“He Has a Big Game and Can Do Really Well” – Sidharth Rawat on Edging Past Karan Singh in Third-Set Tiebreak
Sidharth Rawat produced a stunning comeback at the ITF M25 Chennai, recovering from a set down to defeat 4th seed Karan Singh 5-7, 6-1, 7-6(3) in their first-round encounter. The world number 685 showed tremendous resilience against his higher-ranked compatriot, ranked 470, battling back after losing the first set and then holding his nerve in a decisive third-set tiebreak. Here are his thoughts on the hard-fought victory:
Q: A few words on today’s win — How does it feel?
Sidharth: This is my third time playing Karan. We had long matches previously also which went to third set. Same thing happened and today I would say he was playing really good. The first set I did not have any opening on his serves but in second set somehow he lost his momentum and I was playing at the same level throughout the match so that worked for me. But he has a big game and I think he can do really well.
Q: Your thoughts when it went to the tiebreak in the third set?
Sidharth: In tiebreak, I was fully focused on not missing many shots and it was suddenly 5-0. So I think I got the momentum at the start, which helped.
Q: Plans for 2026 in general?
Sidharth: As of now, my goal is to get into the Davis Cup team for the next time. So hopefully I’ll improve my rank for that.
Rawat will face the winner of the all-Indian clash between Manas Dhamne and Aryan Lakshmanan in the second round.
