Yuki Bhambri

[PKBasu]

Weird that he pulled out of both Cincinnati and Vancouver

[prasen9]

Good that I do not have any hair!

[PKBasu]

The most surprising statistic from Yuki's match against Go Soeda in Q1 of the US Open is that Yuki did not come to the net even once in the entire match. This is especially surprising given that Yuki won all 16 points in the third set against Monfils (at the Citi Open) when he forayed to the net. If it worked so well against one of the top-20 players of the past decades, why wouldn't it work against a guy now ranked 133? Methinks there is an injury that Yuki is playing through...

[vatsal323]

PKB, don't rely on that stat. They don't update that stat in qualies matches. For confirmation, check results from yesterday on that same court, you would see the same stat for all matches. And it isn't possible that noone came to the net even once. So skip that stat!

[knarayen]

PKB, don't rely on that stat. They don't update that stat in qualies matches. For confirmation, check results from yesterday on that same court, you would see the same stat for all matches. And it isn't possible that noone came to the net even once. So skip that stat!

Thanks for this revealing bit of information. Methinks there is an opportunity here for image recognition analytics........

Prof

[vparam]

Anyone have an update on Yuki's health and when and where he may play next?

[PKBasu]

Yuki is supposed to play at the US$150K Tashkent Challenger in Uzbekistan next week. He is currently 11th on the list of acceptances for next week -- so not likely to be seeded if everyone turns up.

[PKBasu]

Following the Tashkent Challenger, Yuki will be playing the qualifiers of the ATP250 Kremlin Cup (indoor hard courts) in Moscow. I think this is a smart move, because fast indoor courts will suit Yuki's game.

[sameerph]

And the week after that, Yuki is playing in Ho Chi Minh city challenger in Vietnam ( along with Prajnesh, Saketh and Sumit).

After a long time seeing Yuki lined up for 4 straight weeks ( including this week in Taiwan).

[prasen9]

This guy used to be our generational talent. Yes, I know being junior world #1 or winning a junior GS does not mean that you will be senior #1. But, his career has been one of heartbreak. I hope he wins a few challengers and gets ready for next year for one last hurrah! Come on Yuki. You can do it. To start off, one full year in the top-100 without injury at least playing 15-20 tournaments, hopefully most at the ATP level. That's my early new year's wish.

[Observer]

He is only 25. We shouldn't already start talking about last Hurrahs. There is a chance that he might learn to manage his body better with age and realize a significant part of his potential. With modern advancements in nutrition and fitness its possible to maintain tennis fitness well into ones 30s. I hope he is able to keep up the motivation because he has a lot of time.

[prasen9]

True. But, did someone as injury-prone as Yuki suddenly become fit at 25 and play onto 35? I don't know of anyone. I would be glad to be provided a comparable.

[naryy]

I don't how relevant would this be, but I could give you a Football example. Robin Van Persie , who played for Arsenal and Man United, was a very injury-prone forward. Touted as a successor to Dennis Bergkamp at Arsenal, there were fears that he wouldn't fulfill his potential but at 27 he started to play for an extended period and somehow churned out 3 largely injury-free seasons. He won the golden boot and even the Premier League with United. He was regarded as one of the best forwards in the game at that time (2010-2014)

There must have come a point where he just learned how to handle his body or there could be other factors in play as well. But knowing one's body would surely come into the equation when one suddenly stops getting frequently injured.

[Prashant]

There's undoubtedly a lot you can do to be less injury prone. Exercise, nutrition, scheduling, yoga, training, posture, playing style etc.

But, there is always a healthy dose of luck, or lack thereof, as well. Van Persie was largely lots of bad luck followed by years of good luck, without too much of a difference in training. In US sports, Gordon Hayward is a good example - a completely freak accident that happens maybe once in 10,000 times, and takes a full year away from a fitness freak in his prime. Of course, Yuki needs to improve on the scheduling at least. Perhaps on all the other aspects too, I don't know. But apart from any of that we just have to hope Yuki has better luck too.

On the flip side, at the highest level, Djokovic completely changed his career through diet modifications. Verdasco had a great beginning to his career, then a big slide, and came back through a grueling fitness regimen. Or you could take the most extreme example of Simona Halep who went from also ran to world #1 after breast reduction surgery I know these are much better careers than Yuki, but they are examples of mid-career habit changes that produced great results.

[Observer]

He needs to improve his game further and becomes good enough to need to play lesser and still be secure about his ranking and funds. If we hypothetically take away those 2 insecurities(Ranking and money), he might be able to reach a much better place relatively easily. Unfortunately in the real world he would have to do it himself by raising his game.