This time last year, Vaidehi Chaudhari couldn’t help but rue her luck. Struck by a serious bout of Covid in April, Vaidehi was barely crawling her way back into tennis-playing fitness when she was hit by dengue. A twisted ankle pegged her further back. So did another round of Covid—albeit not as intense as the first one—in February this year.
Winning her maiden senior national crown on the back of the whirlwind 18 months makes it that much sweeter for the 22-year-old. Vaidehi, the 2017 U-18 national champion, lifted the Fenesta Open National Tennis Championship women’s singles title in New Delhi on Sunday, brushing aside Sai Samhitha Chamarthi 6-2, 6-0 in the final.
It capped a fruitful season for the 554th-ranked Vaidehi after making two ITF W15 finals in Gurugram and Monastir and beating India No 1 Ankita Raina in another ITF event in Gurugram. “This year has been quite powerful in terms of my performances,” the Ahmedabad-based player said.
That was hardly the case last year. An extremely symptomatic Covid infection followed by dengue meant she couldn’t even summon the strength to do her routine jogs on the court, let alone extract power behind her strokes. From April to late November, she did not play a competitive match.
“It took me almost eight months to recover and for my body to feel fine again. I was not fit enough to compete or even complete a match. It was only due to the support of my parents and (coach) Jignesh sir that I managed to get through that phase,” she said.
Jignesh Raval, Vaidehi’s coach in Ahmedabad, could sense the after-effects of those back-to-back health setbacks in his ward. “Up until two months ago, it was evident that it continued to bother her. She kept getting tired after matches, feeling a lot more sluggish and just did not feel right physically,” Raval said.
Having coached her for 11 years, Raval isn’t surprised that Vaidehi has been able to fight those obstacles. In only her second tournament back after the eight-month layoff in December, she reached the final of the ITF W15 in Solapur.
“She’s a fighter—that’s the biggest quality in her. She is a strong girl, very focused and disciplined. As a coach, I don’t have to worry about distractions with her. She handles herself professionally,” he said.
Vaidehi has played 13 tournaments this year on the ITF tour, almost double from last year. Apart from health issues, financial constraints have also contributed to that. With international trips more expensive and complex amid the pandemic last year, Vaidehi couldn’t afford too much travel. From a middle-class family, Vaidehi doesn’t have sponsors and relies on funding from the Sports Authority of Gujarat for travel.
“Last year, she could only play a few tournaments. Hopefully, now she can travel a lot more and compete regularly on the international circuit. The plan is to play at least 12-15 ITF tournaments in 2023 and get her ranking to go higher,” Raval said.
That’s where the Fenesta title, and the winner’s cheque of ₹3 lakh, will come in handy. “My target is to crack into the top 500 (rankings) by year end and also represent India in the Fed Cup. This national title will help boost my energy and belief,” Vaidehi said.
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