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[R2] (Q) Mahak JAIN (IND,835) 4-6 5-7 (6) Berfu CENGIZ (TUR,398)

Not sure where Mahak is playing after this.

Looks like she put up a pretty good fight.

Mahak is in the entry list of a $25K ITF tournament in Lubbock, Texas next week. She will have to qualify for the main draw.

AT $25,000 Lubbock, TX

QR1 [14] Mahak JAIN (IND,670) vs Michaela GORDON (USA,970)

Mahak lost in Q1.

At $25K ITF Women, Lubbock,Texas,USA

[Q1] (14) Mahak JAIN (IND,670) l. Michaela GORDON (USA,970) 75 46 26

Gordon was ranked #21 in ITF juniors and is currently playing for Stanford University in NCAA. So, her WTA rankings is a bit misleading.

With her Navi Mumbai ITF SF points update, Mahak has moved up to a new career high of #521 in the latest WTA rankings. She is now #17 in those under 18 years of age. I think she is the first one to be among top 20 in the WTA age group rankings in a while. Pranjala is #25 in under 20 and Karman #32 in under 21. I don't think they have crossed top 20 so far.

I think this year she would target something like top 350, even better is she can get to top 300 which would make her among top 15 in her age group.

At W25 Canberra, Australia

Mahak is a one and done player this week losing in the first round of qualifying.

[QR1] Yuuki TANAKA d [10] Mahak JAIN 5-7 6-4 10-8

Oh, these super tie breaks in singles must be so frustrating for players. It is a hit or miss. Mahak is playing a tournament after more than a month. Sad that she loses out. She will be there for the 25K next week too at Canberra.

Mahak starts with a win this week.

At $25K ITF Women, Canberra, Australia

[Q1] (8) Mahak JAIN (IND,514) d. Bojana MARINKOV (AUS,784) 64 62

Next one is a tougher match.

[Q2] (3) Mahak JAIN (IND,514) vs. (2) Romy KOELZER (GER,408)

Mahak lost in straight sets.

At $25K ITF Women, Canberra, Australia

[Q2] (3) Mahak JAIN (IND,514) l. (2) Romy KOELZER (GER,408) 36 57

So, unsuccessful couple of weeks for Mahak in Australia. But, she needs to play more and more at this level to get sharper.

What's her financial backing? Must be good if she can fly around like she has been.

S_K_S wrote: ↑Tue Mar 26, 2019 12:33 pm What's her financial backing? Must be good if she can fly around like she has been.

Source: Interview with Mahak

Mahak wrote:I have one sponsor-Lakshya, which sponsors and helps me a lot with my travelling and everything. I’m also sponsored by Head(for racquets).

Thanks. Don't agree with the not watching other sports statement. I guess it's difficult when you are a professional player to find the time but you can learn so much from other sports.

And Mahak has not been flying around at all. This was her first tournament abroad this year and last year too she did not play as many tournaments as she should have. She has probably lost some momentum it seems due to this infrequent period of play.

sameerph wrote: ↑Tue Mar 26, 2019 3:54 pmAnd Mahak has not been flying around at all. This was her first tournament abroad this year and last year too she did not play as many tournaments as she should have. She has probably lost some momentum it seems due to this infrequent period of play.

She should have continued playing the higher end junior tournaments, from the looks of it. She is playing way too few matches. The same old same old that all Indian players are advised to do. That is to go pro too early and waste a couple of years playing too few matches, with the highfalutin talk that "you get better only by playing the best" and all that BS. Nobody seems to think that some not-so-tough matches are also needed for you to fine tune your shot and strategy arsenals better. Plus if you are playing to a plan, the top-end junior events give you a lot of matches against players of top-400 to top-700 quality. Probably even about as many as you would get from 10-15 events in a year of pro tour with and average of 1.5 match per event. With accommodation provided, the ITF tour is cheaper too. Oh well. I have lost my voice complaining about it, that I don't even do that much anymore..... Nobody needs to listen to me, but they should at least check what the only Indian player to ever make world top-50 from the women's side did, and how she progressed from age 17 to 20. Show me any of the women who hit the pro tour at age 16 and 17 showing Sania's progress at that age.