Mumbai: Manas Dhamne, India’s promising tennis talent, had to give a speech at the post-tournament presentation ceremony on Sunday. It’s not something the soft-spoken 18-year-old is too used to doing. Certainly not at the ATP Challenger level.
He was speaking as the runner-up after his first Challenger final, at the ATP 50 Shymkent clay-court tournament in Kazakhstan. The 444th-ranked Indian lost to the 320th-ranked Belgian Buvaysar Gadamauri 7-6(6), 6-4.
This was a solid run, however, by the young Indian who is only starting to compete more frequently on the Challenger circuit. The final show is set to make Dhamne jump to a career high 384 in the updated rankings on Monday and become the new India No.2 in men’s singles.
Battling challenging conditions in Shymkent, where a combination of rain, heat and wind through the week meant players had to adapt, the teen got some good wins under his belt. The standout among them was going past sixth seeded Frenchman Antoine Ghibaudo, ranked 325, in straight sets in the semi-final. In the final, he was 4-1 up in the first-set tiebreaker before letting slip the advantage.
“For sure, this week gives me a lot of confidence,” Dhamne said in a virtual media interaction. “It was a positive week—confidence-wise and to understand what I have to do to keep improving in my tennis.”
A trainee at the Piatti Tennis Centre in Bordighera, Italy, Dhamne was largely competing on the ITF Futures level last year. This season, there’s been a more varied spread.
Dhamne last played a Futures event in Zahra, Kuwait, in February, which he won. After that, he played three Challengers in India—he made the quarter-finals in Pune and two in Italy before the Shymkent event.
The teen was also handed qualifying round wildcards in a couple of ATP Masters 1000 events. In Miami in March, he made Spanish sensation Rafael Jodar, who is set to break into the top 35 next week, earn a straight-sets victory in a second-set tiebreaker. In Madrid two weeks ago, he lost to Chinese world No.100 Wu Yibing 6-1, 7-5.
“It was a good opportunity to see how I can compete with them,” said Dhamne. “I don’t think the level is too far. It’s just about keeping it consistent, week in week out. And also, how to find a way to win matches. Sometimes when it’s tough, I feel these are the things they do much better—finding solutions to win matches. I think I’m getting there. I need to keep improving on the same things. I’m on the right track.”
