The Rediff Interview / Harsh Mankad

'My focus is divided between
tennis and academics'

What do sportsmen do to get out of tight situations? Some may resort to prayers, some will speak to themselves to pump up the adrenalin; some will meditate while taking deep breaths and then there are the tweedle thumbs and weak hearted who will bite their nails to glory.

There are also a few who sing a song and make their opponents dance to their tune.

Harsh Mankad is one of those. The Indian Davis Cupper believes in humming his favourite tune to pick himself up whenever things aren’t going well. He credits this therapy of calming himself in tense moments to his senior Davis Cup partner and Indian numero uno Leander Paes.

"Against Japan when Leander was a break down in the fifth set against Suzuki, he started singing his favourite song at the time -- 'Lift Kara De' by Adnam Sami. After that, we all broke into the tune every time he won a point. The effect -- Leander played awesome tennis and won us the tie. From then on, whenever things are tight in a match I start singing to myself. It worked for Lee, so maybe it will work for me too."

The 22-year-old Mumbaite seems to be enjoying the company of his teammates although he doesn’t tour with them on the circuit due to the busy schedule at University of Minnesota, where he is on a scholarship. However, his stay in the United States has helped shape his career in the right fashion. A glance at some recent results shows that the Indian is making the right noises and is eager to enter the big league.

In June, Mankad won the Canada F1 singles title and the F3 doubles crown. After a 31-19 win/loss record in his first season at Minnesota in 1999, he improved to 26-12 the next year and this year, with encouragement from university head coach David Geatz and assistant Adam Cohen, has an impressive 12-1 college record.

With a pre-season Inter-collegiate Tennis Association (ITA) ranking of 22, the Indian, who is the number one singles and doubles player for his school, achieved a rare honour when he won the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) Indoor singles title -- one of four such nationals played every year, a leg of what is called the collegiate grand slams (the others being played on clay and hardcourt followed by the final which will be played in June, 2002).

The icing on the cake then came when the 1997 Indian Junior National champion was chosen as the Big Ten Sportsman of the Year for Tennis, 2001, only the second Golden Gopher to receive the honor in the 15-year history of the award. Mankad joined a unique club when he became only the second player from the Big Ten Conference to have won a college indoor nationals title, repeating the feat that veteran US player Todd Martin achieved a decade back when he won the crown for the North-Western University in 1991.

Mankad was called upon to display his skills amid terror that had gripped the world following the attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001.While the world contrived to win the war with terrorism, Mankad was called upon to fight his own battle on the indoor courts of Wisconsin, North Carolina, where the US hosted India in the Davis Cup World Group Qualifiers. The youngster's steady progress had undoubtedly won him the selectors’ nod.

In the postponed Davis Cup tie in October, he faced the booming missiles of teen sensation and world No. 15 Andy Roddick. Mankad, the sophomore, playing for his nation for the third time (he was selected against Sweden and Japan) lost but his on-court attitude won many hearts at home and abroad. HIs positive approach and his refusal to get overawed by the occasion raised the spirits of Indian fans, looking for successors to Paes and Bhupathi.

Taking time out from a rigorous schedule, Mankad, in an exclusive to Nagraj Gollapudi, says he is drawing a fine line between academics and tennis. Presently, he has not set any long-term goals and would like to excel in school and at an appropriate time re-enter the Tour circuit.

Excerpts.

How do you rate your performance against the United States in the Davis Cup?

I thought that I played well. I learnt a lot from the experience and, hopefully, will be able to better myself from that. I competed well and gave it my best shot. Roddick and Blake were very tough opponents but I tried my best and was happy with the effort. Unfortunately, I wasn’t good enough to win but I will continue to work on my game and stay positive and you never know what may happen in the future.

After three Davis ties what have you learnt so far from the matches you have seen as well as played?

The U.S. match was my third Davis tie. I played against Sweden and Japan before the U.S. First of all, it’s great to be able to spend a week and practice with the team. I think that’s always something I look forward to because I really don’t get much time to spend with the guys on the team and practice with them. So that is great. As far as what I’ve learnt, well, some finer points about my game, which need some improvement. I think it’s important for me to add some more variety to my game since I don’t generally overpower my opponents, and so this is something that I’ve been working on and it has paid off. I mean, I’m a much better volleyer now than what I was a year or two ago. I think playing indoors at Minnesota has really made me be more aggressive and has forced me to play the net more, which in turn has really helped improve my net game. Also, I’ve been working hard on my serve, as my serve gets better and better, it will automatically take my game to the next level.

What have been your strong points?

My attitude has always been strength for me. No matter what situation I’m in, I’ll always compete and fight hard. I don’t like to go through the motions and just play for the sake of it. I like to be specific and I like things to be planned out. Also, I try to stay positive and learn from my mistakes. So I think this has helped me a lot. Game-wise, I think my ability to mix things up, to play an all-court game is really one of my strengths. I’m pretty much comfortable on all surfaces and can adjust my game style to the surface and my opponent. I think this is the key.

Areas you need to work on?

A lot of areas. To begin with, definitely, my serve. I think I need to make it a bit bigger so that I can win a few more free points. Also, I think my physical conditioning is a key area which I need to really work on.

In this age of power tennis, how do you think you can come out trumps?

Well, like I said, tennis is a game that requires a lot of skill and I think that one must not overlook this aspect. Too many people, especially in India, believe that if you’re not six-feet plus and really big and strong there’s no chance of making it at the pros. I don’t agree with this, and if you’ve been watching tennis over the past few months you would probably understand what I’m saying. So I really don’t pay much attention to all this talk that I don’t have the physique etc. Yes, I need to get stronger, and I’ve been working on it, but more importantly, I have to improve certain aspects of my game technically. I think right now the style of game that I play is conducive to modern tennis and people who know my game and have watched me play over the past two years will agree that even though I’m not a big-built guy, I still can maximise my abilities and can be successful doing that.

Coming back to the match against Roddick, you looked confident although you lost?

Yeah, I was confident. I mean I just treated it like another tennis match. He won a lot of free points off his serve and that took the pressure off because he was holding serve so easily. Therefore, he could really swing out on the return games. He’s probably got one of the best serves right now in tennis and is very tough to play because it is so hard to get into any rhythm. It was tough for me as well because I’m not playing week in and week out at that level as he is. So it took a little while getting use to playing someone that good. I think that the difference is not huge. It is just that right now he has some huge weapons and was therefore able to dominate the match. However, I have a lot of positives to take from that match and hopefully the next time I will be able to put up a better fight.

Can you tell us something more about the camaraderie in the Indian Davis Cup team?

We all get along great. I mean Davis Cup is probably the most exciting and fun week of the year. Leander, Mahesh and Fazal have all been great to me. We spend almost all our time together. Captain Ramesh Krishnan and coach Nandan Bal are also really a lot of fun to be with. Everyone really enjoys themselves, there’s a lot of support and we really go to any extreme to help each other out. No matter who’s playing, everyone really supports everyone and it’s absolutely fantastic. I’ve really enjoyed being part of this team. There are so many funny moments that it would take an entire page to fill. One especially funny moment was Leander’s sing-song therapy in Japan that got us out of trouble in the match.

What have you learnt from Leander, Mahesh and Ramesh?

I have learnt a great deal from Lee, Hesh and Ramesh Sir. They have been very supportive and really nice to me in every way. Leander and Mahesh play with so much pride that it’s really inspirational. When they play for India, all else is irrelevant; nothing else matters! They just give everything for the country; it makes you proud to be representing India.

Tennis-wise, I have learnt many things by watching them play. Ramesh Sir has helped me a lot. I keep in touch with him and he always offers me advice on how to get better and what to work on. Mahesh has helped me a lot. In two of my matches he’s been out there with me on the court, that’s the kind of commitment he brings to the team. Both he and Leander really want youngsters like myself to do well and realise our potential.

You have said Indians mature late. So are you ready for the pro league?

Well, at 22, I feel that I’m at a level where if things go well I can do well on the tour. But right now I’m in college in the U.S. and my focus is to do well here. If I can achieve my goal in college and make the necessary improvements, then I think I can start focusing on tennis full time on the Tour. As of now, my focus is divided between tennis and academics.

You have been excelling and getting rare honours in the US college circuit? Could you tells us how has your journey been so far?

It’s been awesome. I’ve had a great time at Minnesota and have really improved tremendously. My coaches there have helped me a lot and have shown a lot of confidence in me from the beginning. Also, the U.S. college circuit is great because you end up playing so many quality matches that you gain a lot of match experience and improve because of that. I think right now I’m a much better player than what I was when I first went to the US. So, to me, that proves that I’ve improved, which is very important. Also, coming to a school like Minnesota, I got the opportunity to play at no.1. singles from my first year. Therefore, irrespective of who we play, I'm playing the No.1. guy from the other school. Hence, I’m always playing a tough match which has helped me to lift my game to a higher level.

How has the experience in the States helped you?

Like I said, I think college tennis has been great for me. I think in my situation, when I was 18, going to college out there was probably the right decision. I’ve improved a lot and really made use of the world-class facilities that are present there. We have two coaches that work with us full-time. Our head coach is David Geatz. Dave has helped me tremendously and is very much responsible for the improvement that I have made. He has helped my serve and volley game a lot and also helped me become a more aggressive and crafty player. Our assistant coach, Adam Cohen, is a very good player and has helped me a lot with my groundstrokes and my backhand. He has a great backhand, and I’ve learnt a lot from him on how to execute it. Together they understand my game very well and no matter what, have always supported and have encouraged me.

Media reports say you are finding it financially hard to play some good quality tournaments like the Chennai Open. Is it true?

Yes, at this stage I can’t afford to come all the way to India for tournaments; the flight is just too expensive. My scholarship covers my education and all the travel expenses etc. with the college team, but they are not responsible for any other expenses. At this stage it’s not a major issue because I’m in college and not playing pro full time. Once I’m done with school sponsorship will play a more important role.

How has the All-India Tennis Association’s support been?

The AITA has supported me really well. They enabled me to get a high junior ranking by sending me all over the world to play ITF junior events. This helped me tremendously in getting a scholarship to Minnesota. Also, they have shown a lot of confidence in me by selecting me in the Davis Cup team even though I am unable to compete in most of the Indian tournaments. So, I think they have been great and hopefully they will continue to support me in the years to come.

Have you set yourself any goals in the near future?

Yes, but I like to keep my goals to myself. Also, I don’t really believe in focusing on long-term goals. I try to do what needs to be done everyday and hopefully that will take me where I need to go. I hope to play well in the spring and challenge for the NCAA title.

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