For most University of Alabama athletes, a trip home involves an hour or two of driving.
For Vikram Reddy, that trip involves a 9,000-mile commute to his hometown of Andhra Pradesh, India. Reddy, a senior on the Alabama men’s tennis team, arrived last year as a transfer student from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University after an illustrious prep career.
Before college, Reddy was ranked as high as No. 2 in India’s under-18 division after winning the men’s doubles national championship in 2008. Before that, he won the under-14 division national doubles title and was the under-16 division’s top ranked player for most of 2005 and 2006. Competing in the International Tennis Federation juniors, Reddy won nine doubles titles and one singles title.
Reddy eventually decided he wanted to come to Alabama to follow in the footsteps of former Crimson Tide tennis great Saketh Myneni, a two-time first-team All-SEC selection. He is also from Andhra Pradesh, and his influence was a large factor in Reddy’s decision to come to Alabama.
“[Myneni] had come for vacation to his hometown, and we were just practicing, and I asked him if he could speak to [Alabama head coach Billy Pate],” Reddy said. “I was actually looking at other schools as well, like Illinois and Louisville, and it just worked out here.”
Alabama may have been the right fit for Reddy, but getting him onto a tennis court in Tuscaloosa was not easy.
“It was a little unusual for him, in that he was a transfer from a university in India,” Pate said. “He already had about two and a half years in college, so unfortunately he’s just in his second year, but he’s a senior already because he brought in a lot of credits. We had to jump through a lot of hoops to make this work out.”
Once Reddy did arrive at the Capstone, he continued to perform at a high level, winning one singles match against a nationally-ranked opponent this season. And although the men’s tennis team has struggled this season (6-12, 1-7 Southeastern Conference), it has not been a result of Reddy’s play.
He has performed well in clutch moments for the Tide, earning three team win-clinching singles victories against South Carolina’s Nick Jones, Arkansas’ Gregoire Lehmann and SMU’s Bryan Griffin. He has also won 14 singles matches this season, tied with junior Daniil Proskura for the team-high, and 10 doubles wins, including one against No. 14 Mississippi State.
Reddy has also seen tournament success, advancing to the round of 16 at the Southern Intercollegiate Championships and finishing 4-0 at the Crimson Tide Fall Championships. Earlier in the season, he and then-junior Ricky Doverspike advanced to the quarterfinals of the USTA/ITA Southern Regional Championships.
Reddy, apart from his play, has also been a leader for his teammates. Sophomore Carlos Taborga, Reddy’s doubles-partner, said Reddy influences how well he plays.
“When I’m not playing as good as I would like to, he always tries to bring me up and motivate me to do everything I can do,” Taborga said.
As for what’s next for Reddy, he isn’t sure if he plans to play tennis professionally.
“I was trying to go pro, but I’ve not decided yet. You need a lot of money, you need a coach, you need a base to play,” Reddy said. “I was considering somewhere in Europe if I wanted to play pro, but I still haven’t decided. I’ve got one more month.”
