New Delhi: Yadlapalli Pranjala, a young tennis player from the GVK Tennis Academy, has made India proud by reaching the combined world ranking of 19. The 16 year old from Hyderabad has received the highest rank ever achieved by an Indian in the ITF juniors’ circuit.
Motivated by her best tennis ranking, Pranjala said, “It’s a great feeling to be the best in the ITF juniors’ circuit from India. But I know there is still a long way to go and I am grateful to my coach Ilyas Sir (Ilyas Ghouse at the GVK Tennis Academy, Jubilee Hills) for all the support.”
Pranjala, who is a student of the Chinmaya Vidyalaya, Begumpet, started playing tennis at the age of 6. Coached by Ilyas Ghouse, she won the 2014 Grade IV ITF juniors title. She displayed exceptional talent at the Thailand ITF juniors where she was the runner up and the ITF Junior Grade I in Chandigarh where she was declared the clear winner.
Her coach and mentor Ilyas Ghouse, Director of GVK Tennis Academy said, “Pranjala came under the GVK Foundation sponsorship three years ago. In the past three years, her ITF World ranking has risen from around 1200 to 19 at present. She is now the only Indian girl player to get a direct entry in the coming Wimbledon junior championships. Pranjala is a dedicated, disciplined, focused player. There are some areas in her game that still require improvement. Hence, there is scope for further growth and improvement. But urgency in improvement is the need of the hour.”
2015 began very successfully for her when in January she made it to the second round in the Junior Australian Open. In March, she won the singles in the ITF Juniors Grade I in Thailand and in April, claimed both the singles and doubles in the Asian Closed Junior Championship. Indeed, this year has witnessed her triumphs with the World Rank-19 coming as a cherry on the cake.
Congratulating Pranjala on her achievement, Dr. GVK Reddy, Founder Chairman & Managing Director of GVK said, “Pranjala has become the pride of the country and GVK tennis academy has again produced a budding champion. The tennis player has the potential to bring laurels to the nation and fulfilling her dream of one day playing a Grand Slam and becoming number 1 in world ranking. At GVK we are committed to promoting tennis in India.”
