Hi
I'm Ganesh Venkat. I'm a 39 year old IT Architect from Orlando. Since moving to
Orlando in 2015, I was looking for a competitive league and was glad to find
Tennis League Network and the Tennis-Orlando.com chapter and have been a regular in the league winning my first championship in the
summer of 2017 and striving to go from a "Competitive 3.5" to
"Advanced 4.0" and right now I’m somewhere in between :) From earlier
this year, I have become a little over obsessed with Tennis and enjoy hitting
with a few regulars here and I can say my game has got better and I’m always
looking at opportunities to improve my game.
Which league are you a member of?
Tennis
Orlando, MEN'S COMPETITIVE1 3.5
How
long have you participated in your league?
Started
in Spring 2015.
How
did you first learn about it?
Through
a guy called Chad Smith who I used to hit regularly when i moved here and then
a group of friends who actually enrolled in the league and are still playing.
How
often do you play?
I
try to play 2-3 times a week.
What
do you like most about the league?
The
flexibility and the flavor of opponents that the league provides. There is no
schedule enforcement unlike many other leagues that I have played. You can
never relax that you have beaten a guy, The next match can bring you down.
Tell
us about your most memorable match(es)
There
are a lot. Specifically I have to pick two matches. Beating Naveen
Marimuthu in a 2 set and a 3rd set Tie break. 7-6, 2-6 and
10-8. He was in peak form during that time and I was barely holding my own that
season, After holding on to a tough first set which I won 12-10 through a tie
break, He came back and obliterated me in the second set. I went for the shots
in the third set tie break and managed to win. But the match was memorable
because I was playing my shots where I intended them to go and it was a sweet
win
The
second match was beating Ken Wilkins in a three setter after going down in the
first. 2-6; 6-3; 6-3. Ken is one of the toughest competitors in the league and
I had beaten him a few times in another league before he had transformed
himself in to an effective counter-puncher. This match gave me so much
satisfaction that I was able to beat him in his own game.
Who
are your favorite rivals in the league? Why?
Hands
down Gowtham Ponnusamy and Naveen Marimuthu. Both of them are friends of mine
and Improved their game tremendously from where they started, we hit quiet
often since we live close and we know our pattern plays very well, So it's always
a good feeling to get the better of them, even if it means just for the
bragging rights.
Do
you have any other interesting comments about your experiences with the league?
Playing
the league organizer Steve was fun. It was so nice of him to take time
off from his schedule and play with the local players. The other thing is, The
variety of players you meet from all walks of life. I'm looking forward to the
year end Miami tournament..
How
did you get started playing tennis?
I
played some recreational tennis from 2001-2003 when I was in grade school at
Edwardsville, IL. In all seriousness though my friend Karthik Kannan from
St.Louis motivated me to pick up the racquet again and we started hitting again
in the 2011-2012 time frame and ever since I have not stopped. Even now we take
occasional tennis vacations to meet up and hit in Florida or Illinois. In fact,
he has a vacation planned in December to travel down here and we hope to play a
few times.
What
level player are you? (NTRP rating)
Advanced
3.75
What
do you love about tennis?
I
think it’s a sport that I can still play when I grow old. That’s something I
really love about Tennis.
Who
are your favorite pro players? Why?
Andre
Agassi and Rafael Nadal. Just for their flamboyant style.
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