Hyderabad (Telangana): Telanagana's Sahaja Yamahapalli recently clinched her maiden title as she emerged winner in the Womens' 15K ITF World Tennis Tour event. The event was held in Nagpur. However, she did not fight alone to achieve the feat. While she kept excelling at the sport of her choice, her middle-class parents kept supporting her despite limited finance. To let his daughter realise the dream of becoming a tennis champion, her father chose to assist her journey at the cost of his job.
He accompanied Sahaja to national and international tournaments for 10 years, facing several challenges. Recognising her performance, a US university sponsored her four-year degree while providing on-campus tennis coaching.
Born to Yamalapalli Bhavani Kumar and Supriya, Sahaja had been passionate about the sport ever since she was 10. Being a middle-class family, her parents knew that an expensive sport like tennis would be beyond their means. Bhavani Kumar, however, chose to let Sahaja continue her passion. As a result, she took training and participated in several tourneys during school and college despite financial constraints.
A sponsorship from Sam Houston State University in Texas came as a great opportunity while the family was looking for better coaching. Sahaja joined the university in August 2017. During the four-year stint, she played college tennis in the US, which shaped her skills as a player. In fact, she even won Player of the Year twice. She worked part-time to sustain her living expenses. She returned to India in May 2021 and has been looking to set up her base for training.
READ: Meet Telangana's seven-year-old Bal Shakti Puraskar awardee who scaled Africa's tallest mountain
While improving her game, Sahaja has focused on international tournaments. In a recent ITF tournament held in Nagpur, she played well and won against several top international players. In the past, India hosted three ITF women’s events. The titles were bagged by Russian, Thai and German sportspersons in the three finales. In Nagpur, Sahaja won the finale against German player Emily Seibold, securing her first ITF Pro title in women’s singles.
She joined ranks with Sania Mirza, Yadlapalli Pranjala, Ankita Raina and Rutuja Bhosale, who were among the few Indians that won ITF titles. Sahaja, 21, is currently ranked at 1,290 in the World’s Tennis Association and hopes to improve it to 500 by the end of the year. Sahaja is a meritorious student too. She finished her bachelor’s in Food Science and Nutrition. The youngster says that Djokovic and Nadal are her inspiration. She aspires to play grand slams in the next couple of years and represent India at the Olympics.
