In December 2019, an 11-year-old from Pune stepped onto the courts at the Eddie Herr International Junior Championship in Bradenton, Florida.

He had no expectations and no idea he was about to make history.

Though he lost the first set of the final, Dhamne rallied past American Max Exsted, 3-6, 6-0, 10-6, to become the first Indian ever to win the Under-12 title at the prestigious event, joining past Eddie Herr champions like Maria Sharapova and Andy Roddick.

Six years later, he's a regular at the same Italian academy that built Jannik Sinner and is giving Indian tennis fans lots of reasons to be hopeful.

It's Tuesday, so here's One to Watch... Manas Dhamne.

The story starts on a motorcycle.

Manas was four years old, riding with his father Manoj through Pune, when he spotted kids hitting tennis balls on a set of public courts. He told his father he wanted to play, but the coach turned him away saying he was too young.

On his fifth birthday, Manas reminded his parents about the courts, who began carting him to practice three days a week. The talent showed itself early and he soon had his first serious coach, Arati Ponnappa Natekar, a former international player married to seven-time Indian national champion Gaurav Natekar.

The progression was swift for the young Indian, who arrived at Riccardo Piatti's academy on the Italian Riviera when he was 13, first visiting for an eight-day trial before COVID shut borders and visa delays kept him away for over a year. When he finally arrived permanently, he was a continent away from his family in Pune, attending school remotely, learning to train in a language he didn't speak. He describes the coaching staff as "like family now."

At the Bengaluru Open in January, Dhamne upset #5 seed Matej Dodig in three sets and followed it with a win over former top 200 Beibit Zhukayev to reach his first Challenger quarterfinal. In Manama, he qualified for an ATP Challenger 125 by beating two Top 350 players before running into world #102 Yannick Hanfmann, who showed him what the next level looks like.

Two weeks ago at the M15 Zahra final in Kuwait, Dhamne looked across the net at Rocco Piatti, his regular doubles partner, his daily practice opponent, and... his coach's son. Dhamne won 7-5, 6-3, and in his tweet afterward said, "Never easy to play against a good friend. But on the other side good to play finals together."

No Indian man under 20 has cracked the Top 200 in recent memory, but Dhamne has a few things other players from his country haven't. Piatti coaching him personally, IMG managing his schedule, and a three-week Indian Challenger swing (Bengaluru, Delhi, Pune) giving him home matches at precisely the right developmental moment.

Dhamne has climbed from #1068 to #488 in just 13 months, putting him in range of qualifying cut-offs at most ATP Challenger events. But, he is still ascending.

Tactically, the serve is the obvious vulnerability, with a 1.9% ace rate in a sport where the tour average hovers around 7%. What opponents do not expect, however, is the return. His break rate runs more than 10 points above tour norms, the kind of numbers you'd see from a player who wins through reading and rallying, not bullying folks for free points. When matches stretch into deciding sets, he converts at roughly 67%. At least 10 times in his young career he has come back to win after losing the opening set.

If Piatti's physical program can help bulk up his serve even partially (and this is the academy that turned a gangly Italian teenager named Sinner into the most efficient mover in the sport), the return skills and competitive instincts could carry him across that top 200 threshold by this time next year.

Dhamne lost to #8 seed Rio Noguchi today at the ATP Challenger in New Delhi, which is the kind of result that matters mostly to people who confuse development with a highlights reel. He is 18 and still ascending. The serve is still finding itself. That return game, though, is already someone else's problem.

1 Krishnan, Ravishankar. "Manas Dhamne: Not just another 17 year old." Indian Tennis Daily, March 10, 2025. link

2 IndiaSportsHub. "I Am Ready For This Challenge — Manas Dhamne On Stepping It Up At The ATP Challenger Level." IndiaSportsHub, February 2026. link

3 Scroll.in. "Indian tennis: Manas Dhamne wins Eddie Herr international Under-12 title." Scroll.in, December 9, 2019. link

4 The Bridge. "Manas Dhamne shocks fifth seed Matej Dodig on opening day of Bengaluru Open." The Bridge, January 5, 2026. link

5 Indian Tennis Daily. "Training is top priority and I am getting a lot of support at the Piatti Tennis Centre." Indian Tennis Daily, January 17, 2022. link