Teenager Aryan making waves after his plunge into pro tennis

In his first full year as a professional tennis player, teen Aryan Shah has already experienced the rollercoaster that it tends to be for most pros out there: travelling week after week for tournaments, taking in the confidence-building victories and difficult defeats, relishing the feel of clinching a title, soaking in new experiences, which, in Aryan's case, was becoming a Davis Cupper.

- Rutvick Mehta

Riding through that "rollercoaster", as Aryan puts it, the 18-year-old has made steady progress in his debut year as a pro after a promising junior run that saw him reach a career-high ranking of world No.39 in January last year while competing in all four junior Grand Slams.

This season in his pro plunge, Aryan captured his first singles Futures title at the men's 15K ITF event in Kingston last May, made another final and a couple of semifinals in 25K events. His most recent last-four entry was at the ITF Bhubaneswar tournament last week, where he beat reigning national champion Rethin Senthil before losing to the top seed and eventual champion Dalibor Svrcina from Czech Republic ranked 254.

Aryan is currently placed 621 in the ATP singles charts, the youngest among the top 10 from the country and already the India No.6 aiming to finish his first professional year even higher.