Purav Raja thread...

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Purav Raja thread...

Post by S_K_S »

Purav Raja took back to back doubles title with his partner Jiri Krkoska at the UK F2 and F3 Futures Circuit tournaments.

I was able to spend some time with Purav over the course of the two weeks and it was a pleasure to meet him.  He is a player with a lot of potential as he combines power with touch which is very rare in the modern game. He has a big first serve and good ground strokes but what I think separates him from the pack is his touch play. He has excellent hands which gives him the ability to manufacture shots with amazing angles. During the infamous match against the tall Norwegian he was lobbing the tall player consistently and the Norwegian was saying that he has never been lobbed so many times. I don't think there are many in the present generation who have the touch play that Purav has.

As a person he is excellent company and a good laugh is always around the corner when he is present. His laid back character is a big asset when you are on the tour.

In terms of area of improvements his overall fitness level can certainly be improved and if he can take that laid back character onto the court then there will certainly be more success for him.
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Re: Purav Raja thread...(2 time UK futures Doubles Champion)

Post by Insider »

Interesting--I have never heard Purav spoken of as someone with so much talent.  With such an array of skills, I wonder why he has never been ranked higher than #813 in the world.  Good luck to him.
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Re: Purav Raja thread...(2 time UK futures Doubles Champion)

Post by amr090 »

sadly i have a sneaking suspicion there are a lot of guys in india with raw potential yet languish on the lower rungs....case and point sunil sipaeya....unfortunately it takes a lot more than just talent to make it anywhere close to the top...hope things change soon....
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Re: Purav Raja thread...(2 time UK futures Doubles Champion)

Post by BSharma »

S_K_S wrote: Purav Raja took back to back doubles title with his partner Jiri Krkoska at the UK F2 and F3 Futures Circuit tournaments.

I was able to spend some time with Purav over the course of the two weeks and it was a pleasure to meet him.  He is a player with a lot of potential as he combines power with touch which is very rare in the modern game.
Congratulations to Purav for winning the doubles title in UK and a big thanks to Samarth for providing us the non-sports side of Purav.  We often read only about the sporting side of the players and we get to see the non-sporting side when they do something wrong. 

The lobs reminded me about Ramanathan Krishnan and his use of a now-forgotten weapon against Mike Sangster and Fred Stolle.  I saw Ramanathan Krishnan play several times against the big serving Englishman and Aussie and the Indian maestro would hit perfect lobs when they would charge the net. 
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Re: Purav Raja thread...(2 time UK futures Doubles Champion)

Post by S_K_S »

Insider wrote: Interesting--I have never heard Purav spoken of as someone with so much talent.  With such an array of skills, I wonder why he has never been ranked higher than #813 in the world.  Good luck to him.
Well he was the national champion in 06 but his achievement was downgraded as none of the big names turned up. His results certainly are not on par with his talent and he can certainly be more consistent. With experience he will also know when to use his power game and when to use his touch play. Sometimes there are opponents who you know you can blow away but other times there are opponents who love the pace and so you have to use the variation more. He certainly has a good understanding of the game and the analysis of opponents between Harsh and him was interesting. Anyone who can hold their own with Harsh in analysis must know what they are talking about!  :D He just has to take it to the next level and execute on court.
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Re: Purav Raja thread...(2 time UK futures Doubles Champion)

Post by BSharma »

S_K_S wrote: ... His results certainly are not on par with his talent and he can certainly be more consistent. With experience he will also know when to use his power game and when to use his touch play. .... He certainly has a good understanding of the game and the analysis of opponents between Harsh and him was interesting. ... He just has to take it to the next level and execute on court.
I think the key to success is the last comment by Samarth -- "take it to the next level and execute on court."

Many players have the shots, but executing them in a match against good opponents is key to success.  Daniel Chopra is an example of a golfer who has all the shots - perhaps more than what is needed of a touring pro - and it took him so many years to put it all together.  A victory on the PGA Tour late last year and winning the season opener (Mercedes Championship) made the wait worthwhile for him and his fans.  Purav has to learn to execute on the court and keep on improving.  Easy for me to say...yes?  :D
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Re: Purav Raja thread...(2 time UK futures Doubles Champion)

Post by PKBasu »

Thanks, Samarth, for starting a thread for Purav. He has earned it with two successive Futures doubles titles overseas. The good thing about Purav is that he has invested time and money in playing overseas (especially in the UK) quite regularly since winning the national title in 2006. The results will come -- as indeed they already have in doubles. Singles will surely follow. Unfortunately those subtle skills -- touch, lobbing, etc. -- are not quite as valuable in today's game as they were before the mid-1970s, i.e., the era of the wooden racquet. 
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Re: Purav Raja thread...(2 time UK futures Doubles Champion)

Post by jaydeep »

Thanks Samarth for starting this thread and give very interesting info about Purav ... I also heard from Kirtanes that Purav having talent to succeed on tour but frankly this never seen on tour in singles ... I think off-season practice with Rohan, Sania, Mahesh and Aisam helped him (but currently in doubles results).
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Re: Purav Raja thread...(2 time UK futures Doubles Champion)

Post by jaydeep »

This week Purav is playing at San Remo challenger.

At €30K San Remo Tennis Cup, Italy (Red clay)

[R1] (2) Purav Raja (IND)/ Olivier Charroin (FRA) vs Tomasz Bednarek (POL)/ Boy Westerhof (NED)
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Re: Purav Raja thread...(2 time UK futures Doubles Champion)

Post by jaydeep »

Seeded pair of Purav and Charroin didn't manage to produce comeback win and lost in super tie-break.

At €30K San Remo Tennis Cup, Italy (Red clay)

[R1] (2) Purav Raja (IND)/ Olivier Charroin (FRA) l Tomasz Bednarek (POL)/ Boy Westerhof (NED) 67(4) 64 (3)10
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Re: Purav Raja thread...(2 time UK futures Doubles Champion)

Post by jaydeep »

This week Purav playing with Australian partner at Izmir Cup.

At $75K+H Izmir Cup, Turkey

[R1] Purav Raja (IND)/ Joseph Sirianni (AUS) vs Andrea Stoppini (ITA)/ Todd Widom (USA)
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Re: Purav Raja thread...(2 time UK futures Doubles Champion)

Post by jaydeep »

Still searching for first win on European tour.

At $75K+H Izmir Cup, Turkey

[R1] Purav Raja (IND)/ Joseph Sirianni (AUS) l Andrea Stoppini (ITA)/ Todd Widom (USA) 36 46
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Re: Purav Raja thread...(2 time UK futures Doubles Champion)

Post by jaydeep »

While qualifying for maindraw Purav scored one of his best comeback win over top-500 type player, who was top-50 on tour in 2004.

At $35K Fergana Challenger, Uzbekistan

[Q1] (6) Purav Raja (IND,922) bt Artem Tarasov (UZB,UNR) 61 64
[Q2] (6) Purav Raja (IND,922) bt Aziz Yuldashev (UZB,UNR)63 60
[Q3] (6) Purav Raja (IND,922) bt (2) Irakli Labadze (GEO,509) 46 61 62

[R1] (Q) Purav Raja (IND,922) vs Ti Chen (TPE,375)

Doubles
[R1] Purav Raja (IND)/ Samuel Groth (AUS) vs Evgeny Kirillov (RUS)/ Alexandre Kudryavtsev (RUS)
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Re: Purav Raja thread...(2 time UK futures Doubles Champion)

Post by Insider »

Ooh, well done Purav.
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Re: Purav Raja thread...(2 time UK futures Doubles Champion)

Post by PKBasu »

Wow, good (and rare) singles win for Purav at the Challenger level. Good luck against Ti Chen.
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