Washington College Magazine
Tennis Ace Shows Great Promise
He's one of the hardest workers I've had the opportunity to coach, and he deeply cares about his tennis and how it impacts our team's success," comments tennis coach Constantine Ananiadis about first-year player Anantha Bhaskar. Bhaskar arrived at Washington this spring, via India, to earn a degree and play tennis for the nationally ranked Shoremen. Bhaskar started playing tennis at an early age in his hometown of Chennai.
Anantha Bhaskar, a first-year player from Chennai, India, already has his sights set on professional competition in his post-college years.
"Right from the start I wanted to become one of the best tennis players in the world," says Bhaskar, whom teammates have dubbed "Baxter."
"My parents have given all the support that I need."
When Bhaskar started thinking about his future this time last year, he realized that he might have to leave his native homeland to achieve his goals. "I have always wanted to play professional tennis. As you know it takes a lot of money to do so, and my parents and I just could not afford it. This was when I was seriously thinking of moving to the United States to play tennis," says Bhaskar.
The idea of receiving a college education while playing tennis appealed to him. "In India they do not have the kind of educational system where students can study and play competitive sports at the same time," he says. "There is no clear tennis structure at the collegiate level. There are just some matches here and there, and there is one India inter-university tournament which takes place once a year. Here in America, we get to play a lot of matches."
Ananiadis, who was an assistant coach at University of Virginia prior to arriving at WC in 2003, used his UVA connections to recruit Bhaskar. "My friend Somdev Varman goes to UVA. He and I used to train together," explains Bhaskar. "His coach at Virginia had come to India to recruit him. I also met the coach, and he said he could help me, so I ended up getting in touch with Coach Constantine through him."
In his first season, Bhaskar achieved a 16-5 record in singles (primarily No. 3), and a 17-4 mark with Rafael Roldan at No. 3 doubles, helping to lead the Shoremen to their 12th Centennial Conference title.
Coach Ananiadis sees a bright future for one of his top newcomers. "Baxter has been a huge part of our success this season, and the best thing about it is that his best tennis is ahead of him. I can see him developing into a national-caliber player over the next few years, with an NCAA singles championship selection within his grasp as early as next year."
Once he earns a degree, Bhaskar wants to see how he will fare against some of the world's best tennis competition. "I want to play in professional tournaments after college and see where I am in the world of tennis. With hard work I hope I can achieve what I want."
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