Simran wants to make it count

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At the age of six when Simran Kaur Sethi started playing tennis, her parents never dreamt that she will become the under-16 national champion one day.

“As a kid I was too energetic so my mother wanted to put me into some physical activity and since the RK Khanna Tennis Stadium was right across my home, I started going there to play and eventually developed interest for the sport,” said the 15-year-old, who reached her maiden ITF women’s final on Saturday.
Simran, who was playing in only her second senior tournament, lost to statemate Rishika Sunkara 2-6, 4-6 in the final. About her 19-year-old opponent, Simran said, “Rishika was definitely more composed and more experienced than me. She just handled the crucial situations more patiently and better.”
Simran, who is training under the aegis of Aditya Sachdeva at Team Tennis, wants to get mentally strong to handle the crunch situations in the match.
“I have actually gained a lot more self belief. I do not feel nervous even when I face the top Indian women players, and believe that I have the ability to beat them.
“But it is just the beginning and there is a long way to go,” the Delhi lass said.
“Aditya Sir is a great support and always keeps me in the right frame of mind. He keeps telling that I should not worry about my results and keep working hard, and the things will fall in place. “He helps me read my opponents and have a game plan ready before the match so I am very clear as to what I have to do in the match... If I am doing things right today, it is because of his inputs and efforts,” she added.
The Delhi girls was all praise for her stint in Paris, where she went twice in July and then in October last year.
“Playing on the red clay there made me a lot stronger in the legs and mentally patient. My consistency level increased tremendously as I got to play against a lot of top junior players.
“I go there with an aim to get stronger physically and that is a major part of the game as once you get to a certain level everyone has good strokes, it just gets to how physically and mentally strong one is,” the Delhi girl said, who loves to read books on sport.
Simran, who is ranked 230 in the junior circuit, now aims to break into the top-150 at the senior level by September, to have a chance to compete in the qualifiers of the US Open.
“I am playing Grade 3 and 4 in Tunisia in June. I might go to France again for training once the tournament is done,” she said.