Prerana Koirala has been dominating the game for over a year. Strong in baseline, the country's best female tennis player Koirala is too strong with her backhand. The right hander is equally efficient in counter-puncher and the mental strength she possesses has made her a cut above the rest.

The 16-year-old, who hails from Morang, has been unbeatable after she won the Citizens Bank Open National Tennis tournament in May last year. Since then, Koirala has gone on to win five consecutive national level tournaments making the game her own.

What makes Koirala an undisputed champion then? For the last four years, Koirala has been continuously training under foreign coaches in more than five countries where tennis has flourished. Koirala envisages a dream of appearing in a Grand Slam, the game's epic competition, for which her father Purushottam has heavily invested.

Koirala is currently undergoing rigorous training Gujrat's Ahmedabad International Sports Academy which is one of the best tennis academies of India. She spends three hours in court in the morning session and separates another 60 minutes for fitness training in the evening. By the time she finishes this six-month training in November, her father's bank account will diminish by over a million rupees as her training and hostel fees alone have cost the family Rs 161,253 per month. In making their daughter the Nepal No 1, Purushottam claims he has spent over Rs 12.5 million since she began handling the racket at the age of 12.

Starting from August 19 to November 30, she is planning to play four different tournaments in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh leaving aside South Asian Games set for December 1 to 10 in Nepal. She has received confirmations from tournament in Chennai and Hyderabad of India and Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Koirala trained in Thailand five times in the past before she was 14. Her father also sent her to Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Bangladesh and India where she both trained and featured in competitive tournaments. Now he wishes he could send her to good facilities of European countries but Purushottam is worried if he could help his daughter materialise her dream because of financial aspects. A real estate broker, Purushottam's bank account is gradually emptying.

“Her game could flourish if we could send her to good training centres in Europe but I am not in the state to fund her on my own any more and we are now looking for potential sponsors,” he said. In the look out for the sponsors, Nepal Tennis Association General Secretary Manohar Das Mool and Nepal Armed Police Force IGP Shailendra Khanal are assisting the Koirala family. Koirala took a break from her training in Gujrat and returned to Nepal to sign a contract with the APF team. The contract will see her get monthly salary for the next six months with extending options. She is returning to India on Saturday.

The contract has worked in rejuvenating Koirala whose focus is firm in appearing in a Grand Slam. “I could play Grand Slam Qualifier by the time I reach 20 years if I get good training and facilities,” told the 12th grader at Pentagon College. She idolises US tennis star Serena Williams whose knack of winning Grand Slams has inspired the Nepali player. “I like the fighting spirit of Serena because she never gives up and play with a great amount of mental strength. I also love the way Djokovic plays because his counter-puncher is like mine.

Nepali tennis' veteran coach Kirshna Raj Ghale wants Koirala to get matured as a player first. “Prerana is talented and works really hard. She has everything needed to become a good player but her growth in the game depends on how long she continues to play the game and gets a continuous support from family. She is good in all strokes but she is yet to get maturity as a player. She could get even better if she gets appropriate training facilities. Though it is already late for her to start professional game, she has big potential. One of her biggest strengths is a strong physique required in tennis,” said Ghale.

Attracted to cricket in her initial days of sports, it was Koirala's father and coach Raj Kumar Lama who motivated her to take the game. “I played cricket before I took up tennis following instructions from my father,” said Koirala crediting Lama for making her the player she is now. “It was coach (Lama) who inspired me to play tennis and help me become No 1 player of the country.”

While she trained at Ideal School court and Hems Tennis Academy in her initial days, her game gained momentum after she began training at the Nepal Table Tennis Association court in Satdobato. She got the opportunity to get Asian Tennis Federation training in Thailand where she not only improved her skills but also instilled in her the ambition to become national champion. She is among countable Nepali players to play in the International Tennis Federation J5 and J4, the highest level of international game played by Nepali tennis players. Her next stop now is J2.

Koirala wants to focus on becoming more than a national champion. She has the impending South Asian Games on her sights although she acknowledged dreaming gold could be a far cry in presence of Indian players. “The Indian players are on a different league because they have the facilities that nurture great players. They have good coaches, equipments, backing from business houses as sponsors and many strong players to compete against,” she added. But she is still hopeful to break Nepal's duck in winning a medal in South Asian Games. “I will try my best in the Games but the result would not be in our control. Hopefully we could win silver if not gold."