It has been a solid start to the new season for 18-year-old Manas Dhamne.
The Indian teenager has been working hard on his transition to the ATP Challenger Tour the second tier of professional men’s tennis which sits one level above the ITF pro circuit and one rung below the ATP Tour. Dhamne admits the ATP Challenger Tour is a significant step up from the ITF level, where most aspiring professionals begin their journey.
“It’s a whole other level,” Dhamne told India Sports Hub exclusively from Zahra, Kuwait where he is the top seed at this week’s ITF M25 event. “The guys are older, more mature, more experienced, and they never give up. It’s a very professional level on the ATP Challenger Tour and I am ready for this challenge.”
His performances across the two ATP Challengers he played in during the first month of the 2026 season suggest he is ready for the next stage. Dhamne registered two impressive wins over top-300 ranked opponents world No. 231 Matej Dodig and world No. 277 Beibit Zhukayev to reach the first ATP Challenger quarter-final of his young career at the Bengaluru Open ATP 125 Challenger.
After Bengaluru, Dhamne travelled to Manama, Bahrain, where he defeated two more players ranked inside the world’s top 350 world No. 259 Benjamin Hassan and world No. 329 Viktor Durasovic to qualify for the main draw of the ATP 125 Challenger event. He eventually lost to world No. 102 Yannick Hanfmann. While fans and pundits are closely tracking his results, Dhamne says his team remains focused on the process.
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“We are not so much looking at results right now but the way I am playing. If I play the right way. the results will follow. We are now looking at making the next steps forward and with that winning matches at this level should come,” he added.
Dhamne has been honing his game away from home at the Piatti Tennis Centre in Italy, where four-time Grand Slam champion Jannik Sinner also trained until 2022. Those who watched him in Bengaluru noted a significant improvement in his movement and overall game compared to the 2025 edition, where he exited in the first round.
“I have improved in many parts and there is still improved needed in all my game. I feel a lot stronger that is for sure. We have worked hard on this. But also, we work on the technical aspects of my game non-stop,” Dhamne said.
The results have pushed his ranking up to a new career-high of world No. 481, making him the sixth youngest player inside the ATP top 500. He is also currently placed No. 7 in the Race to the ATP Next Gen Finals the year-end showcase event for the best 20-and-under players on the ATP Tour, held in Jeddah every December. However, Dhamne says qualification is not a current target.
“We are not thinking like this,” he added. “I need to improve. The ATP NextGen Finals would be very very tough as I believe last year there was not a single player in the field who was 18 years old. The tournament has an incredible level. But again, we are not looking at the goals like that. I need to improve and the rest will follow.”
For this week, Dhamne is back on the ITF circuit, where he is the top seed in Zahra. Earlier in the week, he recorded a three-set win over Frenchman Maxence Rivet (6-4, 4-6, 6-1) to reach the second round of the singles event. He has also partnered Rocco Piatti to reach the doubles quarter-finals.
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The 18-year-old is expected to return to India next to compete in the three ATP Challenger events scheduled in Chennai, Delhi and Pune. With home tournaments coming up, Dhamnewill look to continue his climb up the rankings. While expectations will be high for him to deliver strong results, he and his team remain committed to the long-term process of building him into an elite player.
