Who is Srishti Kiran? The Indian tennis prodigy ranked highest among U-13 players worldwide

India has never had a singles player break into the top 10 of the senior world rankings, either in the men's or women's game, with Vijay Amritraj's career-high ranking of 18 in 1980 remaining the country's best. However, Indian tennis does boast one of the world's brightest young talents in Srishti Kiran, who is currently the top-ranked player among U-13 players worldwide after a sensational run in recent months.

The 13-year-old climbed to the top after winning five consecutive ITF junior titles and finishing runner-up at the World Tennis Tour Juniors J100 event in Guatemala last week. Srishti, as a result, has climbed to a career-best ITF Junior ranking of 357, making her the highest-ranked player among U-13 competitors.

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"I'm really happy to become World No. 1 in my age group. It's something I wasn't thinking about at the start of the year, but all the hard work with my coaches, family and support team is paying off," Srishti was quoted by news agency Press Trust of India as saying.

"The last few weeks have been very special. Winning five titles in a row and then reaching another final has given me a lot of confidence. At the same time, I know there is still a long way to go and many things I need to improve in my game," she added.

What makes Srishti's ascent even more remarkable is the fact that she climbed to the top of the rankings despite playing fewer events compared to most other players in the ITF junior circuit. ITF junior rankings, after all, are calculated from a maximum of 10 events and Srishti participated in eight, missing two events due to financial and logistical issues.

Who is Srishti Kiran? 

Srishti, who turns 14 this Sunday, hails from the city of Bengaluru, where her parents, Vinaya Kiran and Kiran Gopalrajan, run a retail showroom, and is an eighth-grade student at the Baldwin Girls High School.

Her father was an athlete himself growing up and wanted to become a cricketer, according to Deccan Herald, but was forced to give up the sport in order to focus on education. Gopalrajan, however, is leaving no stone unturned to ensure that his daughter gets to fulfill her ambition of becoming a world-class athlete.

Srishti, in fact, was an athlete from an early age, right from kindergarten, which gave her father the belief that she could achieve success in the world of sport if given proper training.

“Even when Srishti was 3 years old, she was faster and smarter than kids of her age. I couldn’t become a cricketer because of my parent’s financial limitations. But when I saw Srishti doing things beyond her age, that’s when I realised Srishti could be nurtured into an athlete," Gopalarajan told the Bengaluru-based English daily.

Srishti, who trains under Dhyan Uthappa at the Tennis Advantage Academy, had begun her tennis journey at the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association in Bengaluru when she was just four and a half years old. She would then make headlines at the age of 7 when she became the youngest ever in India to win consecutive AITA U-10 Championships.

Srishti would later win the U-10 Global Junior Tour Dubai Bowl tournament and help India win back-to-back gold medals at the ITF World Junior Tennis regional qualifiers.