Soon after pulling out of the ongoing DSCL National Championship at New Delhi due to injury, Srinath was back in business. But not in the capital.

Instead, he chose the Deccan Gymkhana courts of Pune, in the company of localite Sandeep Kirtane, who also withdrew from the championship.

Ranked 540, Srinath, before moving to Mumbai for the Satellite tourney starting from October 12, took some time off from his training schedule to share his thoughts.

Excerpts:
Q. How does it feel to be known as India's next after Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi?

PS:Great. There is a sea change in my confidence. I am relaxed and more focused now. I can go out to play with no other thoughts in my mind and a clearobjective to just play good tennis.

Q. What is the next target after these heights?

PS: It's good to reach upto the third rank in the country. Each point and title encourages you to fight for more and more. I want to get into the 300 ranking first. After that, it's a very narrow way and I will have to be more careful. I will be going to Cleveland (USA) after the Satellite, for further training with Arun Jaithle (who is working with Harry Hopman).

Q What changes have come in your game since last year, when you took to the courts after a five-month break ?

PS: It was a great year. I picked-up points on the Circuits and Satellite, which followed my inclusion in the Davis Cup squad. Last year, I had my concentration divided between studies and tennis. Now it's only racquet, courts, ball and an aim to win.

Q With Paes and Bhupathi taking over the major burden of the Davis Cup, the rest of team hardly gets any chance. How does it feel to sit alongside and watch the duo play ?

PS:Seeing the duo play and practicing with them is also a learning process. They are so dedicated and full of tennis that you get inspired watching them in action.

Q How are you preparing to come at par with the two? Especially, when the age factor among you is almost the same which does not leave you with much chance if the duo doesn't pull out ?

PS:In India, generally, people mix up things. There is nothing like age factor. It's only the matter of how long can you stay fit. Tennis, basically, is a mental make-up where age is not everything. We need to get more exposure, for which, it's possible only when we play abroad.

Q. So, how do you plan to go about it ?

PS: We (Syed Fazaluddin and I) are signing a contract with Dr Vece Paes, who in turn will help out the sponsorship part of it (through his contacts) and also guide us in selecting which tournaments to play.