the game was initially challenging for all of us. But we brushed off the loss and started to focus on what needed to be improved. It was all about getting the basics right and taking one point and one game at a time. In this format, the pressure can be quite distracting, and playing to our strengths is the only way to be successful,” adds Ramanathan.
The TPL’s format, featuring short, intense matches over a five-day period, offers a distinct experience for the players. Vardhan, who has competed in the Wimbledon, the Davis Cup, and the Olympics, found the TPL’s rapid pace exhilarating. “Playing for your country is definitely very exciting, but those matches last around three hours. But here, the matches barely last for 20 minutes, so the adrenaline rush that you get is incredibly high. My heartbeat was through the roof.
But overall, it was a great experience,” he says, adding, “It’s hard to predict who’s going to make it to the final and everyone will have a shot at it. At the end of the day, It doesn’t matter who’s a better player, all that matters is how well you perform within those crucial moments. The margin for errors is really low. In a regular match, you can afford to make mistakes and try to counteract it later, but with this format, it’s all about carrying that momentum.”