Karan Singh is India’s new Davis Cup sensation on the blocks.
He became the 51st Indian since 1921 to win a singles match 6-2, 6-3 against unranked Togolese opponent Hod’abalo Isak Padio, helping India seal a 4-0 win in the World Group I Playoff.
It was, however, not the best test for the Indian debutant against a side that had only one ranked player. He will have consecutive tests in ATP Challenger Tour events in events in Chennai, Delhi, Pune, and Bengaluru.
The 6’2 tennis player currently training under Aditya Sachdeva at the RoundGlass Academy in Chandigarh is developing his natural game.
“We have been working on him coming to the net more. He hurts you from the baseline, and we are just trying to teach him to close it down rather than staying on the baseline and grinding. Because with the kind of power he generates, you’re bound to get a weaker ball, and if you stay back, it is of no use,” Sachdeva told Sportstar.
He was a part of the now defunct National Tennis Centre (NTC) programme, training under Indian Davis Cup coach Zeeshan Ali.
“In 2019, I moved to NTC and was here with Zeeshan sir for two years. I was number two in the country in the Under-18 rankings, so they picked me from there and helped me a lot in my journey. I had a really good time with Zeeshan and Arun (Kumar) sir. It was great exposure because there were many good players to practise with, and it’s a bit unfortunate for the country that we don’t have a national tennis centre anymore,” said Karan, a former junior national champion and runner-up at the Senior Nationals.
Besides that, he also trained under another Davis Cupper Vivek Shokeen.
This year, he wants to move beyond the ITF tournaments.
“After the four Challengers in India, I will see where my ranking is and whether I can get into more tournaments at the same level or ATP Tour events, but I am definitely not looking forward to playing more ITFs because I want to move from that circuit,” said Karan, currently ranked World No. 496.