With the Olympics fever over and the discussions already begun about the next generation of talented athletes, Manas Dhamne is making significant strides in the tennis court.
The 16-year-old caused a major upset by defeating the home favourite and No.1 seed Ionel Nicholas David of Romania at the ongoing ITF Romania F13 to advance to the quarter-finals. He had received a wild card in this tournament. An absolute thriller of a match that witnessed tussle at both the ends, having a tiebreak in the second set and Manas being three set points down in the third set, eventually had Manas taking away the victory with a 4-6, 7-6, 7-5.
To put the enormity and significance of this win into context, Ionel is ranked 378, having had a career high rank of 184, while Manas is ranked 1213.
Ionel has won 12 titles in the ITF circuit, whereas Manas is still searching for his first title.
The Romanian also defeated Sumit Nagal on clay last year.
Coached by Riccardo Piatti, who has trained players like Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic etc., Manas has been receiving great mentorship and guidance under him.
Earlier this year, the teenager etched his first challenger victory at the Challenger Francavilla, Italy. Now, he has another task at hand as he will face No. 5 seed Ilya Snitari (ranked 619) of Moldova in the QF.
The confidence and previous match experiences are a great addition to Manas’s skillset, and they should surely help him navigate through the other matches. He has also entered the QF in the mens double partnering Rocco Piatti from Monaco.
With age on his side coupled with great coaching assistance, we are definite that Manas is the next star in making. With more consistent participation in the ITF circuit, exposure to different court conditions, and the opportunity to play better opponents, he will surely make his mark and join the elite list of tennis player
Written by Khushi
