By AAHANA ARYA
Vinay Venkatesh’s story is one that connects the world of tennis and journalism, powered by a lifelong passion for both. He jumped into the world of tennis, learning the ins and outs of the sport from his father. This upbringing started that deep love for the sport. JerEcho reporter Aahan Arya had the unique opporutnity to interview Mr. Venkatesh and hear more about his experiences.
Q: What sparked your interest in tennis, and how did it shape your journey into sports journalism?
A: I’ve been into tennis from a young age, picked it up from my dad, and always wanted to be involved in it. I participated a lot in writing during high school due to my following of Novak Djokovic.
Q: How did meeting tennis players become a reality for you, and what impact did it have on your aspirations?
A: It was a dream come true meeting all these players due to Novak and how he inspires me, and voluntarily journaling for tennis because I have a real passion for it. It’s a side business, but I make no money.
Q: Can you tell us about your involvement with “Inside Tennis” magazine and the reach of your work?
A: I write for a US tennis magazine “Inside Tennis,” which makes me involved in a lot of tennis events. Most of my work goes into the print version or online version of the magazine, reaching pretty much every USTA member here in America.
Q: How did you begin your journey into sports journalism, and what opportunities did you encounter along the way?
A: I’ve been writing since high school, for the school newspaper, magazine, editorials. I’ve always been writing something about tennis in different formats, putting my passion for writing and tennis together. I came across this tennis outlet in India, “India Tennis Daily,” and their focus is on all of the Indian tennis tournaments. Before that, I went to a tennis tournament in San Jose and got to represent one of the local media over there, kind of like a non-paid job.
Q: Balancing a full-time job with your passion for tennis writing must be challenging. How do you manage it?
A: It’s a bit of a struggle to balance my paid job with my passion for tennis writing. I have a full-time job in California, and my employer is Google. They’re pretty flexible, which allows me to have some vacation days but also essentially work from anywhere. At Google, I lead the local search engineering team, which involves showing all the geographical locations in any location-based result on Google Maps.
Q: What advice do you have for aspiring journalists who are looking to enter the field of sports journalism?
A: My advice is to start yourself somewhere. Showing up is the first big thing, writing for school journals, which sets up a portfolio and a record of who you are and what you do, and you keep building upon it. Eventually, you can approach a lot of media throughout the world, which normally requires experience, so you already do the groundwork. It’s essential to get started somewhere. It’s basically a second career for me.
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