Srinivasan carves out niche at Penn

Penn junior Shubha Srinivasan, a native of India, has found a comfortable home on the Quakers women's tennis team. At the young age of six, when many children's lives are consumed by dolls, trucks and kindergarten, Penn junior Shubha Srinivasan picked up a tennis racket for the first time. Little did she know she was about to develop a passion for tennis that would bring her to international competition. Born in Madras, India, a young Srinivasan became fascinated with cricket, a sport her father played at an international level. Her mother, however, was not thrilled at the idea of having two cricket players in the family. "My mom thought it was a rough sport for girls," Srinivasan said. "She knew I wanted a ball game where I'd hit the ball so she put me in tennis." Srinivasan began taking private lessons. At age nine, she won her first tournament -- a co-ed, under-10 event -- and attracted the attention of a state association that recruits and provides coaching for the top four junior players in the country. This tournament was just the beginning of a promising tennis career. At age 12, Srinivasan had soared to the No. 2 rank in India in the under-14 age group. At this time, she broke away from the state association and was taken under the wing of personal coach Shiva Kumar, who coached her for the next three years, during which Srinivasan played at the international level for the first time. In 1992, Srinivasan, along with three other girls, represented India in the World Youth Cup. The team of four reached the semifinals before falling to Korea. When she was 15, Srinivasan changed coaches to Sunda Ram, who began coaching in India after playing tennis for UCLA. Under Ram's tutelage, Srinivasan edged her way into the top four in women's singles in India. She played in the World Youth Cup again in '94. This time, India's team came out sixth of 15 teams. Because Indian high schools do not have tennis teams, Srinivasan continued to develop her game with private lessons. By the time she was 16, she was ranked No. 1 in India's under-16s and No. 3 in the under-18s. At this point, she began playing in junior world-ranking tournaments and traveling around Asia, Europe and Australia. She received her highest world junior ranking of 83 at age 17. Then the time came for Srinivasan to begin looking at colleges. She decided that an Indian college might not be the best option and started to consider American schools. "I felt like college tennis in India was not very structured," Srinivasan said. "I realized I wanted a good education to fall back on." Because the great distance between America and India made college visits unrealistic, Srinivasan conducted her college search by phone and written material. Of all the coaches Srinivasan talked to, Penn coach Michael Dowd made the best impression. "[Dowd] was very inspiring, very confident of himself," Srinivasan said. "He sounded like he would look out for his team players. I thought he would be like a second mom to me at Penn." Upon first arriving at Penn, Srinivasan -- who had primarily competed individually in India -- made the adjustment to being part of a tennis team. "My first thoughts were, 'Should I compete with these girls or help them?'" Srinivasan recalled. "I [soon] realized they were a family and [that the team] was a system where you help each other mutually to reach a higher level as a team." Srinivasan acknowledged the great difference between playing for a team and playing for yourself. "[When you're not on a team] you can blow a match and say to yourself 'next match, next tournament,'" she said. "But here? you have a responsibility to play well for your team." Dowd fully met Srinivasan's expectations. "I have a great relationship with him," Srinivasan said of Dowd. "When I play a dual match for Penn and he's on the court I usually win. He's like a lucky charm. He really cares for all his players." The admiration is mutual. Though Dowd recruited Srinivasan without ever having seen her play, he correctly guessed she would be able to help the team win -- and to date she has never lost a dual match at Penn. "Shubha's level-headed and competitive," Dowd said. "She handles competition very well. My confidence in Shubha has risen greatly over the past few years." Srinivasan, who is a Philosophy, Politics and Economics major, plans to go to law school after graduating. Teammate and roommate Justyna Wojas spoke admiringly of her friend. "[Shubha is] really competitive on the court," she said. "She's like a professional tennis player. She works hard, she goes to every practice and she's a good team player." As her roommate, of course, Wojas knows her better than most. "She's a very social person," she added, "and very humorous." Though Srinivasan has only two more years of college, her tennis days are far from over. "I will play tennis my entire life," she said. "Nothing in this world gives me more happiness than hitting a tennis ball."