17-year-old Manas Dhamne clinches maiden ITF title

Mumbai: Manas Dhamne, among the brightest young prospects in Indian tennis, captured his first professional title at an ITF M15 tournament in Monastir where the 17-year-old went all the way as a qualifier.

In the final on Sunday, the Indian rallied from a set down to beat Italian Lorenzo Carboni 2-6, 6-0, 6-2.

Dhamne, who trains at the renowned Piatti Tennis Center in Italy that has been home to the likes of current world No.1 Jannik Sinner, has won a couple of junior ITF titles and also the prestigious U-12 Eddie Herr Championship but this is the teen’s first senior title.

It has been a good week for a couple of young tennis hopefuls from the country. Dhamne’s maiden ITF title added to 15-year-old Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi making the semi-finals of the WTA L&T Mumbai Open in her first appearance at that level as a wildcard qualifier.

Playing his fourth tournament of this year, Dhamne, currently ranked 1013 in the ATP charts, went past several higher-ranked opponents after easing through the three qualifying rounds. He beat Spain’s Alejo Sanchez Quilez (ranked 576), Austrian Maximilian Neuchrist (589) and Spaniard Alberto Barroso Campos (539) in the main draw before facing fellow qualifier and lucky loser Carboni — whom the Indian had beaten in the final qualifying round — for the title.

In all, Dhamne played eight matches across eight days. It’s a good sign given the primary focus at the moment in the teen’s development path is to build his fitness and physicality for the gruelling men’s tour. Dhamne has also played a lot more tournaments on the ITF circuit over the last couple of seasons.