Karman Kaur Thandi is just like any other 24-year-old. Some days she enjoys dressing up, putting on make-up and going out, some days she prefers to stay home and watch rom-coms. The only difference? She also puts in full days, starting at 6 am, working out, practising for hours on the court, doing rehab, and oh yeah, absolutely crushing it when she’s playing tennis, representing India on a global level.

All in the family

It takes a special kind of motivation to dedicate one’s entire life to a sport, a motivation that comes from within and is very much enabled by the support system you have around you. But one could say sport was in her blood.

Karman’s maternal grandfather, a retired police officer, was an athlete, representing India at the 110 metre hurdles at the Asia Cup. Her mother, Rajandeep Thandi, was a national-level athlete too, who ran the 100 metres and also competed in long jumps. Her father’s side of the family, Karman says, was always more interested in studying!

Born and brought up in New Delhi, Karman and her brother Simranjit were both active kids, and their parents sent them for tennis lessons pretty early on just so the two kids could keep busy, and stay active.

“When I was eight, my parents put my brother and I in tennis lessons during summer vacations,” Karman remembers. “And that wasn’t the only sport we played. We also played soccer, skating… we even did horse riding! But I improved really fast in tennis; the coaches also saw potential, so they eventually told mum and dad, ‘she should pursue this.’ But the main thing was, I really enjoyed playing tennis.”

She then started playing junior tournaments, while her brother explored other sports like cricket and soccer. The first tournament she ever played, she lost at the finals. “But I made the finals,” Karman emphasises. “It was the competition, the urge of competing, going out there to win, the winning feeling—all of that really motivated me to get going in this sport.”

As Karman grew older and started playing the bigger level tournaments like the ITF (International Tennis Federation) Juniors—she played all four grand slams—it gave her a peek into what would come if she continued to pursue tennis, professionally. “Being there in the Junior Grand Slams, Australian Open, Wimbledon, US Open, and watching the top players play, practice and compete, and being in that atmosphere was incredibly motivating,” she recalls. “The only thought I had at that point was to get back into that world, playing seniors at the Grand Slam.”

In fact, the young, laser-focussed Karman would give herself pep talks. “In the locker room, after matches as a junior, I would tell myself I’m coming back here as soon as I can,” she smiles.

Eye on the ball

Ever since she was a child, Karman has been determined to do what she wants, and follow it through. “Once I set my mind on something, decide that this is what I want to do, I put everything into it, and I can’t sit idle until it’s finished,” she says.

This is why she considers herself lucky that her parents have always been 100 per cent supportive of her journey, but knows that no one would have it any other way. “My brother, my entire family, have all sacrificed so much, but it’s been a choice we made. There’s nothing we regret doing or think negative of. Hats off to my mum and dad for supporting me throughout this journey.”

She acknowledges that her parents play different, but equally important roles, when it comes to her career. “Dad is the control centre at home. I mean, he’s involved in a lot of the planning, but mum is always travelling with me. And that’s a huge thing if you think about it. Somebody can do it for a year or two, but doing it for 13-15 years, that’s a big deal,” she chuckles.

All that travelling, practice and competing meant she did have to miss school and important events, but Karman has no regrets. “I attended regular school until eighth grade. After that, I was travelling a lot for tournaments within India,” she explains. “I was in Ryan International [New Delhi], and I am really, really grateful to the school. There were so many exams I had to miss. But they told me to just go out and play, and whenever I was back, I could give my half-yearly exams.”

This also meant that she had to keep studying while she was travelling, carrying her books and keeping up with her school work at the same time. “But not having to give those weekly exams really helped,” she exclaims.

Professionally speaking

Personally, Karman is reserved, and describes herself as an introvert. “I was never a very outgoing girl, in the sense that it always took me time to make friends,” she says. Fortunately, having to miss school often didn’t interfere with her social life all that much. “The friendships I have, they’ve remained the same. It doesn’t matter if we don’t talk for a month or two; it’s going to be the same when we meet—like we never left off.”

Surprisingly, she says she isn’t a different person once she’s on the court. “I don’t think you can be two different people on and off court,” she muses. “Everything that you are off-court comes into play when you’re on the court, she says. “But,” she adds with a mischievous smile, “maybe you can’t be as nice as you are off-court once you’re playing. You have to fight for the win—the aggression, the passion comes out when I’m playing.”

Currently, Karman trains at the RoundGlass Tennis Academy in Chandigarh, under her coach of 13 years, Aditya Sachdeva. It isn’t just passion that drives Karman, however. She’s been working hard her entire life to get to where she is right now, and that doesn’t come without a lot of hard work, determination, and a gruelling schedule.

“I spend six to eight hours a day training, starting around 7 in the morning, getting my rehab and physio done before I play. I play two hours of tennis then, before lunch. Then I play another hour and a half, then two hours of fitness, then recovery for another hour, and then I go back home by around 6 pm,” Karman tells me.

This is a routine that wouldn’t be considered ‘normal’ for most 24-year-olds, but she does manage to stay sane, and reiterates that she has absolutely zero regrets. “A lot of people tell me that I’ve missed out on so many things. But what I tell them is that it’s my choice. This is how I want to live.”

That doesn’t mean that she doesn’t take time out for herself. “Going shopping on the weekends, watching Netflix, getting my hair and nails done—I do like all these dressy things—especially on Sundays. After I sleep in!” she laughs.

Believe it

Recently, Karman won the $60,000 ITF tournament in Canada, one of her biggest wins. However, she reckons that her biggest career high so far has been ranking 196 in the WTA rankings, in 2019. After that, unfortunately, she suffered a shoulder injury which put her off tennis for about nine months. “Now I’m at a low; I’m in the top 220, but it gives me a chance to play the Grand Slams again, come January,” she reveals.

In 2023, she’ll be playing more high-level tournaments, including some WTAs and ITFs, and hopes to play all four Grand Slams. The ultimate goal for her? “I want to be Top 10 or 20 in the world,” she says without hesitation.

Does she think it’s harder to be a female athlete in this country? “Personally, I haven’t faced any issues, or negatives. I think things are really changing and girls are evolving into doing such a great job, getting medals. Look at PV Sindhu! That’s why I always say, Sania [Mirza] changed a lot coming into this sport, because she did stuff that changed the world.”

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From HT Brunch, December 3, 2022

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