Coach PC Vignesh on Hitesh Chauhan’s Dominant Roland Garros Juniors Q1 Win
Interviewer: So, hi. Thank you. Coach Vignesh, Hitesh Chauhan just secured a fantastic win in the first round of Roland Garros Juniors qualifying, defeating Junior World No. 55 Gabriele Crivellaro 6-3, 6-0. This must be incredibly satisfying. What are your initial thoughts on his performance?
Coach PC Vignesh: So, hi. Thank you. I think this is Hitesh’s best victory. And he played really well. Two days back, when we started new practice for the first time itself, I felt he was moving well and was striking the ball well.
Interviewer: So you had a good feeling even before the match, then?
Coach PC Vignesh: It felt I was confident the way he was playing. And today, into the match also, he showed a lot of character, playing all the good points, like important points, well. And, you know, he was fighting his way out. So I’m very happy with his performance.
Interviewer: The scoreline, 6-3, 6-0 against a top 50 junior player, and an Italian at that, is incredibly dominant. What do you think contributed to such a comprehensive victory?
Coach PC Vignesh: And the scoreline was like 6-3, 6-0 against almost a top 50 player. And that too, like an Italian player, I think. What do you think? Like, he did really well that made him have such a dominating match. Yeah, we were tactically very clear. There are certain things that I’ve told him before the match. So I felt he executed that really well. And he was able to get a lot of loose second balls and third balls where he was able to be very aggressive. So that was something that we worked on in the practice, and that helped him here.
Interviewer: So tactical execution was key. What else impressed you about Hitesh’s approach today?
Coach PC Vignesh: But, overall, I think his attitude was very good. He was very positive from the start. He was fighting, and he was moving well. So the Italian couldn’t get a free point out of him. So that is something that I think Hitesh did well. For the Italian to find it very difficult to change something and, you know, get better into the match. Overall, it’s a great, great victory.
Interviewer: You’ve been with Hitesh for a couple of Futures tournaments in India, and now here at Roland Garros. What are your general thoughts on his game and development?
Coach PC Vignesh: Yeah. And, you’ve been with Hitesh for like, couple of futures in Indian, futures. And then here. What are your thoughts on his game as such? Yeah. During the Indian Futures, I was with Karan and Yuvan, and I happened to see Hitesh for the first time there, and I was helping him out with few sessions there. And, I felt that he was playing well, but it was just that he was inexperienced at the Futures level, and he was expecting way too much from himself. So the performance was not great there. But I knew, seeing his game, I knew he has a potential where he can do much better than what he was doing then. So. Yeah, and now I see him again. I’m traveling with him for this week now. I have a lot of time to talk to him and work with him this week, so it’s good. Things are looking positive for me.
Interviewer: Excellent. Thank you, Coach Vignesh, for your time and insights.
Coach PC Vignesh: Cool. Thank you. Thank you for your time.
