Just how important is a professional coach’s role in shaping the fortunes of a sportsperson with the right attributes is epitomised in the meteoric rise of Chandigarh’s young tennis star Ribhav Saroha to the top of the under-16 boys age category national rankings.
The 15-year-old Class 9 student of DAV Public School, Sector 8, Chandigarh, under the guidance of international coach and former Portugal Davis Cup player Marco Seruca, achieved the AITA No. 1 ranking in the under-16 age category in weekly rankings announced on June 16, 2025 (though in subsequent rankings released on June 23 and June 30 Prakaash Sarran from Karnataka has again hit the top spot, pushing the Chandigarh lad to the second rank).
This marks a remarkable climb up the ladder this year for the lanky Chandigarh player, who had been languishing in the rankings in between 25-56 in his age category in the last quarter of 2024.
Marco Seruca, who represented his country Portugal in Europe in the late 1980s and now trains budding young tennis talent at the MS Star Academy in Kansal, after a two-year stint with the Chandigarh Lawn Tennis Association (CLTA) in Sector 10 Chandigarh, is gung-ho about Ribhav Saroha going on to become one of India’s top men’s tennis players.
“He has all the attributes of making it big at the international level. There is nothing which can be described as a natural weakness in his game. He has a fantastic overall game and is quickly learning and working hard on improving every attribute of his game required to be successful at the highest level of the game,” the coach gushes with a proud glint in his eyes.
Advertisement
And the trainee reciprocates: “Marco Sir has been the best thing which ever happened to me. I’m enjoying every moment of my training and competing in and winning national series and international junior tournaments. I’m preparing hard for the upcoming ITF junior tournaments and hope to make a strong transition to the men’s circuit next year.”
His doting parents, Nagender Saroha and Dr. Saroj Saroha, who have been pillars of strength for Ribhav, agree: “For Ribhav the day begins and ends with Marco Sir on his lips. So devoted is he towards his coach. The depth of the relationship, of course, is reciprocal.”
Ribhav has been under Marco’s wings for the last three years, the first two years being at CLTA. The partnership has continued as Marco parted ways with CLTA a year ago over differences in approach to training.
The ITF-certified Portuguese tennis mentor, who has more than two dozen budding boys and girls training under him and his team of coaches and support staff at the academy’s clay courts, shares that there is no dearth of tennis talent in the country. The only aspect holding Indian tennis back is that it is failing to keep pace with fast-emerging training methodologies and micromanagement of the abundant talent.
Though in terms of ranking, Ribhav Saroha may be the top performer among Marco’s trainees, but others too are getting into winning ways with successes in national and international tournaments.
Ribhav Saroha’s recent winning performances
Boys under-16 doubles winner in HPCL Mittal Energy Ltd. CLTA-AITA Championship Series Tennis Tournament held at the CLTA complex in Chandigarh from October 21-25, 2024
A golden double: Won both the singles and doubles crown in the Asia (U-16) Tennis Tournament held at Shree Ram Tennis Academy at Jind in Haryana.
Silver medal in the boys (individual) U-17 category at the 68th National School Games Lawn Tennis Championship 2024-25 held at Aurangabad in Maharashtra from February 3-6, 2025.
Won 2nd consecutive Asian U-16 tournament in singles and doubles held at Joygaon Tennis Academy in Jhajjar (Haryana) from March 31-April 4, 2025.
Runners-up Boys U-18 singles in the AITA National Series Tennis Tournament held at the CLTA Chandigarh from April 21-26, 2025
Won doubles title and secured runners-up finish in the National Series Under-16 Tennis Tournament held in Jalandhar (Punjab) from June 2-7, 2025.
