"I'm really happy but I don't like to pay too much attention to the rankings" - Sahaja Yamalapalli on becoming India No. 1

Sahaja Yamalapalli is still in the early stages of her journey as a tennis professional. On Monday, September 9, the 23-year-old achieved a significant milestone as she was listed as India's top-ranked female tennis player in the world rankings.

With Yamalapalli climbing to No. 302 in the latest rankings and Ankita Raina, India's flag-bearer on the WTA Tour for several years, dropping to No. 307, the former became India's No. 1 in any category.

"I'm really happy that I've become India's No.1. I've never become India No. 1 before, not even in juniors, I've had never done that. So, I didn't know how it would feel. But I'm really happy," Sahaja Yamalapalli told Sportskeeda exclusively from Punta Cana, Dominican Republic where she is the top seed in an ITF W35 tournament this week.

While acknowledging the milestone, Yamalapalli claimed she does not like to pay too much attention to the rankings as she wants to focus on improving her game and becoming a better player.

"It's just a milestone in my journey and I don't really like to pay attention to the rankings that much. I don't really look at the rankings that much because I think it just adds more pressure to the player," Yamalapalli said. "I'm always focusing on what can I do better than yesterday to keep improving and do better in matches," she continued.

"In fact, I didn't even know that I was going to become India No.1, and two weeks back, someone told me that on September 9, you will become India's No. 1. And I was like, 'Oh, wow, that's great news'. But after that, I'm like, okay, that's good news. But I still have to keep doing the same work that I've been doing," Yamalapalli added.

The goal is to play the bigger tournaments on the WTA Tour and the Grand Slams, says Sahaja Yamalapalli

Sahaja Yamalapalli (Image Credit: MSLTA)

Sahaja Yamalapalli insists she has not set any specific ranking goals for herself but wants to keep improving and rising the ranks so that she can qualify for the bigger tournaments on the WTA Tour and the Grand Slams.

"There's no particular number or ranking that I've kept in mind. I just want to keep doing what I'm doing, try to keep improving my ranking, reach new career-high rankings, and hopefully, I get entries in higher tournaments, the WTAs, and maybe even the Grand Slams one day. So yes, that's the goal," the Indian said in the same interaction.

Yamalpalli will take on Mexico's Katya Ramirez in the first round in Punta Cana on Wednesday, September 11. A good result this week could help her achieve another milestone by breaking into the top 300 for the first time.