Winning a silver at the Asian Games is not a mean achievement for a boy who used to doze off before his tennis lessons. Today, see him pictured beside Sania Mirza, kissing his silver, it’s hard to imagine this was the same East Marredpally boy who had to be nudged awake by his driver to go to court and play.
J Vishnuvardhan (23) is the latest sportsman who has brought laurels to Hyderabad.
His silver in the mixed with Sania prompts his associates to say that this was great promise brought to fruition, but they all add with a chuckle, ‘’He was a laidback kid.’’ His father Jagadeeshan, a businessman, wanted his son to take up sport or music. A friend advised him tennis was a great option.
So the boy would be bundled into a car and sent to a clinic. ‘’But Vishnu would fall sleep in the car,’’ recalls Dad. ‘’It was a change of coach that jolted him into focus.’’ The new coach was Nagaraj, who ran a camp at Mudfort. “I remember this young boy,’’ says coach today. ‘’He was on the fatter side. He was very slow off the court. But as he started coming regularly to the courts his interest in the game increased.’’ Nagaraj’s strict regimen put Vishnuvardhan into shape and the laidback lad was transformed into the typical tennis tyro: all pumped-up and gung-ho. The game improved quickly but he lost in the first round of his big tournament at Chennai. That stung him so much, it turned him around. He began to work for hours on the court. He would practice for hours together to perfect his ground strokes.
He was no slouch at studies either. “He is a good student,’’ says Dad. ‘’After playing tournaments or after practice, he always catches up on class. He’s an 80 percenter.’’ Now that he’s got his silver, Vishnu is off on a spurt up the tennis rankings. He’s gone from 500 to 310. And from the Asiad at Guangzhou, he flew straight to the US to tote up the points.The lazy boy is now on the go.
das@expressbuzz.com