Aryan Shah shifts focus to global goals after SM Krishna Memorial Open loss

Bengaluru, April 5 (IANS) Aryan Shah was one of the leading young Indian prospects competing at the SM Krishna Memorial Open in Bengaluru, where he made a strong run to the quarterfinals before falling to second seed Oliver Crawford. He also teamed up with Karan Singh, to pave their way to the semifinals of the doubles category, where they were halted by USA’s Nick Chappell and Kazakhstan’s Grigoriy Lomakin.

The 19-year-old from Ahmedabad, is steadily establishing himself as one of the most exciting names to watch from the Indian junior circuit.

Sixth-seeded Shah’s singles campaign ended with a 6-3, 6-0 loss to Crawford on Friday – his fourth consecutive to the Englishman. Reflecting on the result, he opined, “I’m not able to get through him. I don’t know for what reason. It’s not that if I’ve lost to a particular player, I cannot beat him again, that's not the case. Because in the past, I have done that.”

He dismissed fatigue as a factor, saying, “I wouldn’t say I was fatigued. If I am an athlete, I should be able to handle all this stuff.” Analysing Crawford’s game, he added, “I feel like I’m not able to judge his game style and he likes to play against mine. He’s very confident while playing against me. I think whatever I hit comes into his zone, his hitting arc. So, he’s just stable and comfortable when he plays against me.”

Despite the early exit in Bengaluru, Shah entered the tournament riding high on confidence, having recently stopped Jay Clarke’s 14-match winning streak to win the ITF M25 Ahmedabad Open, his second pro singles title and first at the M25 level. The result also earned him entry into the ATP Next Gen Accelerator programme, which guarantees him main draw spots in eight ATP Challenger events in the 50 and 75 categories.

Looking ahead, Shah remains focused but realistic. “I haven’t been into the calendar that much. It’s just my coach and me with my dad sitting, because I have to keep the financials in mind. I’m not sponsored, so I can’t just book my flight tickets and enter tournaments freely. I must consider everything; the finances, physicality and how well prepared I am.” For now, he’s planning to compete in a Challenger event in Ivory Coast later this month.

“If I am brutally honest, I am highly ambitious,” he admitted. “I just have one single goal by the end of the year, that is like 250-300 (rank) would be great.” On what it will take to get there, he said, “Physicality-wise, I need to get stronger, faster, more agile. Tennis-wise, I need my game to be bigger and more consistent. My graph has been up and down.”

He’s also aware of the odds he’s playing against. “Many players are playing around 30 tournaments a year and they’re able to crack their ranking goals. I’m playing maybe 18 or 19. I wouldn’t say it’s tough, but it’s definitely tougher than the remaining guys. So, it depends on how well I perform in that smaller number of tournaments.”

--IANS

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