For Fenesta ‘double’ champion Srivalli, the real challenge was staying calm during emotional moments

For Srivalli Rashmikaa Bhamidipaty, who bagged an impressive ‘double’ – winning the women’s singles and doubles titles in the recently-held Fenesta National tennis championship in Delhi, her real challenge was to stay calm during those emotional moments at the end of the day’s stint when she has that longing to be with her parents.

It is a typical story of any girl of her age, and being the only daughter of parents B.R.N. Prasad (Chartered Accountant) and B. Rajshri (homemaker), her emotions are understandable.

“You feel lonely after the day’s hard work. I somehow love to be with my dad or my mother,” said Rashmika in a chat with  Sportstar after entering the singles semifinal in the ITF tournament in Thailand on Friday.

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“It was a childhood dream to see my name engraved on the winners’ list in the Fenesta Nationals,” said the 21-year-old Hyderabadi, who believes her strength is her strong serve.

“The best part of my ‘double’ was that I was mentally calm and focused on each and every point. Honestly, I was immensely pleased with the way I played right through,” said Rashmika, who is a B.Com Honours graduate and is now, aiming to finish a Chartered Accountancy course in London.

“When in Hyderabad, I train with A.R. Anand Kumar sir (Anand Tennis Academy) and Ravi Chandran sir (Sinnet Tennis Academy), and I also keep shuttling to Delhi to train under former Davis Cupper Vishal Uppal sir at Tennis Project. These sessions are really helpful to me, and also thanks to Phoenix group and Lakshya Sports – Edelgive Foundation for their continued support,” she said.

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India’s No. 6 will not take a break after coming from Thailand and will start preparing for a couple of major events scheduled in India with the help of the support staff at the Suchitra Academy in Hyderabad.

“I am not the kind to set targets. [I] would like to keep things simple, not to expect too much, and I am glad the graph is pretty decent right now,” she said with a big smile.

The two-time National champion wants to live in the present and take it step by step to realise the ultimate dream of making it really big.