Divij Sharan is a man on a mission. After his Gold Medal win with doubles partner Rohan Bopanna, there seems to be no looking back. Fresh from winning his fourth career doubles title at the Tata Open in Pune earlier this month, Divij Photo: Bhagya Iyyavoo
is at his career-high ranking of No. 36 on the ATP rankings. In this exclusive interview with Advantage Tennis, Divij Sharan opens up about life after his Gold Medal win at the Asian Games and his plans for the future. You have been a successful doubles player having won four ATP world tour titles and are currently ranked 37. With the 2018 season coming to an end soon, what are your goals for 2019? It has been another positive year and in the last year my performance graph has been improving. At the end of last year I was ranked just inside the top 100, and this year I made it to No. 36. The quarter final at Wimbledon and the gold medal at the Asian games have been my best performance last year. I am very happy with my progress and it is just a matter of getting a few big results. My goal for this year is to crack into the top 20 and I am working hard towards it. In 2018, you made it to the quarter finals of the Wimbledon Championships. Is a Grand Slam doubles title getting to be a close and achievable goal? I made it to the quarter finals of Wimbledon I won three matches and I was just three matches away from winning the title. I have played 52
DIVIJ SHARAN An interview
some long close matches against the top teams in the world. I played against Lopez and Lopez in Paris recently who have won a few Grand Slams. These wins have been very encouraging for me and I don’t see why I cannot win a Grand Slam title, Ofcourse I would have to strike a few matches together to win a big event and I have to win six matches in a row, but I am feeling positive and believe strongly in my game. You have done India proud by winning the Gold medal in the men’s doubles event at the Palembang Asian games earlier this year. Are your sights now set on an Olympic medal?
Advantage Tennis Grand Slam Yearbook 2019
The Olympics are still two years away. My job is to keep playing better and improving on my results. Ofcourse it would be very special if a get a chance to play for India and win a medal. What did winning the Gold at the Asian games mean to your career? Tennis is an individual sports. I play for about 30 weeks a year on the circuit but playing for the Asian games was very exciting as there were athletes from different fields representing India and in such events like the Asian games, Olympics and the Davis cup, our wins get highlighted. Winning the Gold medal means a lot to me but along with me, my parents, my coaches and my team got recognition for our achievements. The effort we have been putting in and the sacrifices that have been made by them for me and my career all came into recognition. What has been the best win in your career? It is tough to say but the Gold
