11-05-2025
Tennis: Aryan takes first steps in steep pro tennis climb
Mumbai: In April, Aryan Shah looked to take a step up in the hierarchy of tennis tournaments. He has largely competed in Futures events – the lowest rung meant for lower-ranked players. But since winning a Future event in Ahmedabad in March, the 19-year-old found the belief that he was ready to push himself against better players in the Challenger division.
And in only his third main draw appearance in a Challenger, the player from Bhuj reached the quarter-finals at the event in Abidjan, Ivory Coast at April end, which helped him become the India No.2 in men's singles.
However, the youngster is quick to put the achievement into perspective.
'It's a nice feeling to be the India No.2 at 19, but if I'm brutally honest, it's a shameful (world) ranking to get to this stage,' Shah, the current world No.450, told HT. Sumit Nagal, the India No.1, is ranked 169.
'Nobody knows me (at this ranking). So, I definitely have a lot of things to work on, tennis-wise, physicality-wise and mentally. There's a long way ahead and I have to put my head down and keep learning.'
Shah is doing just that. He is currently at the Schuttler Waske Tennis Academy in Germany where he plans to train for a few weeks before getting back on tour. His time in Abidjan ended not with a loss, but with him being forced to retire from the quarter-final match due to a shoulder injury.
'I feel like I've been playing some good tennis but the physical part has been tough,' he said. 'I have to keep working on it because I cannot push through a lot during tournaments.'
It's still early days as a professional player for Shah, who was a modest world No.39 as a junior. But he has learnt the difference between the two divisions and is working at adapting to the seniors.
'They're big and strong. And mentally, it's a completely different ball game,' he said. 'They aren't going to give you the match. In the juniors, you might have an opponent who is not physically strong and may just tank. You get some easy matches. But here, they look for ways to beat you.'
Shah is looking for ways to reduce the openings that can give the opponent an advantage. But in a sport that is becoming a domain for six-foot-plus players, it isn't easy. According to his ATP profile, Shah stands at 5-foot-8, a height does not make him a naturally big server, and so he's working on his return game.
'I move a lot better than the taller guys,' he said. 'I knew that I wouldn't be a big server, so I worked a lot of my return games – the footwork, the baseline play. I am an aggressive player and I can finish points at the net, so I just try to control the things that I can.'
He has however spent a considerable amount of time working on his serve, which has started to pack in more power and accuracy with every attempt.
For the time being, he's putting in the hard yards on the practice courts to better his craft. Now that he has found some success in the Challengers, he's looking to find consistency at that level while finding ways to keep improving.
'I'm hoping to start getting into the Grand Slam qualifiers by next season,' he added.
