BENGALURU: As the sun hastily set over the KSLTA stadium in Bengaluru, Chun-hsin Tseng looked to be in a hurry to finish off his opponent in his opening encounter of the Bengaluru Open. He had coasted through the first set 6-4 against the Portuguese Frederico Silva and was now a point away from repeating that in the second. He took a deep breath, tossed the ball into the air and promptly served an ace.
Bengaluru knows Tseng and he knows the city too. Last year, he turned up and dominated the opposition en route to winning the title. It is a feat the diminutive Taiwanese player — all of 5'9" in a sport played by giants — hopes to repeat.
"It is exciting (to come back as champion)," he says. "Since I was here, it was easier to get used to the conditions. I like it here. Hopefully I'll do well again this year."
Since his last visit to the city, Tseng has had quite a year. He finished 2022 with a couple of Challenger titles and a number of good displays. In August last year, he was ranked as high as No 82. His displays were enough for him to qualify for the Next Generation ATP Finals just the second Asian player to play there — as well as get nominated for the ATP Newcomer of the Year award.
"It was an amazing season last year," Tseng. "I was playing pretty well, winning a couple of Challengers. I was feeling a lot of confidence and was ready to go to the next level. It was a really good time and I improved a lot. Now I just need to keep working on it."
His displays in 2022 were something of a relief for Tseng, who believed that he had lost valuable time during the pandemic. The global shutdown came just when the 21-year-old was picking up momentum. After winning the boys' singles title at the French Open and Wimbledon in 2018, he was only a few months removed from turning pro in 2019 when the pandemic forced him home.
"That was a very difficult time, not just for me but for all Asian players as we had no tournaments in Asia," Tseng says. "It lasted more than 6 months. It was a tough moment we were practicing every day but there were no tournaments and you don't really know what you could improve more. And this came during a time when I was playing well."
Now that he is back on track, the future, for Tseng, is all about improving. After breaking into the top hundred last year, he is now ranked 131. Breaking into the top hundred and winning tournaments are all on his bucket list, but Tseng feels he has a larger purpose. As someone who idolised Kei Nishikori as one of the few Asian success stories on the tour, Tseng wants to be that inspirational figure for those who follow him.
"I will try to do my best. I will try to be all that I can be and try to help tennis in Asia and in Taiwan. I want to be someone who people can follow," says Tseng.
"I want to win tournaments and get back in the top hundred. I want to keep improving every day and play my best tennis," he says. "For me, ranking is just a number. But of course, you have to win tournaments to get to that level (where I want to be). I am still trying to figure out what I can do better."