CHENNAI : The Tamil Nadu Tennis Association’s initiative to have age-group tournaments on a regular basis and help its wards take part in ITF tournaments has paid rich dividends. Fifteen-year-old Maaya Rajeshwaran is the player to beat and scucceed in the girls Under-18 category in the country. She has now achieved the No 1 ranking in the Junior Under-18 category. “I am happy and thrilled on becoming the No 1 Junior Under-18 ranked player. A lot of hard work has gone in acheiving it. My recent wins in the ITF Juniors have helped me become the top-ranked player. Reaching the No 1 in Under-18 is a huge motivation and an accomplishment which I’ve always wanted to do,” said the shy, yet confident, youngster.
Playing in ITF tournaments involves a lot of hard work, preparation, and travel. Sometimes you have to be on your own without a travelling coach. In the ITF Juniors 2023 and 2024, Maaya won five ITF Juniors singles titles, three ITF Juniors doubles titles. She holds the record for the longest ITF Juniors winning streak and was second highest-ranked Indian in the ITF Juniors circuit. “A lot of hard work went behind it (to get the ranking). Me and my family put a lot of effort consistently and the results followed. Mainly, leaving the family behind for weeks while travelling for tournaments was really tough, but it was definitely worth it,” insisted Maaya.
She is currently coached by Manoj Kumar. She practises at Proserve Tennis Academy, Coimbatore, for four hours every day. “Maaya is definitely an outstanding talent and has achieved a lot at a very young age. The fact that she played the qualifying of a Junior Grand Slam at 14 years is definitely an indicator of how good she is. I don’t think any Indian has done this,” said Manoj. “She has been with me for five years and has improved by leaps and bounds. She is an extremely aggressive player, likes to play early and is good off both flanks, absolutely fearless. The biggest strength is her belief in herself. She needs to work on her second serve, movement, and endurance,” added Manoj.
Maaya, in order to fulfill her goal of becoming a top class player, has made the right steps and is supported by her parents. “Maaya is having open school education. This allows her to travel and play in events. She has been playing tennis from the age of eight years. She started playing first at KG Ramesh Tennis Academy, Coimbatore, and her first coach was KG Ramesh. When she won the Under-12 Nationals singles and doubles in Mumbai 2021, we decided that she has a future in tennis and we encouraged her to take the game seriously,” said Revathi, Maaya’s mother.
Maaya has been playing in tournaments abroad regularly and even had a fifth place at the U14 Australian Open, Melbourne. “My experience in playing tournaments abroad has helped me. Going outside and playing matches with different players and in different conditions taught me a lot and also helped me realise areas that I need to work upon my game and how to go about it. The life of a tennis player without sponsorship is a big difficulty for a player from a modest family background. But I am keen to continue my quest to be a top ranked player in the world. I will be training in Europe and will try to play (qualify for) in Junior French open and Junior Wimbledon,” said Maaya.
Manoj, too, believes that international exposure is the key to her growth. “For the future, we are looking at her to play both the juniors, especially the higher grade J 200, J 300, the grand slams and the women’s pro tour. I think with the right support and guidance, she will go places. We are looking to find a good base abroad where she can train in a competitive atmosphere which will help her achieve her goals,” opined Manoj.