I am ready to keep grinding it out on the Tour: Sasikumar on the climb to the top

For Mukund Sasikumar, staying in the present and enjoying his time on court are priorities now.

The 29-year-old Indian hasn’t had the best of times in singles play in the past year or so. However, he is confident of bouncing back and getting back to winning ways.

“This year, I just want to play good tennis and enjoy myself,” Sasikumar told The Hindu after booking a spot in the Chennai Open ATP Challenger doubles final alongside British partner Jay Clarke.

“The most crucial thing was that I had fun on a tennis court after a long time. I think it was most important,” he said.

“As kids, when we start, we do so because we like tennis. But after that, when it becomes a profession, we obviously start taking it too seriously sometimes. So we don’t really get too many matches where we are just playing for the pure passion of it,” Sasikumar, the World No.513 in singles, said.

He said that like in life, there are up and downs in a tennis career, and that there has been a dip despite him doing his “best.”

But the Chennai-born player is confident of climbing the ladder. “Yeah, grinding it out on the Tour is very hard, but I am ready to keep doing it,” said Sasikumar.

“It’s a privileged life if you look at the other side of it. I mean, you’re travelling the world and playing a sport for a living. Singles is still my priority and once I am done with it (singles), I would probably like to return home and spend time with my family because I missed too many crucial years with my younger sister, mother and others,” Sasikumar signed off.