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When he was a kid one of the places he looked forward to visiting was Chandigarh. He would accompany his tennis player sisters Ankita and Sanaa to the city whenever they went there to play the ITF circuit. "What he loved was boating at the Sukhna Lake," reminisces sister Ankita. Little did Yuki Bhambri know that in a few years time he, too, would be playing professional tennis in the city. In 2008, as a 15-year-old he stunned 24-year-old Chinese Davis Cupper Peng Sun in the Chandigarh ITF tournament. In the 2011, $15,000 ITF event he reached the finals easily but had to pull out because of a knee injury. For a youngster who is yet to reach 20, Yuki Bhambri has a Grand Slam to his name. In 2009, he became the first Indian Juniors singles winner of the Australian Open and only the fourth Indian Junior singles Grand Slam winner, joining the august company of Ramanathan Krishnan (1954 Juniour Wimbledon champion), his son Ramesh Krishnan (1970 Wimbledon and French Open Junior champion) and Leander Paes (1990 Junior Wimbledon and Junior US Open champion). The teenage tennis sensation started playing the sport at the tender age of five. Yuki would tag along with his sisters, professional tennis players Ankita and Sanaa Bhambri, to the Siri Fort Sports Complex in south Delhi. Here, he would while away his time practising shots with their coaches. Seeing his natural aptitude at the sport, his parents decided to get him professional training. Coach Aditya Sachdev took Yuki under his wing. With his flair, it wasn’t long before Yuki was playing international tennis. At 10, he played his first tournament in South Africa, representing India in the Under-12 category. At 14, the International Management Group decided to help him with his training and in acquiring sponsors. It was then that he started training at the reputed IMG Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Florida, USA, which has trained champions like Andre Agassi, Monica Seles, Venus and Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova. In 2008, at just 16, Yuki reached the semifinals of the Australian Open Boys’ Singles only to lose to Australian, Bernard Tomic. He came back with renewed spirit in 2009 to win the title, defeating German Alexandros-Ferdinandos Georgoudas in the finals in only 57 minutes. With this win, he became the fourth Indian in history to capture a Junior singles grand slam. However, his dream match came in 2009 when he was chosen to play with Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras in the Venetian Macao Tennis Showdown, an exhibition. "I couldn’t believe my luck. It was one of the most amazing moments of my life," he says. "Throughout the match Agassi kept pulling my leg. He tried to make me nervous and he tried to make me double fault and lose. But it was all in jest and to entertain the crowd. It was the first time I was a part of such a huge exhibition arena match," recalls Yuki. The wild card dream continued in 2010, with Yuki being offered a place in the Australian Open qualifying draw – a result of his winning the 2009 Junior boys’ title in the country. In the same year, he was offered a place in the Indian Davis Cup team, but had to decline as at that time he was practising in the US to prepare for the Sony Ericsson Open. Now, two years later an opportunity has come knocking at his door again and this time Yuki is not letting it go. And the rising star of Indian tennis doesn’t take his game lightly. Despite a good season on the circuits – winning three back-to-back ITF Futures titles last month – Yuki is re-working his game to suit the needs of the Davis Cup. Out of his comfort zone on clay, he is busy practicing longer rallies and adding patience to his strategy in order to strengthen his game on the surface. He says that singles is now his sole priority. "I spend all my time and effort working towards making my body fitter so that I can compete for singles tournaments. That’s because when you enter the seniors’ category, the competitors are physically and mentally stronger and you need to last in the court for at least three to four hours, a lot longer than you are used to in the boys’ events," he says. This February, Yuki achieved his first personal target — of securing a place in the top 300 in the singles category. Currently ranked 280, Yuki has now decided to focus solely on professional tournaments. His second target is become a permanent member of the Davis Cup squad as well as enter the Wimbledon and US Open qualifying draw this year. And the way he’s training it seems nothing can stop him! — NF
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