Abu Dhabi: After winning the Mubadala Tennis Community Cup, 13-year-old Rai Sengupta will participate in an exclusive coaching clinic with some of the world’s top tennis players during the Mubadala World Tennis Championship here.
Rai and several other kids will get the opportunity to interact with world number one Novak Djokovic and US Open champion Andy Murray during the three-day event.
Rai won the 14-and-under category in the Community Cup, which took place in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, and she expressed her enthusiasm about participating in the coaching clinics and watching the tennis stars in action.
“Every point [in the match] is just amazing and every time [a player scores] you’re on your toes,” Rai told Gulf News.
Rai, who trains with Professional Sports Services (PSS) Academy, started playing tennis five years ago when she first came to UAE from India and wanted to take up a sport. This was her second year of participating in the Community Cup.
“I used to play a lot of sports when I was in India and then when I came to the UAE I wasn’t playing much, so I decided to take up tennis,” said Rai, who hopes to one day play professionally. “My all-time favourite tennis star is Roger Federer.”
The fifth annual Community Cup offered a chance to players from as young as eight years old to compete against one another in their respective age categories — under-10s, under-12s, under-14s, under-16s, adults and mixed doubles. The event aims to encourage children to take up tennis, be healthy, learn new skills and gain a sense of achievement through competition.
