“Manas Dhamne is more aggressive now” – Gianluigi Quinzi, Coach of Manas

17-yr old Indian Tennis prodigy Manas Dhamne is in Bengaluru to play the ATP 125 Challenger.

Indian Tennis Daily had an opportunity to catch up with his coach Gianluigi Quinzi (former Junior World No. 1) on his progress so far.

Deepthi Indukuri: Hey Gianluigi. Manas played against the No. 1 seed at the Pune Challenger. How do you review that match?

Gianluigi Quinzi: It was good. He had a lot of chances to win the first set. As he has less experience, he struggled a bit. For me, it’s important that he has the level to play with this guy. So after that, it doesn’t matter – if Manas is winning or losing. The more matches that he’s playing, the more he is going into this level.

So I’m very happy for the improvement in Manas during the last 6-7 months.

Deepthi Indukuri: How long have you been working with Manas?

Gianluigi Quinzi: Three years. I came to Piatti. I retired from pro tennis and after like 3-4 months, I thought about what to do in my life and then I started to collaborate with Ricardo (Piatti) in 2022. I started over there to understand a bit – the profession of coach.

And yes I’m over there since then. Since I arrived, after a couple of months, I started to train Manas.

Deepthi Indukuri: I’m sure it’s very different from playing.

Gianluigi Quinzi: Yeah, for sure. You need to have a lot of patience because the difficult things that I was thinking is a bit different. What the approach is with coaches, it’s a bit that you need to understand the player a bit and listen to a player, because otherwise it’s a bit of a difficult thing.

So it’s about understanding 360 degrees of the player that you have in front. So this is the difficult part for me to be a coach at the top level.

Deepthi Indukuri: And how’s the 3 yrs journey with Manas been for you?

Gianluigi Quinzi: It’s good because Manas is a happy boy and he lives for tennis. This is the most important thing. He is very hard worker and we keep going.

Deepthi Indukuri: Manas has 23-5 win-loss record this year and won his maiden pro title in Tunisia. What do you think has improved in his game recently?

Gianluigi Quinzi: First of all for me, he improved very good physically.

When I started with him – physically he was a bit struggling. So in the last couple of years, he improved very good physically. Now the most important thing is that Manas in this time period, we are putting him in a situation to stay a bit more aggressive because he was a bit struggling on that part.

So Manas is more aggressive now and he’s believing more on his game. So this is the most important thing.

Deepthi Indukuri: So there’s a lot of strength and conditioning physical work that’s going on right now?

Gianluigi Quinzi: Yes, a lot. Because he is not big player. He needs to grow. He is 17 years old. So he need to grow and understand his body. So this is the most important thing.

Deepthi Indukuri: And how do you review his game as he looks to make the jump from M25s to the ATP Challengers this year?

Gianluigi Quinzi: He needs to improve the serve because at the Futures level and on the ATP Challenger level, it’s a big weapon. So he need to prove a bit, the service. And he knows it.

Additionally, a lot is to be to done to attack and come a bit to the net. Sometimes he’s struggling to go to the net. So we are putting him in a situation to come a bit to the net to win some points at the net.

And as discussed already, take care of his body physically.

Deepthi Indukuri: What about the mental aspect of things with Manas?

Gianluigi Quinzi: Mental aspect is important because of course he is in the center of attention. That is normal. So you need to handle this situation. So he has a mental coach at the Piatti Tennis center, that is helping him.

We are working on that part. You need to improve a lot. But he’s 17, so he’s young.

Deepthi Indukuri: And on the physical aspect again, Manas used to struggle a lot with cramps.

Gianluigi Quinzi: Now he’s not cramping anymore. So for me, it was a physical part, but maybe also mental part. And now with the mental coach. Now he’s getting better on this situation. So since an year, he doesn’t have cramps. So this for us is very important.

Deepthi Indukuri: Bangalore has high altitude. How are you finding the playing conditions here?

Gianluigi Quinzi: Not easy. That’s why we came four or five days ago to handle a bit all the conditions. Now Manas every day is pushing hard and he’s playing better and better. So I think he’s ready to do a good tournament.

Deepthi Indukuri: What’s the focus for 2025 for Manas? And what does his near term schedule look like now?

Gianluigi Quinzi: I don’t know after here what the schedule is. Maybe to play some futures events, mixed with ATP Challenger events when he can.

We are not focused too much on the ranking. We want to improve Manas physically, mentally, technically and everything. If you have a good level, somehow you can change the ranking.

So this is important.

Deepthi Indukuri: Manas Dhamne might qualify for the Junior Grand Slams via his ATP ranking. So is the the plan to play them?

Gianluigi Quinzi: I don’t know, because Ricardo Piatti is the decider for Manas. If he’s going to play then maybe only the French Open and the Wimbledon. We do not know.