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After this weekend’s Davis Cup action, the focus shifts to the women’s Fed cup event. India is competing in Asia-Oceania Group 1 andis placed in Pool A along side hosts Kazakhstan and Thailand.
With Sania Mirza sitting on the sidelines due to an injured hip, the Indians will be without their biggest star, and will rely on four youngsters – Kyra Shroff, Ankita Raina, Rutuja Bhosale and Rishika Sunkara, all ranked outside the top 400, to keep the tricolourflying high. India will certainly have their task cut out for them - with Kazakhstan boasting of top-30 player Yaroslava Shvedova, alongwith top 100 players like Ksenia Pervak and Galina Voskoboeva, while Thailand’s team includes 19-year old Luksika Kumkhum, who reached the second round of the Australian Open last month, and former junior Grand Slam champion Noppawan Lertcheewakarn.
We caught up India’s #3 ranked singles player Rishika Sunkara just a couple of days before the team left for Kazakhstan for the competition, and here’s a recap of our quick chat with the 19-year old, who is ranked no. 549 in the world.
How have you and the other girls in the team been preparing for the Fed Cup event?
All four of us have definitely been training really hard. It’s a dream for us to play for our country and we would like to give it our best.
Sania Mirza has pulled out of the event due to injury. How do you think this will impact our chances at the Fed Cup?
No doubt Sania is a great singles and doubles player, and has won many matches for India in the Fed Cup, and having her in the team would have definitely given us a huge advantage. I am looking at a positive result since other members of the team have been training hard and performing well in the recent tournaments.
India is placed in Group A alongwith Kazakhstan and Thailand. What are your thoughts on these teams?
I am not sure about who is representing those countries. Our motive would be to get on court, give it our best and play to win.
You are the no. 2 singles player as per the world rankings from the girls in the squad. But all four of you are pretty close to one another in the rankings. Are you expecting to play singles, and would you be disappointed if you did not get to play singles?
Yeah, we all are ranked very close to each other and everyone of us performed really well, but when it comes to playing for the country, I would either play singles or doubles, depending on whatever the team needs to win the tie. I would definitely not be disappointed.
Several Indian male players have rebelled against the AITA. What are your thoughts on this? Do the women have any issues/demands from the AITA in terms of the Fed Cup?
I do think there are numerous issues (selection, training, compensation, coaching, etc.) with Indian tennis, which does not give us a fair chance in the international tennis arena. There needs to be a closure soon on the issues – one that does not address personal egos but Indian tennis on the whole so that we can have a bright and promising future.
Finally, you are currently ranked no. 549 in singles and no. 395 in doubles. What are your goals for the 2013 season?
My goal for the next season would be to play in as many tournaments as possible, and to reach the top 250 in both singles and doubles.
