Mumbai: A second serve, aimed towards the body, produced a regulation backhand return down the centre of the court. Dhakshineswar Suresh took a few quick split-steps to his left, squared up and struck a forehand at a sharp angle that gave Guy Den Ouden no chance of reaching the ball.
With that swift move, the 25-year-old from Madurai won his third consecutive Davis Cup match in straight-sets. Each win – beginning with the tie-clincher against Jerome Kym in the fourth rubber against Switzerland last year – came over a higher ranked opponent.
The latest triumph, which helped India beat the Netherlands 3-2 last month to secure a spot in the second round of the Davis Cup World Group Qualifiers, added more weight to the claim of Dhakshineswar being the next big thing from India. So far, he has delivered beyond expectations in tennis’ premier team event. But he is now on the cusp of a major transition.
In May, the communications student at Wake Forest University in the USA will graduate and turn professional.
“It’s the intensity, the number of matches, the travel, and the quality of opponents,” described former India No. 1 Somdev Devvarman, differentiating US college tennis from the professional circuit.
Devvarman, the former world No. 62, is a two-time NCAA champion in the US college tennis system, having played for the University of Virginia. For almost a decade now, he has been mentoring Dhakshineswar.
“He’s the only guy from India who is playing high pressure matches every week at the moment,” Devvarman said. “That’s the reason we’re seeing a lot of success from him early on. And that’s the reason he did not look like a debutant at the Davis Cup.”
At the Swiss Tennis Arena in Biel last year and the SM Krishna Tennis Stadium in Bengaluru in February, Dhakshineswar brought in a refreshing and entertaining brand of tennis. He moves well for a player who stands at 6-foot-5, but thrives in shorter points. There is a big booming serve that comes with his height, along with a menacing forehand.
He also doesn’t stick behind the baseline and tends to charge up the court, with his wingspan making him an imposing figure at the net.
That trait served him well as he paired up with Yuki Bhambri to win the doubles match against the Dutch.
“What makes him interesting as a player is his commitment to both singles and doubles. Early in a career, that’s a real strength as doubles sharpens instincts, net skills and overall match IQ – all of which feed back into singles,” explained two-time Grand Slam winner and former doubles world No.1 Rohan Bopanna to this publication.
“I like the way he’s approaching the transition from college tennis. It shows maturity and patience, and an understanding that progress at this level isn’t instant.”
The tools are certainly there, but now it comes down to application.
At college, Dhakshineswar had the benefit of playing in a team environment under the tutelage of Devvarman’s former coach Tony Bresky and former world No.52 Brian Baker, who had reached the fourth round at Wimbledon in 2012.
“He has to work on everything,” Devvarman said. “There are a lot of things to get in place as well. Where are you going to train, what’s the schedule going to be, who is going to travel with him…a lot will come down to how smartly he schedules tournaments.”
At the moment, Dhakshineswar is ranked 457 in the world and will likely have to tackle the Futures circuit before making his way to the Challengers and then the ATP Tour. By the time he turns professional however, he will be 26.
“I see it as a long time coming, but he had to wait because there was no other way,” Devvarman said.
A severe back injury in 2020 took a lot of time away from Dhakshineswar, with it reaching a point where, as Devvarman put it, “we had to figure out how to get him walking again.”
College tennis got him back on his feet and he helped his team win the national title last year. In the past few months, he’s only been gaining momentum.
Indian tennis now waits for May, when the towering man from Tamil Nadu becomes a professional tennis player. It has been a long time coming.