MUMBAI, May 1: Life looked Perfect for Hrushida Kamthe as 1995 drew to a close. She had just won the Junior Nationals in Patna and was eagerly looking forward to a tennis scholarship in the University of Miami, the hotbed of American tennis.

At the age of 16, with three under-16 and three under-18 National title under her belt, Kamthe was rightly billed as the future of Indian women's tennis.

And then, everything went wrong. In the fag end of December 1995, while doing her regular stretching exercises, Kamthe tore her knee muscles. That, and a nagging back problem, meant she had to say good-bye to what she loved most for the next year and a half.

``It was most frustrating. I would go to the courts and just watch the others play. Sometimes I picked up the racket, but my coach would not let me play after ten minutes. All I did was sit at home and watch the television,'' remembers Kamthe.

The injury also demolished her American dreams. ``I had booked the air tickets and was fully ready. And then came the injury. I also had to take a drop from academics that year,'' says the 18-year-old Pune girl.

Among her various achievements before that period was a three-gold performance during the Pune National Games.

As the injury healed, she started practising with coach Hemant Bendre in PYC, Pune, and Tulsi Rathore in Kolhapur. The on-going Maharasthra State Hard Court Tennis Championship happens to be her comeback tournament. And when she beat the second seed Archana Venkataraman in the quarter-finals today, her confidence was restored to its pristine level.

``I still have to work a lot on my physical fitness,'' said Kamthe after the grueling two-and-a-half hour match. Though she looked quite fresh, she said: ``Out there, I was panting on the court.

``Because of the lay-off, I am not very confident about my strokes yet. And I am not volleying well either. That's the reason I was playing more of a defensive tennis rather than an attacking one,'' Kamthe added.

The injury has also changed her priorities. ``Earlier, I badly wanted to go to the US. Now I have decided to stay back and complete my studies in India.'' Kamthe will be joining first year BA at the Ferguson College, Pune.

Kamthe, who idolises Steffi Graf for her ``good heart, hard-working nature and out-of-the-world tennis'', seems to be enjoying everything life throws up at her at the moment. When she isn't playing tennis, she is busy swimming, listening to all kinds of music, or just getting into her dancing shoes.

But she is very serious in one sphere of her life tennis. ``I have never thought of any other professional but tennis. I want to keep on playing and improving as long as I can,'' she says.

The second innings has well and truly begun for Kamthe.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.