Hyderabad girl Shrivalli Rashmikaa's Olympic dreams

Earlier this month, 14-year-old Shrivalli Rashmikaa won the under-18 petit camp open doubles in Mauritius, along with her American partner Katie Lafrance. Five years ago, when Rashmikaa started playing tennis, she never thought she could one day hold this winning trophy.

“I used to go to Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium just to watch other kids play. I played tennis casually for one year and then started participating in tournaments,” says the young player. And now, she has participated in several national and international tournaments, including the prestigious International Tennis Federation tournaments.

The duo won the title outplaying Amelie Boy and Zara Lennon. It was the first singles title in the professional circuit for Shrivalli Rashmikaa, the third seed in the tournament. Earlier in the semifinals, the champions got past the top seeded Indo-Polish combination of Snehal Mane and Weronika Pociej.

Talking about her performance in the match Rashmikaa says, “My best performance was in ITF Thailand where I reached the semifinals. After that, I played in Mauritius, where I won the title. My partner, Katie Lafrance, played really well and was very encouraging.” Inspired by tennis stars Maria Sharapova and Roger Federer, Rashmikaa dreams of representing India at major sports events worldwide.

The Class X student at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan is balancing studies and sports pretty well. “My teachers are very helpful and encouraging. They permit me to write exams on a later date whenever I am playing. I get concessions on projects and they also help me with my attendance. My tennis coach Praveen Bhargava and fitness coach Srikanth are also very supportive. The one thing that I have learnt from my coaches is hard work. They never give up,” says Rashmilkaa.

The young player thinks that there has been a surge in the number of students opting for professional sports training, especially badminton, following P.V. Sindhu winning a silver medal for India at the Rio Olympics.

Rashmikaa is representing India in many upcoming national and international tournaments, which includes tournaments in Malaysia and Thailand, and is practicing hard to win the titles. “I want to pursue tennis as my career and represent India at the Olympics one day,” she adds.