Tennis rankings can be sometimes misleading, but they also don’t lie.
A case in point is Parthsarthi Mundhe. For someone who possesses a solid serve, fluent strokes on both flanks, and more importantly legs that can carry her all day long, it would seem unbelievable that she is ranked outside the 800s in world juniors.
Then again, she is only 15 and only so many tournaments count towards ranking. And she is yet to win a title. The runner-up performance in a J60 event in Chennai last August remains her best result so far.
In comparison, Jensi Kanabar, one year younger to the Maharashtra girl, is ranked 317, the third best Indian behind Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi (No. 29) and Diya Ramesh (No. 177), that too having played less number of countable tournaments. The Gujarat girl’s rise is a direct result of two titles, a J60 and J30, and a semifinal run in a J300 event earlier this year in Delhi, which alone fetched her 140 ranking points.

But all these number games took a back seat when Parthsarthi took Japanese qualifier Rei Miyamoto, also 15 years old, by her stride to score a 6-2, 6-3 win in the ITF J300 Asia-Oceania Closed Regional championships at Deccan Gymkhana on Tuesday, April 21.
There was a brief period of play towards the end of first set and the start of the second when Parthsarthi dropped down a gear, especially with her serve. But it was not without reason.
“Yeah, I was able to hit the spots, but when the sun was in my eyes, I was just (landing) the second serve. So that could have been better,” the Fenesta Open National Under-18 champion admitted.
She gave credit to Miyamoto where it was due.
“In the second set, she was putting a lot of angles to my forehand. That was a good strategy from her. Actually, I expected her to hit down (the line),” Parthsarthi said.

If her strokes pack a punch, her honesty and simplicity are disarming. That shouldn’t be a surprise, given her middle-class background. Her father Arun Mundhe, originally from Bhum in Dharashiv district (previously Osmanabad), has been employed with the Charity Commissioner’s office in Solapur, where Parthsarthi was born.
Having moved to Pune three years ago before being included in the Maharashtra government’s Lakshyavedh scheme, a talent development initiative for multiple disciplines, as a part of which a partnership was signed by the MSLTA with the JC Ferrero Tennis Academy in 2024.
That programme gave her a chance to have a month long training stint in Spain, and the result was visible with Parthsarthi, a frail girl then, quickly turning fitter and stronger, prancing the court like a horse.

But with the JCFTA ending its partnership last year abruptly, she is one of the many players who have been impacted. The sad part is that in the most crucial stage of her career, Parthsarthi has near nil financial support.
Arun Mundhe, being a principled man, has maintained a dignified silence. Having witnessed first hand the way talented athletes have been treated by those with big bucks, he has been reluctant to approach corporate houses for any help.
However, as she turns 16 soon, Parthsarthi will have to travel and play more, with a coach in company ideally. That would mean more cash.
One could only hope that the nice girl doesn’t finish last!