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Sowjanya Bavisetti started playing tennis at the age of 12 and quickly began impressing. In 2019, she was crowned the national champion. Despite facing setbacks like injuries and the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sowjanya bounced back in 2022, reaching her career-highest ranking of 500.
Currently making waves in the Tennis Premier League (TPL), Sowjanya recently shared her experiences in an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda. She also touched on the challenges in Indian tennis and the improvements needed for the sport to flourish further.
Excerpts from Sowjanya Bavisetti's exclusive interview with Sportskeeda
#1 How has your experience in the Tennis Premier League been so far?
Sowjanya Bavisetti: Obviously, it's been great. It's one of the main growing leagues in the country, and I hope it keeps growing. Every year is getting bigger and bigger. This year, we have a different court. I think that's grabbing a lot of attention, and the format is very catchy and it's keeping everyone on their toes. And I think that's what is the most interesting aspect of the league.
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#2 You played for Delhi previously and are now a part of the Mumbai team. How has been the team environment in both teams?
Sowjanya Bavisetti: Any team, I think we're only together for one week, so it takes a few days just to get used to each other. But the advantage for me this year was that I already knew the team by the time I came here. So from day one, we were just all together, coming together as a team, but it's been the same for me, I must say. But I enjoy playing for both teams.
#3 How do you adapt to this fast-paced format in the Tennis Premier League from the usual long format?
Sowjanya Bavisetti: It's completely different. Right. I think we are all taking one or two days to adjust to the league. It's whoever adapts to the format faster has the advantage. I would say, like the upper hand, but otherwise, how am I adapting is just practice. You get used to it.
One, two days, you're practicing. I think one week before, I was playing in the Pro tennis league in Delhi, and yeah, I think I got a lot of practice there because it was also the same format.
#4 How did your tennis journey start?
Sowjanya Bavisetti: I've been playing tennis since I was 12, and yeah, I won the National Championships in 2019. I represented the country. I think I've been doing well so far, winning a lot of matches. I've also got a couple of top hundred top-150 wins in singles, and I reached my career-highest in 2022.
And yeah, this year, it's been a bit slow because I was injured. I had two injuries, and now I'm so happy to be back here playing again, doing what I love the most. And yeah, next year is going to be a bit different. I'm going to choose my tournaments wisely and play in the future.
#5 How was the COVID phase? It was especially challenging for an athlete. How was that phase, and how did you keep yourself going during that phase?
Sowjanya Bavisetti: During the injury, to start with COVID-19, it was really difficult for me because I was on a high right before the pandemic, and I won the Nationals. I made my debut with the Indian team and qualified for the World Group playoffs for the first time in history. And I never felt more confident.
But then I got a break and then we had to start from scratch. It was very difficult for me to find my ground again. But I think by reaching my career-high again last year, I think I've done pretty well bouncing back. Yeah, I mean, injuries are a part of the game. It's just going to keep happening.
You can never really plan for those things; they just come unexpectedly. But I think we just have to keep doing what we can, and whenever you're back on court, just keep working towards your goals.
#6 Talking about TPL, if you win against foreign players, it's a motivation. So how good is it as a platform for such opportunities?
Sowjanya Bavisetti: I think it's the same players, to be honest; the same players are there in our circuit, so it's pretty much the same. But what separates TPL from the regular tournaments is that every point matters and it's just 20 points. So there's nothing that someone is higher than me; I am higher than you. It's just everyone's equal.
And I've played the Russian player Maria Timofeeva, who is 120 in the world, but I got a win, 11-9. But otherwise, the scores would be different if we played a regular match. So there's nothing senior and junior. It's just who's doing best on the court on that particular day. And also, in terms of teammates, we get to play with a lot of players. We have played at the highest level.
#7 We have seen Ramkumar, Saketh, and many experienced players playing. How is the learning process for them?
Sowjanya Bavisetti: It's great to watch the best in the world. I mean, we have a lot of top hundred and 150 players here in the league. It's a great experience. From this perspective, like playing with the men's players, I think this is great for women players to learn a lot from them, especially because I think six or seven players are top hundred right now or top 150. It's amazing, especially for me.
I've taken in so much in this one week. I think I've improved as a doubles player a lot more than just a singles player. It's a great experience just playing with these guys and practicing with them every day. They're also giving a lot of tips, so that helps.
#8 What are the challenges, especially in Indian tennis? And what do you think can be done better for tennis to grow as a whole?
Sowjanya Bavisetti: I think we are improving a lot already. We have a good infrastructure now. We have good coaches, and we have good trainers, and now we have a lot more tournaments than before. I think we just have to keep adding to this. There's nothing that I can pinpoint to one aspect. We have to continue this to grow the sport and probably a bit from the corporate side.
If we can get some help for the players. When there are no tournaments in India to go out and play more, I think that would help for sure. Yeah, there's so much that's changed over the last 10 years. The world is changing; the sport is changing.
But I think women are realizing that we are very strong, and I just want the young girls to understand that as early as they can to believe in themselves and just keep working hard. I think hard work pays off in the end, no matter what.
#9 How important is mental toughness in this fast-paced format for an athlete?
Sowjanya Bavisetti: Well, my teammate said just put a smile on your face and play every point. In that way, you don't feel the pressure. So I'm just going to have to go with that. So just smile and keep playing because every point counts. There's nothing really like you're losing. So we just have to continue what we are doing and work for a better plan if something's not working before.
#10 There is so much support from the young kids at the Tennis Premier League. How does it feel as an athlete to play in front of such an atmosphere?
Sowjanya Bavisetti: This is different for us. We will have empty stadiums most of the time, especially for the future ITF tour; this is great for the sport. This is amazing. I hope more and more kids pick up the sport and play it so that we have more support and more coverage all over the country. And yeah, I hope to see tennis equal or go higher than cricket one day.
