My father K.S.Vaidyanathan was my 1st coach and I still admire the way he played a father-cum coach's role to perfection. In my 1st ever National Under 12 tournament, I reached the semi-final and went on to win my 1st National title in Under 14 age group at the age of 13. One year later in 1991, I won the National Women’s title at age 14 and from then on, I have had an unbeaten record in India.
I won National Women’s title in 92,93,94,95 and 96.
In 1996, I moved to Luxembourg where I underwent training to play professional tennis. I turned professional at the age of 18 and started playing mainly in Europe. In the 1st year I climbed to 450 in the rankings. I was more attuned to the travel and professional way of life the next year and won my major title in Bad Gogging, Germany beating some of the Top 100 players en route to the title and rose to 180 in World rankings.
I shifted my base to Sarasota, USA in 1997 where I trained with David O Meara who was the former coach of Leander Paes for two years. By then my ranking was in the 160s and in 1999 Australian Open, I became the first Indian woman in the modern era to win a round at a Grand Slam. I trained in New York and was coached by my brother Ganesh for the next 3 years.
Between 1999-2003, I have been on the expert commentary team along with Indian tennis legend Vijay Amritraj for ESPN-STAR sports, one of Asia’s biggest TV networks for Wimbledon, U.S. Open and other grand slam events.
Now, I am thrilled to be able to share my thoughts and experiences with all the tennis enthusiasts in the South Bay Area.Achievements:
Career Highlights:
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Member of Indian Olympic Tennis Squad in 2000 for Sydney Olympics.
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Best WTA ranking of 132. Victories against top-50 world players like Magdaleena Maleeva, Sylvia Plishke, Mirijana Lucic, Prakusya and Janet Lee.
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Partnered World No. 1 Kim Clijsters in doubles in WTA event in Belgium.
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Played against Venus and Serena Williams in 2000 Australian Open doubles event.
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Played Wimbledon (from 1999-2001)
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Played U.S. Open (from 1999-2002)
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Played Australian Open (from 1999-2001)
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Played French Open (from 1999-2002)
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Played several other major tournaments around the world.
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No 1 Player for India for 10 years in Asian Games, Fed Cup, South Asian Federation Games and World Youth Cup. Led India to Asia Group 1 in Fed Cup.
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Bronze medallist in Asian Games 1998 in mixed doubles with Mahesh Bhupathi.
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Triple gold medallist at SAF games in Chennai 1995.
For complete career statistics please click here.