April 8, Bengaluru: Chirag Duhan played some of his career’s best tennis to reach his maiden M25 semifinal at the recently concluded SM Krishna Memorial Open in Bengaluru. The towering 21-year-old was the sole Indian to reach the last-four stage, where he put up a valiant fight but lost to top seed Jay Clarke.
Interestingly, Chirag was not sure of his participation in the tournament as he has played three back-to-back events. “I was thinking of pulling out and going back to training for a few weeks. But as the tournament neared, I felt I could do one more week and then leave. I don’t know what could have happened if I hadn’t come to Bengaluru, but I’m happy that I reached my first M25 semifinal in India,” he said.
It was a remarkable campaign for Chirag as he stunned eighth seed Dominik Palan in the first round before earning an astonishing comeback win against Abhinav Sanjeev Shanmugam. Chirag lost the first set but clawed his way back into the contest to storm into the quarterfinals, where he defeated Ishaque Eqbal in straight sets.
“There were some ups and downs through the tournament. I was playing a seeded player in the first round only, so I didn’t look deeper into the draw. I was just focusing on one match at a time. I kept my cool and just stayed in the moment and that really paid off,” he added.
Chirag shuttles between training with his childhood coach Gaurav Sharma in New Delhi and the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy in France. The Academy is founded by Serena Williams’ former coach Patrick Mouratoglou and attracts some of the world’s top players.
“It’s a great atmosphere to be in because you get to see a lot of pros training alongside you. It has really good infrastructure, that’s why a lot of players are based there and I often get a chance to hit with them. I usually hit with World Number 23 Alexei Popyrin. He’s a very nice guy and gave me a lot of insights into my game, which has been helpful to me,” he said.
Chirag, who looks up to tennis’ big three – Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic – has also gotten the opportunity to play with former World Number 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas.
“I’m a keen person who likes to learn. So, to be there and see these top players from close quarters is amazing. I’ve picked up many things from them, especially their professionalism and approach to the game. That takes you a long way,” he added.
While the big-serving Indian says he began playing tennis “by fluke”, he has shown great promise and has risen to a career-high ranking of 531 as per the latest ATP rankings. “I’m more of a person who doesn’t usually look too much into the rankings and likes to learn something every day, something which gives me more discipline in my daily routine,” he said.
He added, “My year-end goal is to finish inside the top 100. The sooner I can achieve that, the better, For now, I am taking it day by day and step by step.”
