Australian Open: I Could Not Play to my Potential, Says Yuki Bhambri

Yuki Bhambri lamented that he could not play to his true potential against world number six Tomas Berdych but his first round outing at the Australian Open has made him realise that he is not too far from the top lot in world tennis. (Tomas Berdych Decimates Yuki Bhambri in Australian Open First Round)

Bhambri hit some stunning winners in his duel with Berdych but fizzled out after a tight first set. The 23-year-old Yuki made a lot of unforced errors to make it easy for his superior Czech Republic opponent.

Was he trying too hard, going for those extravagant aggressive shots, which he could not rein in?

"You always try hard but that was not the real reason for errors. But I wasn't at all close to my potential," Yuki said.

Injury lay-off

Yuki felt that going straight into the tournament without a competitive match under his belt, following an injury lay-off, was a factor in his defeat.

"I fought a lot for my points but I wasn't completely at ease. I knew it would be a bit difficult as this was only the 10th day when I have held a racket after two months. And facing a top player on top of that was always going to be a bit difficult," he said.

Before the match, Yuki had said that playing against a top player like Berdych will help him assess his game. Asked what was his evaluation, Yuki sounded confident.

"I feel that I am not really that far and there is not that big a difference between players. It's more about consistently performing the whole year," he said.

Better results in the offing

Yuki succeeded in breaking the top-100 barrier in the 2015 season and he was confident of getting better results in the new season.

"If I stay healthy I don't see why I should not have a good or even better year (than 2015). I feel like my career has just begun and I have only spent one year on the Pro tour. Matches are going to get tougher as I plan to compete at the higher level tournaments whenever it is possible and I hope that I can be ready for them."

Financial constraint

Yuki said, due to financial constraints, he cannot have a full-time travelling coach and will try to juggle his trainer and coach when he is travelling.

"There is no one on a permanent basis for now as it very very costly and it's just not possible to do with the minimal support that I have but I will look to mix it with a coach and trainer and try and do whatever is possible by myself," he said.

Yuki's success in 2015 can be attributed to a travelling trainer, who helps him recover faster from the matches.

As for coach, Yuki said he has spoken to a few people but they have demanded a one-year deal which he can't afford. The player says he has been told by coaches that if "you don't have a sponsor, you can't afford us". Not being part of the government's TOPS scheme either, Yuki says it has been a struggle.

Yuki's next assignment is an ATP 250 event in Sofia, Bulgaria in the first week of February.