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In my opinion the win against Kokkinakis in straight sets was a small breakthrough moment in his career

I wouldn't say so, although it was a nice win over a guy who was ranked 60 in the pro rankings when he was 18 (3 years ago) and played all four Slams that year (making R2 at the AO and R3 at the FO). He hasn't quite lived up to that promise since -- apart from the sensational R1 victory over Federer at the Miami Masters (Key Biscayne) this year. At 18, Kokkinakis and Kyrgios were the next big thing and got a lot of wildcards -- something that an Indian kid, no matter how good, will rarely receive because of AITA's general lack of international connections and nous.

Winning the title here, on the other hand, would be a breakthrough (as it was for Sugita last year). Or making the SF at either DenBosch or Antalya (preferably both!). Nothing like going to Wimbledon full of confidence about one's abilities on grass.

PKBasu wrote: ↑Fri Jun 08, 2018 11:38 am I wouldn't say so, although it was a nice win over a guy who was ranked 60 in the pro rankings when he was 18 (3 years ago) and played all four Slams that year (making R2 at the AO and R3 at the FO). He hasn't quite lived up to that promise since -- apart from the sensational R1 victory over Federer at the Miami Masters (Key Biscayne) this year. At 18, Kokkinakis and Kyrgios were the next big thing and got a lot of wildcards -- something that an Indian kid, no matter how good, will rarely receive because of AITA's general lack of international connections and nous.

Kokkinakis also struggles with injuries in his short career ... He played only one match in 2016 after undergoing shoulder surgery ... He was thinking of retirement after string of injuries like groin, pectoral and elbow problems in last 2 years ... He had a freak injury at the Monte Carlo Masters, as he had fell on a sponsor board at the back of the court during his first round match against Karen Khachanov.

Thanasi Kokkinakis’ wretched injury run continues after fall over advertising barrier in Monte Carlo

Yuki is surprised at exclusion from tops scheme.

Yuki Bhambri surprised at TOPS exclusion, AITA backs top singles player

There was news earlier that he did not take the tops money this year as he did not want to compete at Asiad. So, why is he surprised now ? This government support is for Asiad/olympics medal aspirants. So, if he looks like making it to Olympics, they would start supporting Yuki again.

Most of the athletes included in TOPS are not medal prospects at even the Asian Games level which is where a lot of the angst comes from.

In my opinion, they should support our best athletes instead and set reasonable goals; and in the case of Yuki with him missing davis cup as well, those haven't been met.

Yuki is still at a very healthy #56 in the Race to London rankings. Illustrative of the fact that he has played from the start of the season without significant (injury-related) breaks.

Vishnu Reddy has conducted a terrific interview with Stephen Koon, Yuki’s current coach. Hopefully he’ll post it here soon.

Two points stand out for me: he says this year will be the breakthrough year for Yuki.
And Yuki is one of only 2 guys in the top-100 without sponsorship. This aspect is really galling!

PKBasu wrote: ↑Sat Jun 30, 2018 8:10 amAnd Yuki is one of only 2 guys in the top-100 without sponsorship. This aspect is really galling!

Even more reason that he should take things like Davis Cup and Asiad seriously. If you need to get sponsorship from India, you better do something that puts you in the news. He has not done enough of that. Now, in other countries, what he has done in his pro career may be enough. Not in India.

PKBasu wrote: ↑Sat Jun 30, 2018 8:10 am Vishnu Reddy has conducted a terrific interview with Stephen Koon, Yuki’s current coach. Hopefully he’ll post it here soon.

Two points stand out for me: he says this year will be the breakthrough year for Yuki.
And Yuki is one of only 2 guys in the top-100 without sponsorship. This aspect is really galling!

Sharing as you mentioned: https://indiantennisdaily.com/2018/07/0 ... ch-part-2/

Have added a question or two on his sponsorship status based on discussion with Mr. Koon over the past day or two.

That is an excellent interview, Vishnu.

This is a good one in regard to what we had discussed in Wimbeldon thread -

Injuries are like losses, you learn from them. That means either there is something wrong with your technique or with your body. If you look at Yuki, he never had the same injury twice. He has had different injuries. He had an abdominal, an ankle, a tennis elbow, shoulder impingement, knee but they are not the same injuries.

The media generally gives Yuki a lot of flak for his injuries. If Yuki makes it big at 30 or when he was 16 – how does it matter when you don’t have anyone else out here in the first place? If he makes it The main thing will be – thank god he made it. This might be his best year when he is like 25/26 – just support that. Don’t always look for what can go wrong, that’s a very Negative way of looking at things.

Thanks for posting that terrific, insightful interview, Vishnu.

And Happy Birthday to Yuki!

VReddy wrote: ↑Wed Jul 04, 2018 10:09 am

PKBasu wrote: ↑Sat Jun 30, 2018 8:10 am Vishnu Reddy has conducted a terrific interview with Stephen Koon, Yuki’s current coach. Hopefully he’ll post it here soon.

Two points stand out for me: he says this year will be the breakthrough year for Yuki.
And Yuki is one of only 2 guys in the top-100 without sponsorship. This aspect is really galling!

Sharing as you mentioned: https://indiantennisdaily.com/2018/07/0 ... ch-part-2/

Have added a question or two on his sponsorship status based on discussion with Mr. Koon over the past day or two.

Great interview! Confirms many of my thoughts on Yuki. It appears that Yuki didn't work all that hard in his formative years as a coach even using the work "lazy" with respect to a world class athlete doesn't reflect well on the work ethic of the world class athlete at that time. Appears that he is now bought in and has shown some improvement when he has been fit. However, once you have injuries, it is really hard to come back and be effective. Sometimes, you injure other areas because you are compensating for one area. For example, Yuki literally pushing his serve at 100 mph gives him almost no free points and he has to work extra hard from the back court on every point both when serving and when returning and this in turn can cause more stress injuries for him in other areas of his body.

Since Yuki is coming back from 2 major injuries (and several other minor ones), it is probably best not to expect too much in terms of him playing a lot at a high level. Even Somdev couldn't get back to a decent level after his second major injury and Saketh hasn't been able to crack the top 300 nearly 2 years after his first major injury. So, we will likely see small spells of top 50 tennis from him on hard courts when he is fit and then the inevitable niggle will dictate what he does thereafter...

Interesting—we read what we want to in the interview transcripts.

while I sympathize w the lack of sponsorship etc., I do believe that this issue is overblown. there are enough opptys for top Indian players to show results and earn disproportionate share in sponsorship in India, nowadays. It is no longer acceptable to lament sponsorship, but trust that if you produce meaningful results, rest will take care of itself. there is no point worrying about stuff you can't control much.