Yuki Bhambri, who aspires to play his first Grand Slam since 2018, will kick off his 2022 Australian Open qualifying campaign against Joao Domingues on Tuesday. Eliminated in 2019 and 2020 due to tendonitis in both knees, the Indian tennis star made his comeback in February 2021 and played in two ATP tournaments. However, he was again unlucky when he tested positive for Covid-19 in April. The 29-year-old then made his comeback in November 2021, competing in the ITF India F6 tournament and winning a doubles title with Saketh Myneni. Already in Melbourne for his preparation for the Australian Open, he has joined Michael Venus for an ATP event, where the duo had to leave in the first round. Speaking from Melbourne during a media interaction, Bhambri spoke of changes to his game ahead of his Grand Slam comeback and revealed that he has been working on his strength rather than speed.
“Small changes, sometimes also off the field with your diet, with your conditioning. Also for me in the last 5-6 months I spent a lot more time on strength, building myself, increasing my strength instead of working a lot more about my speed. That’s something I needed for my need to be stronger. So there’s kind of subtle changes you make,” he said.
He also opened up about his preference not to make “major changes” to his playing style.
“There are no big changes that you make over time. I think the basics you learned or the style you learned growing up after 18, 19, 20 is very hard to change. It’s muscle memory “I’ve always loved attacking, I’ve always been the kind of player who would take my chances, come to the net when I can. Finish points quickly,” he said.
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“So for me to suddenly become a counter-puncher where I would wait for an opponent to make mistakes wouldn’t work. It’s just what you practice over the years and what you feel comfortable with and how you see yourself playing, is kind of the way you always want it. There are never big big changes, you’re always tweaking things,” he added.
His long absence dropped the Olympic Youth Silver Medalist to a world ranking of 1035, but his protected ranking of 127 allowed his entry into the event’s qualifiers. The 29-year-old will be inspired by his achievement to become the first Indian to win a junior Australian Open title in 2009.
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