Although it was a one-sided match, it came at the end of a spectacular week of tennis for a 15-year-old qualifier who did not even have an official rank on the WTA circuit at the start of the tournament.
Maaya had started her journey at the WTA 125 event, India’s biggest tournament for women’s tennis, as a wild card in the qualification round. For a player for whom the event was nowhere on the roster – she was in the country waiting for a European visa – the teenager from Coimbatore seized the opportunity by piling up win after remarkable win.
On Friday, she became the first Indian since Sania Mirza to reach the semi-final of a WTA home tournament in singles. Against Teichmann however, Maaya came across firepower she had never faced before. The left-handed Swiss No.2 is currently ranked world No.117.
“It was worse than I expected,” Maaya said after the match. “I was physically tired. I had a long week and my legs were slowing down, and I really rely on my legs. But I’m happy that I am able to compete well. Physically, I was not able to keep up after five-six matches at this level. I’ll have to improve on that.” The teenager from Coimbatore played six matches, including two in the qualifiers, and three of them were three-setters.
A few months ago Maaya had made news in India when she was selected to train at the Rafael Nadal Academy in Mallorca, Spain. But over the past week in Mumbai, she gave a good demonstration of her talent and potential.
An aggressive baseliner, Maaya hits big off both wings and has a keen eye for setting up a point. She played without any pressure throughout the week, but takes back many positive learnings, particularly after her match against Teichmann.
“I got to see what it’s like to play at the highest level,” she added. “As I improve, I’ll be playing more players like this. Even the top 100, 150 will play like this. But playing more players like this will give me the experience on how to play them.”
Next on the agenda is the trip to Mallorca and she heads there with her mind full of lessons from this special week in Mumbai.
