Tennis
Months after leaving Nadal Academy, Maaya Rajeshwaran wins first pro title
Maaya Rajeshwaran now trains at the Elite Tennis Centre, which has produced the likes of Mirra Andreeva, Daniil Medvedev and others.
Maaya Rajeshwaran (Photo credit: ITF W100 Bengaluru)
Cannes, for Indians, has told the story of a prestigious film festival graced by Bollywood A-listers and social media influencers alike over the last few years. Each year like clockwork, debates around who was invited and who paid to walk the red carpet rages on in social media.
However, the resort town on the French Riviera now has a tennis story to tell to its Indian audience. Maaya Rajeshwaran, the tennis prodigy, now lives and trains in Cannes and the town has already brought her success.
On Sunday, Maaya became the youngest Indian woman to win a professional singles title at 17 years and 3 months. She dropped no sets during the entire week at the ITF W35 in Lagos, where she clinched the doubles title as well alongside Yelyzaveta Kotliar of Ukraine.
Only a couple of months ago, Maaya left the Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca, Spain and joined the Elite Tennis Center, shifting her entire base to the south of France.
The change of address was made quickly.
“In the best interest of me, there were so many things that we thought,” she said.
“This was the right decision, and we didn’t think twice,” she added.
The results in Lagos suggest it was a sound bet.
Jean-René Lisnard, the head coach at Elite Tennis Centre, travelled with her to the tournament.
The run from qualifying
Maaya came through the qualifying rounds in Lagos and drew the top seed in round one.
“I came in with no expectations,” she said. “I think I was the underdog in this tournament.”
Up against Justina Mikulskyte of Lithuania then, she trailed 0-5 in the opening set. A look at the clock gave her something to hold onto.
“I looked at the clock and it was I think 25 minutes into the match, and the first thing that came to my mind was, I’m not losing a set in 25 minutes,” said Maaya with a chuckle.
She played one point at a time and fought back to win the set 7-5. The second set followed once the momentum had shifted.
“Taking a set from love-five, I think that plays a part,” she said.
The final against seventh seeded Celia Cervino Ruiz tested her more. She admitted she felt the pressure in the second set, and her answer was unusual.
“I just zoned out. I started singing something in my head just to be light and just to let go.”
The song was whatever had been playing that morning. By championship point, the tension had gone.
“I didn’t really think of it as a match point. It was just another point for me,” she added.
The junior-to-senior transition
Maaya has one more year of junior Slam eligibility, and she was frank that this season’s junior major results fell short of her hopes.
“On charts, the performances definitely weren’t as good as I wanted it to be,” she said.
“I wish I could have done better for sure, but that’s behind me now,” she added.
Maaya plans to play more pro events next year while still entering the junior Slams. Over the coming months she wants to build physically and stay clear of injuries.
“I haven’t played so many tournaments to actually experience that transition on a larger scale,” she said.
“I don’t know how the transition is going to look, to be honest.”
Asked whether it would be smooth, she answered briefly: “I’m in for surprises. We’ll see.”
Maaya kept the double triumph at Lagos in perspective. Tennis moves week by week, she said, and she would be back on court the next day. The title has still changed something in her.
“I really have to trust myself more,” she said. “That sort of confidence has developed in this week for sure, which wasn’t there before.”
The ranking points from this week will open doors.
How well her new base on the Riviera handles the move from junior courts to the senior tour will decide what she does with them.