Mumbai: Last month after Indian teen Manas Dhamne had a hit with world No.1 Jannik Sinner — his fellow former Piatti Tennis Centre trainee — in Monte Carlo, Sinner’s coach Darren Cahill had something to say. “Manas never misses! Improving everything (sic: everytime) we see him!” the Australian coach wrote on X.
That the 16-year-old from Pune is the brightest young Indian tennis prospect has been known for a while, and, unlike most Indian players his age, Manas has already moved on from playing in the junior circuit. He thus is tracing that improvement path, of his game, body and mind, in the most unrelenting of stages: the professional tour.
One of Manas’s earliest experiences of the pro tour came in Pune last year, when he was handed a wild card at the ATP 250 Maharashtra Open and provided glimpses of his potential facing the then 113th-ranked Michael Mmoh. Spending most time away from the country with his training base in Italy’s Bordighera, Manas returned to play in India after a while this month.
Much like his season in which he has competed significantly more than last year, it’s been a mixed bag — he beat India’s 25-year-old Manish Sureshkumar and lost to higher-ranked opponents from Czech Republic and Russia across ITF events in Bhubaneswar and Mumbai. Evident through that, however, have been the little improvements in his game and the plenty of room still there in it.
As Cahill alluded to and was on show in Pune last year, Manas already has a fine ability to put most balls back from the baseline. In Pune, though, former India pro and Davis Cup captain Anand Amritraj noted that with so many good ground-strokers around, “he’s got to move forward and be able to close out points a bit more”.
Manas did that more often in Mumbai. Largely ineffective from the baseline in the first two games against Maxim Zhukov, the Indian got into a much more attacking court position to finish a point after a lengthy baseline rally in the third game. He charged forward and executed a couple of crisp volleys at the net for winners in the first set.
Physically, he’s become bulkier than last year, adding more muscle to his arms and strength in his legs. Making the kid from Pune stronger remains a constant work in progress, and an area that his coaching team at the Piatti Centre are most focused on at this stage of his career. Twice this year, Manas also got injured.
Working on the teen’s physical strength will also help better the most apparent area of development in his game — the serve. Through the entire first set against Zhukov, Manas did not once hold serve. And yet, in a reflection of his promising overall game, he managed to win three games.
“Yes, the serve has major room for improvement. But that should come as he grows a bit older, and the shoulders get much stronger,” a senior India pro also competing in Mumbai said.
Until his serve finds that sting, Manas will have to continue to dig deeper to eke out results. Results, however, are not something Manas’s team is too fussed about for now. At 16 while finding his feet as a pro, developing his game and body remains the priority.
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