From college tennis to pro tour, Dhakshineswar learning to survive on his own
At Wake Forest University, Dhakshineswar Suresh always had someone around him. Teammates to train with, friends to share the journey and a support system working towards the same goal.
The professional tour is a different world.
Here, the recently graduated Indian tennis player has to travel alone, look after his body, manage his schedule, find the right coach and stay mentally steady, often while playing tournaments week after week.
The transition has given him a new understanding of what it takes to make it as a professional, with his biggest learning being that possessing the level is only the beginning.
"I found out that I do have the level. It's just how consistent I can be like that on a day-to-day basis and every week. Because tennis season is pretty long," Dhakshineswar told PTI ahead of India's Davis Cup tie against South Korea.
"So if I can keep that level up throughout the whole year, then I know I can make it to the top. I just need to put the work in and be consistent."
Dhakshineswar's belief in his ability was reinforced by his breakthrough Davis Cup outing against the Netherlands in February, where he won three matches, playing a key role in India's victory.
But several months on, the 26-year-old has deliberately put that performance behind him.
"We just completely put that in the past. Work on being the person and then see what we can do from here."
The Davis Cup may have provided Dhakshinewar his first big taste of what he can achieve. The pro tour, however, is teaching him what it takes to do it repeatedly.
"You just got to stay consistent. Even on bad days, you got to show up and put the work in. And that's what it takes to get to the top. And I'm ready to do it."
Tennis not just about tennis
Dhakshineswar is now discovering that the biggest difference is not necessarily the tennis itself but everything that happens around it.
"It's a little bit harder. But that's part of the deal. You need to be willing to put the effort in to do all those things."
At university, the structure was built around him. On the professional circuit, he has to build that structure himself.
The pro tour, though, has given him an independence he could not experience in college.
"I really love the way that you get to travel a lot and play in different surfaces, play in different conditions, play in front of a different crowd, try out new food."
But with that freedom comes responsibility. There are no teammates to fall back on and no university programme to dictate his daily routine.
"Now I play tournaments every week. So given how my body is, I need to be fit physically in order to play back-to-back. I've learned that I need to work a lot on my physical side and then travel with someone to just keep me mentally stable."
It is perhaps the most important lesson Dhakshineswar has taken from his first phase as a professional: success is as much about looking after himself off the court as it is about hitting tennis balls.
He has watched India's more experienced players closely, especially the amount of work they put into their bodies away from competition.
"I just see how much time Sumit spends off-court and getting his body prepared and that's what it takes to be at the top. I've been learning. It's not just about how much tennis you play on-court, it's about how you take care of yourself off-court as well. That's one of the main things I learned from them."
For Dhakshineswar, physical preparation is especially important given his own concerns about injuries.
"Given my body, my height, I'm pretty injury prone. Definitely do a lot of rehab and wherever I'm injury specific, not let that happen. Just work on keeping my body where it doesn't give up when I'm playing a five-set and a Grand Slam. That's what I need to work on."
The professional tour has therefore forced him to grow beyond simply being a tennis player. He now has to become his own support system.
Even the question of finding a coach is part of that process. Dhakshinewar said he has a few options but wants to find someone with whom he is comfortable.
250 is target for 2026, later top-50
His immediate target is to break into the top-250 by the end of the season, which would give him an opportunity to enter Grand Slam qualifying from next year.
"That's my biggest goal," said the 367th ranked player.
The long-term ambition is to reach the top 50, but Dhakshineswar knows the road from his current position will require sustained work rather than another isolated breakthrough.
"I would like to be in the top 50. It's a long way to get there. You need to put a lot of work in and I'm ready to do that."
That mindset will now be tested again in Seoul, where India are counting on him after his impressive Davis Cup debut against the Netherlands.
"Coming into this, they believe that I can do it again and I do believe it myself. But it takes a whole team to get that done. So yeah, we're just preparing as a team right now."
He has limited experience against Korea's players, having watched some of them on the tour and in Challenger events, but does not want to overanalyse the opposition.
"As far as the match goes, I would just go in there and believe in myself. They might get the game at the end of the day. You can't overthink," he said.
