Karnal’s Karan Singh discusses his game, goals and idols

The last couple of years has seen the discovery of some young, exciting Indian talent in both the men’s and women’s side of the game. One of those has been Karan Singh, a 21 year old from Karnal in Haryana. Karan, known for his aggressive gameplay, defeated an equally promising Aryan Shah in Bengaluru Open 2025, and played a close three setter against former top 100 player, Juri Rodionov in the next round. The performance to the author seemed like the coming of age for Karan, who played his heart out, showed great gameplay and more importantly, showed tremendous mental fortitude. Indian Tennis Daily caught up with Karan Singh on the sidelines of this tournament to ask him a few questions.

Q. So could you just tell us about your journey? When did you start playing tennis? 

Karan: So I started playing tennis when I was 11 years old. I started a bit late. I had an interest in many sports right from the beginning, but tennis was all new for me. But because my dad used to play many sports, he also always wanted me to be in some sport, especially because I was not so good in academics. He wanted to put me in an individual sport, and that’s why he chose tennis.

It has been ten years since I started playing tennis. So I live in Karnal in Haryana. So I started playing tennis there, and I played there for almost six years. And a couple of years ago, I moved out. I was in Delhi initially, and right now I’m in Chandigarh.

Q. Could you tell us about your current coach at Chandigarh?

Karan: Currently my coach is Mr. Aditya Sachdeva. I’m training at Round Glass Tennis Academy in Chandigarh. I just joined it a few months back. The team is great there. It’s the best facility I’ve had so far, which is really important as well.

Karan Singh with Mr. Aditya Sachdeva

Q. What are the things that you’re working on currently in terms of your game?

Karan: Many things, but right now, I would say the mental part of my game because while I feel like I have a great game, mentally, I felt I wasn’t too strong. So we’re trying to work on that, trying to simulate match situations in practice and make it feel like a real match.

Q. Today, during your match at Bengaluru Open 2025, I saw you coming up to the net a lot. Is that something that you’ve started doing recently? Tell us a little bit more about this.

Karan: I always used to love coming on the net, but we’ve been working on it as well. And I think it’s helping me as well. Here [in Bengaluru] because it’s higher altitude as well, the ball flies, so it’s good to volley.

Q. You recently were a part of the Davis Cup squad against Togo. Can you tell us about the experience?

Karan: It was a wonderful experience for me. It’s something I’ve never experienced before. I think being a debutant, everything was new for me. Everyone was so welcoming in the team. The environment was good, I would say. I really enjoyed it personally. 

Q. What are your goals for 2025?

Karan: I mean this year until now, it has been a bit tough for me. I mean, it’s because I started playing more Challengers this year. I’ve primarily played Challengers since this January and it hasn’t gone my way so far. I’ll keep playing Challengers and we’ll see how it goes. But my long term goal for 2025 is to be inside the ATP top 250. 

Karan with his Tunisia M15 runners-up trophy in September 2024.

Q. You were just talking about how you started playing Challengers this year. How has the transition been in terms of the level of tennis that you see in the ITF Futures level versus in the Challenger level?

Karan: I think it’s very different. In the Challenger level, whatever match you play, you play against a good player- they are either in top 200 or top 300. But in ITF, you do play players ranked around 1,000 or let’s say 700-800. So, I mean, you have to be more solid throughout the whole match. You cannot go easy at all. So that’s what I’m working on as well, and we’ll see how it goes in the coming times.

Q. Is doubles also a part of your plan, to mix up your game, or is singles the main focus right now?

Karan: I don’t think so. I just play doubles just sometimes to get used to the conditions before playing singles. So doubles is, I mean, not my priority or something right now.

Karan with his Brazzaville Challenger title he won in November 2024.

Q. We have a lot of youngsters coming up right now both in the men’s and women’s side of the game. How is it like for you as an Indian player? 

Karan: Of course, it’s a great thing. We have many players coming from India. As you said, Aryan is there, Manas is there. So I think it’s good for tennis generally because most of our other players are around 28-29. So I think it’s good for our tennis. They’ve been doing well in the ITF circuit. I hope they can do much better in the Challenger level too so that they can get used to playing more Challengers and bigger tournaments.

Q. Is there a healthy competition among you to do better and push each other to be better?

Karan: I mean, I really don’t think about these things. I was never about these things. I just try to focus on myself but I’m very happy these guys are also doing well and I obviously support them.

Q. Growing up watching tennis, who was the player that you looked up to the most?

Karan: I would say I looked up more to Rafa, but Dominic Thiem was also my idol. I used to love his game as well- how he played and his playing style. I really used to enjoy watching him. It’s sad that he’s not playing anymore.  With Rafa, it was his fighting spirit. And with Dominic Thiem it was just his overall game and how he was how he used to play. I tried to copy him, but I couldn’t, but still I try to be more aggressive like he was.

Q. Last question. Who according to you is the GOAT?
Karan: For me it’s Rafa because I like him so much. But if you’d say go with the numbers point of view, it’s Novak for sure.