Bengaluru: India’s no.2 junior Rethin Senthil Kumar is ready for the next step. The 17-year-old, who is playing the final year of his junior career on the ITF Tour, will join Cornell University in the United States in August.
Taking the collegiate route is ideal for Rethin, who hopes to use the opportunities he’ll g-et to play against quality opposition to develop his game and eventually play the pros. “The competition will be good, you get more exposure. It will help in my overall growth as a tennis player,” said Rethin. “Fortunately for me there are ITF Futures and Challenger tournaments (in the region). That way I’ll get more chances to play and showcase my skills.”
Rethin, ranked 56 in the world (U-18), has been making steady progress. The 6 feet 2′ player, who won two titles (J 100 in Poland and Australia) in the ITF junior circuit last year, is aiming to gain a direct entry into the main draw of the remaining junior Grand Slams — French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open.
Time may be running out for Roland Garros with the cut-off date for the main draw being April 22. Rethin will feature in the J200 Kuala Lumpur, starting April 15, which is the only competition he can feature in before the deadline. “It’ll boil down to how many points I make in the J200 event,” he said.
Rethin’s junior Grand Slam debut in the Australian Open didn’t go as planned. To begin with there was uncertainty over his participation with the teenager having undergone a left thumb surgery seven weeks before the tournament in January. The Chennai-based player had not fully recovered but decided to play at Melbourne Park where he lost in the first round. He struggled with his backhand. After returning from Australia, Rethin opted to rest with minimal training. The Velammal Higher Secondary School student also used the time to prepare for his board exams.
In the SM Krishna Memorial Open, his first tournam-ent back, Rethin suffered a 3-6, 2-6 opening round loss to American Nick Chapell, but remained optimistic. “I was happy that I was able to compete again without pain or difficulty,” he said. “Since I’ve been off for a few months, I need to improve my fitness and other aspects of the game.”
Results: Chirag Duhan (Ind) bt 8-Dominik Palan (Cze) 7-6 (7), 6-4; Maxim Zhukov bt 7-Dev Javia (Ind) 6-4, 6-1; Nick Chappell (USA) bt Rethin Senthil Kumar (Ind) 6-3, 6-2; Ryuki Matsuda (Jpn) bt 3- Moerani Bouzige (Aus) 6-4, 6-4; Sidharth Rawat (Ind) bt Digvijay Pratap Singh (Ind) 6-4, 6-4; Nikita Ianin bt Hitesh Chauhan (Ind) 7-6 (7), 5-7, 7-5.