India, June 12 -- At an age when most eighth-graders measure their year through school trips and exams, 13-year-old Srishti Kiran has spent hers collecting international titles. This year, the Bengaluru teenager has won five consecutive international tennis tournaments, travelled to Guatemala (Central America), reached a J100 final, and climbed to World No. 1 in the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Under-13 rankings.

Srishti's bedroom wall carries a poster of her idol, Coco Gauff, another prodigy who learned to thrive under tennis' spotlight at a young age. "From the explosive way she moves to her aggressive striking, I saw my own game mirrored in hers," Srishti says. But it is Gauff's composure that inspires her the most. "Coco isn...