India's latest Davis Cup team member Karan Rastogi, who was part of the team that beat New Zealand 3-2 in Invercargill, New Zealand, and his coach D S Rama Rao were felicitated by Maharashtra's Chief Minister, Sushilkumar Shinde, Home Minister (Rural) Kripashankar Singh, MP Sunil Dutt and actor Dilip Kumar at a function in Mumbai on Tuesday.
Later in the evening, Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association president Bharat Oza, on behalf of MSLTA, also hailed Rastogi's recent achievements.
Apart from being in the Indian Davis Cup team against New Zealand, Rastogi reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open Junior Grand Slam in January this year. He is only the fourth Indian junior -- after Ramanathan Krishnan, Ramesh Krishnan and Leander Paes -- to reach the singles semi-finals of a junior Grand Slam.
Following his exploits in the Australian Open, Rastogi was immediately rewarded a berth in the Indian Davis Cup squad against New Zealand. His hard work, perseverance and commitment to tennis finally paid off.
"I was extremely delighted when Leander [Paes] walked up to me and said I was in the Davis Cup team," recalled Karan at the MSLTA on Tuesday.
"I didn't know how to react and I was at a loss for words to express my joy. It was such a great honour. Though I didn't play a game in New Zealand it all the same was a great learning experience. There was so much to pick up by just watching Leander and Mahesh [Bhupathi] play," Karan continued.
"Earlier in Australia too, Leander would monitor my progress in the Australian Open and constantly offer tips. This surely helped improve my game. As I go along, I will definitely put those into practice," he added.
Karan is currently No. 5 in the world junior rankings, the highest by an Indian junior since Paes in the last 14 years. He also is the current No. 1 in the National Junior Rankings and is the highest ranked Asian player in the world junior rankings.
The 17-year-old, a resident of Versova, Andheri, the constituency of MP Sunil Dutt, started playing tennis at the age of three and was trained in his formative years by D.S. Rama Rao.
"Karan has the potential to reach the top 100 in the world senior rankings," said Rao confidently.
"He came to me at Practennis as a tiny tot and when he started hitting the ball I knew we had a quality player in the making. Of course, he put in a great effort to reach this level and he has a lot to owe to his parents too, who made a lot of sacrifices and encouraged him all along.
"Karan is fortunate to have good support from various quarters at the moment. But to play, compete and succeed at the international level, he will need to travel abroad extensively with a professional coach," said Rao.
Currently Karan trains at the Practennis School of Tennis in Andheri, Mumbai, National Tennis Academy, Gurgaon (managed by the All India Tennis Association) and the renowned Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy, Florida, USA (managed by IMG).
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