Wielding the racket with ease and grace

"I am training to be the number one player; I know it is going to be a lot of hard work and I am ready to do that" says 20-year-old tennis champion Nimisha Mohan. Born to KG Mohan and Shyamala, Nimisha started her tennis career at the age of 11. Nimisha was born and brought up in Bangalore. She started pursuing the sport very seriously and at the age of 12 she got her first break at the Indian Oil state ranking tournament in 2003. After this, her game improved drastically and she won her first tournament, the Air Deccan All India Junior Tennis Tournament in 2004. There has been no looking back since then.
Nimisha managed her academics and tennis with ease. She did her schooling from National Public School. She passed her CBSE with 80% marks. She did her pre-university (PU) from Sri Bhagwaan Mahaveer Jain College in Commerce. She got full scholarship from a couple of US Universities for her under graduation. She has chosen to go to Miami University, Ohio. She has completed her freshman year now. She was also given a gold medal for being the most consistent player in her circuit. She idolizes Roger Federer. Besides tennis she loves listening to music, drawing and painting.
Her style of play is aggressive baseliner. "Hitting the shot cross court" stands to be her favourite shot. Her strength lies in her power where she hits the ball hard and flat and also in her speed as she is very swift and athletic. Inadequate exposure to professional tournaments particularly international is one of the drawbacks. She trains for four and a half hours of match practice a day which includes a 45 minute fitness program, six days a week. Dhyan Uthapa who has been coaching her for eight years now, said: "She is a 'model' student. She remembers all the instructions that I give her and she interacts with me if she has any doubts. She is hard-working. Her passion for the game and her ability is a good combination. I wish her all the best for her future."
RANKING (AS OF SEPTEMBER 2008) SINGLES:
• Karnataka state ranking-1.
• AITA (all India tennis association) National ranking-   under 16 -9 (best achieved under 18 -13(current).
• ITF (international tennis federation) - 539.
ACHIEVMENTS:
• Winner (singles) at DSCL National Tennis Championship in 2008
• Winner (singles) at the ITF junior championship in 2008
• 3) Pre- quarter finalist (under-18) at the ENKA ITF junior at Istanbul, Turkey in 2008.
• Winner (singles) at the USTA level 1B championship at New York, USA in 2008.
• Winner (singles and doubles) at the AITA Talent series in 2008.
• Semi Finalist (U-16 singles) at the AITA super series in 2007.
• Winner (U-18 singles) at the annual junior Karnataka state ranking tournament in 2006.
• Winner (U-16 singles) at all India super series at Belgaum in 2006.

Power her strength
Her strength lies in her power where she hits the ball hard and flat and also in her speed as she is very swift and athletic. Inadequate exposure to professional tournaments particularly international is one of the drawbacks. She trains for four and a half hours of match practice a day.

--SAKSHI CHAND