Tennis champ Yasitha says there were no shortcuts to success

By a Special Sports Correspondent

Yasitha de Silva reached another milestone in his tennis career when he bagged the Men’s Open Singles event at the ongoing Sri Lanka Tennis Nationals in Colombo.

This is his second Singles ‘crown’ in tennis. Looking back at his win the champ says that playing tennis at a competitive level is tough given that he has to balance duties at his place of employment-MAS Holdings.

Yasitha is one player who took his education as seriously as the sport he chose for himself. And he credits his parents for showing him the importance of having a sound education.

While playing tennis he completed his degree at the University of Colombo. At present, he works as a Business Analyst to the Director of Group Operations at MAS Holdings Priyantha Fernando.

Yasitha is a household name in the Sri Lankan tennis fraternity and that identity in tennis was slowly built up since he started playing the sport at his alma matter Ananda College Colombo. “There was an amazing tennis culture at school and that helped me keep working on my game and loving the sport,” said Yasitha.

After he received his first lessons in tennis from his school coach Anupa Maththemagoda he came under the tutelage of Niranjan Casie Chetty with whom he has trained for the past 13 years. Incidentally Niranjan also produced this year’s Women’s Singles Champion Anjalika Kurera.

Yasitha wasn’t a dazzling player when competing at junior events and while in school. But he raised his game after stepping into the senior arena. Since making into the national pool he has been a regular and contested every Davis Cup event as a member of the men’s national team. He has fond memories of winning his Davis Cup match against Thailand. He also won a bronze medal at the 2016 South Asian Games; these two achievements being the top highlights in overseas assignments for country’s tennis representative.

He also values high his participation in tennis while in University and talks with much fondness about the appearances he made at the world university games in 2017 and 2019. “My future dream is to be a contributing player to the national team and also help Sri Lanka get back into Group 2 in the Davis Cup,” said Yasitha during an interview with The Island newspaper.

But all that has to be done while balancing his job as a business analyst. There are much younger hungrier players climbing up the ‘hill’ where he, at present, has taken a position as the ‘king of tennis’. “It will be tough for me in the future because most of the top players are younger than me. These young players are training full-time. I started working this year, so I have to balance my job with my tennis. I have to keep my game at the best possible level,” said the current national champion.

Yasitha maintained that he still focuses on the game with the same passion as when in his youth. “My childhood dream was to become the national champion. If you put in the right work and ethics and keep believing in yourself you can reach great heights in this sport. I still feel I can improve a lot more as a player. I want to learn and grow in this sport,” he said.

He also plans to make progress in his business career and see what the future holds for him there. He has this piece of advice for youngsters, “The message I want to give aspiring young players is to start the sport with small dreams. You must dream big, but don’t look for shortcuts in life. The toughest paths get you the most amazing results”.