On the bigger stage

For tennis talent Kyra Shroff, it’s been an eminently successful three months. In mid September she took her first step into the forecourt of International Tennis Federation (ITF) junior rankings by winning the singles as well as the doubles titles at the Wilson-TTT ITF junior (under-18) tournament in Madras. In mid-October, on her 14th birthday, she won the under-18 singles and doubles crown at the DSCL Open National Tennis Championship 2006 in Delhi. Placing full confidence in her abilities, coach Prahlad Srinath entered her in the Women’s draw as well, which involved playing taxing qualifying rounds to reach the main draw.

Shroff now has a world junior girls ranking of 639, says her father Firdaus. "Starting January, Kyra has to play in more ITF tournaments. This is important for world rankings. Playing in major junior events abroad can fetch her enough points to try and gain entry into the 2007 or 2008 junior French Open and Wimbledon tournaments,” states her mother Gulshan. Kyra has won her first international grade title only in her fifth attempt (Sania Mirza had won hers at the 11th attempt), Firdaus informs us.

Kyra Shroff (in white cap) with Elite players in Italy

Kyra trains at the Mahesh Bhupathi Tennis Academy (MBTA) in Bangalore and was recently inducted into the MBTA Elite training program. "To win an ITF title at age 13 is fantastic,” stated Krishna Bhupathi, Mahesh’s father. The future of Indian women’s tennis seems very bright because of the level of 14 and 15-year-old girls like Kelsey Sundaram (Kyra’s doubles partner), Kyra Shroff and Prerna Bhambri, stated Enrico Piperno, coach of the Federation Cup Women’s team, as reported in The Hindu, September 19, 2006.