Dinara targets ITF ratings after taking maiden title
The newly crowned Women’s Singles champion Dinara de Silva said that her target is to become a top international tennis player in the ITF Circuit before advancing into the senior tour as a professional player.
The 14-year-old schoolgirl from St. Bridget’s Convent made a stunning impact by winning her maiden Women’s Singles title following her success in the Girls Under-16 and Under-18 events.
Following are the excerpts from the interview with Dinara de Silva.
Q: What is the significance in your success at this year’s tennis nationals?
A: This was my maiden appearance in the Women’s Open Singles Tournament as last year I was not old enough to qualify for the main event according to the WTA rules and regulations. The WTA rules came into effect from 1994 but before that Lihini Weerasuriya had won the Women’s Singles title at the age of 13 years.
Q: What are the reasons for skipping the national trials?
A: I wanted to be well prepared for the Women’s Open Singles and because of that I decided to skip the national trials to have a break and focus more on this year’s national championship.
Q: Don’t you think that you missed out the chance of representing the country?
A: Yes, I would have loved to represent the country at the biggest stage, but the national selectors were also very cooperative and understanding and I thought I was not mature and prepared to play at that level.
Q: What kind of impact would it have had on your regular training schedule?
A: Had I toured with the national team it would have been too strenuous and the workload would have put me under tremendous pressure with little time for rest and preparations. I was also able to reduce the player burnout to a great extent because of my non-participation at the trials and from there onwards there was nothing that could have stopped me from winning the title.
Q: What kind of opposition did you face during the tournament?
A: It was a coincidence that I had to play against my training and doubles partner Saajida Razick in the semi-final encounter, which lasted for three sets and for more than four and a half hours. Thereafter, in the final, I had the satisfaction of overcoming the former champion Anjalika Kurera, who had earlier defeated the defending Women’s Singles champion Rukshika Wijesooriya in the quarter-finals.
Q: Before this tournament how well have you performed?
A: At the age of 11, I won the Under-12 and Under-14 age group events, at 13 I won the Under-16 and Under-18 titles, and this time I won the Under-16, Under-18 events and the Women’s Singles.
Q: What are your short and long-term plans as a tennis player?
A: My initial goal is to become a top international tennis player in the ITF Circuit before reaching 17 or 18 years and thereafter, to progress into the senior tour as a professional player.
Q: How well have you contributed to the success of the national team?
A: In the ITF Under-14 World Junior Prequalifying Tournament last year, we were number one but, in the Asia/Oceania segment we finished in eighth place. In this year’s Junior Billie Jean King Cup Prequalifying Tournament, we were number one but, in the Asia/Oceania event we had to settle for 14th place out of 16 teams.
Q: What is your best achievement in the international scene as a player individually?
A: In the ITF Circuit individual events, I managed to reach the semi-finals twice and reached the quarter-finals on four occasions during the last 12 months in the J5 Under-18 segment held in Sri Lanka.
Q: What are the challenges that you are facing right now as a player?
A: I think the amount of exposure at home is not enough for me to advance into the next level and one way of moving forward is to participate in more international events in the coming months. I got to focus and manage on my studies as well, but I know in other countries all international players do online studying and they live and train in an academy.
The post Dinara targets ITF ratings after taking maiden title appeared first on DailyNews.