Tejas Shevde emerges champ

by Sudhakar Shanbag
Posted on 2008-08-17
MARGAO- Margao-based Tejas Subodh Shevde won the J P Morgan Chase Aces tennis tournament at the grand Flushing Meadows in Corona Park, New York on Friday.
The Goan tennis child prodigy is currently training in the US under the watchful eyes of foreign coaches Richard and Tina at New York.
Tejas, who is on an exposure trip to the US, participated in the prestigious J P Morgan tournament, which was played on US Open courts.
The event was a 6-game pro-set tournament where the famous William sisters Serena and Venus had won as teenagers during their formative years.
Tejas was placed in the top half of the draw as his booming forehands and of course his single-handed backhand were exemplary during his consistent display in the U-12 boys category.
Tejas’ Indian mentor and coach Ravikiran, who is the director of Tennis Foundation Hyderabad, lauded the Margao boy’s feat, saying: “It was a perfect display of competitive tennis from Tejas. He served well and his powerful forehand was very devastating and his single-handed backhand was most imposing.”
“His down the line winners of both forehand and backhand gave him an edge over the opponent to win the tournament inspite of facing highly experienced opponents,” Ravikiran added.
Tejas, 11, was the youngest participant at the event as he demonstrated a perfect display of all-round tennis and won the tournament in grand style.
Tejas was also rewarded two passes for US Open Kids day where he would get an opportunity to be with top tennis stars like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova.