Mukund Sasikumar thread

[suresh]

[R2] (11) Sasikumar Mukund (IND,272) d (Q) Yoshihito Nishioka (JPN,71) 5-2 retd.

[sameerph]

Wow, first top 100 win for Mukund although he was a bit fortunate here as the Japanese retired.

Hope Mukund makes it count and creates further upsets in this tournament.

[R3] (11) Sasikumar Mukund (IND,272) vs. (7) Marcos Giron (USA,112)

[PKBasu]

[R2] (11) Sasikumar Mukund (IND,272) d (Q) Yoshihito Nishioka (JPN,71) 5-2 retd.

Terrific dominant set from Mukund against one of the best Asian players. Let’s really make this count now!

[jaydeep]

A positive start of the new season for Mukund ... In the doubles also, Mukund has a winning start with his partner Fajing Sun, they defeated Margaroli and Vavassori ... Next, they r facing the 3rd seed pairing of Hsieh and Arends.

At $54K+H Bendigo 2 Challenger 2020, Australia

[R1] Sasikumar Mukund (IND)/ Fajing Sun (CHN) bt Luca Margaroli (SUI)/ Andrea Vavassori (ITA) 63 64

[QF] Sasikumar Mukund (IND)/ Fajing Sun (CHN) vs (3) Sander Arends (NED)/ Cheng-Peng Hsieh (TPE)

[prasen9]

Nadal had very recently praised Nishioka. Tough battle in Perth Perhaps guy was tired after his heroics to start the year. But, still had to be put away and good that Mukund did it for a set before guy got discouraged and left. Hope he is not injured.

[Rajiv]

Mukund down a set (4 - 6) and 1 all on serve in the second set.

[sameerph]

The American proved too strong for Mukund.

At $54K(+H) Bendigo Challenger, Australia

[R3] (11) Sasikumar Mukund (IND,272) l. (7) Marcos Giron (USA,112) 46 36

Doubles
[QF] Sasikumar Mukund (IND)/ Fajing Sun (CHN) l (3) Sander Arends (NED)/ Cheng-Peng Hsieh (TPE) w/o

[prasen9]

But some progress forward.

[sameerph]

Sasi Kumar had a nice chat with coach Sureshkumar Sonachalam on his social media accounts which I listened to in part . This is an excerpt from Kamesh in Hindu -

Sasi Kumar Mukund: 'Youngsters better off with group coaching'

Some straight forward views by him -

Mukund was honest in conceding that it was unfair to project that the tennis players had “lost livelihood” because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“Most of us can afford food and housing. In India, we have jobs. We may be losing money, but we are not spending either,” said Mukund.

Mukund dismissed the idea of “defensive tennis”, saying that it was not a style of play any more.

“The ball travels faster. You can’t catch up. Playing defensive is not the answer,” said Mukund.

[knarayen]

Both Mukund and Suresh Kumar make valid points. Mukund should know by now that the right combo of defense and offence is what counts. The other guy should know that he is not getting ANY freebies. That is when the momentum shift really happens in any match. I don’t know how many of my students I have pounded this into, but only a few have really internalized it. I like Sureshkumar views on meditation. He should have added yoga also.

[sameerph]

Mukund started his jorney back to the pro tour this week but lost in first round.

At $60K Sibiu Challenger, Romania (Clay)

[R1] Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,287) l. Juan Manual Cerundolo (ARG) 46 67(5)

[vparam]

Does anyone know if Sasi is healthy and planning to return to the tour next year? Surprised he didn't play again after his close loss in Romania back in September. He clearly would have made the main draw in a number of challengers. Thanks.

[vishalg]

He had an unfortunate knife injury on his hand a few weeks back. He had mentioned he would be back soon as it wasn't too serious.
He was in the qualis list of recent US. Challengers but pulled out. I guess he is still recovering and 2020 is done for him.

[Dinesh]

I think he is based in his training location - Vienna (and very close to the shooting incident which happened a few weeks ago).

[vparam]

Sasi has now been elevated to the qualifying draw for the Antalya Open.