TENNIS | Hard work finally shows positive results for Rithvik

B. Rithvik Choudhary, Hyderabad tennis player, reflects on his ATP Santiago win and journey to success.

“The hard work I have put in, especially in the last one year, is really paying off,” says B. Rithvik Choudhary, who partnered Nicolas Barrientos of Colombia to clinch the ATP Santiago title defeating the top-seeded Argentine duo of Maximo Gonzalez and Andres 6-3, 6-2.

The 24-year-old Rithvik from Hyderabad, who had also become the first Indian ever to win an ATP title on clay in Latin America and also the youngest to be in the top 70, said it was a great win against a team which was in the World top 10.

“It is an amazing feeling. Winning on clay is a special feeling for I have not played many events on that surface. It is great to know that I am the first Indian to win a title on clay,” he said in a chat with The Hindu.

“I have been looking for a long-term partner since Arjun’s injury. It is difficult to play with different partners frequently,” he said.

On playing in this year’s Australian Open and the Davis Cup, he said it had been one of his best experiences. “Winning my Davis Cup match in Delhi in front of a good crowd with Bala (Balaji) whom I always looked up to as a great guy — and we get along very well — was even more special,” said Rithvik .

“We have a great set of doubles in the Indian team. The two coaches — Raven Klassen and Balachandran Manikkath — are fantastic and the entire support staff including physios Dharmender Pratap Singh and Kiran Kumar have shown us a good pathway to play at the level we want to,” he said on the Indian team.

“It has been an amazing journey which started with C.V. Nagraj sir at the School of Power Tennis at RRC (Secunderabad). He is a very disciplined coach, setting the tone for all those routines every single day.