‘We are like Nadal and Federer’: When 2023 Korea Open winners Satwik-Chirag had decoded their ‘ice and fire’ pairing

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty added another piece of silverware to their cabinet as the two bested the world no. 1 Indonesian duo of Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto on Sunday to clinch the Korea Open doubles title.
What made the win even more commendable was that it came after they had dropped the opening game 17-21. But despite that early setback, the team was able to claw out a victory. The duo had shared the secret of their success earlier this month in a freewheeling interview with The Indian Express.
“I think it’s the story of ice and fire,” said Chirag. “I’m the one who is a lot more aggressive, whereas Satwik is a lot calmer, like ice. I think that plays out quite well. For the both of us. I think our approach to the game is the same, like we think alike about what we want to do and how we need to score points. But our personalities on court are very, very different.

“I feel I play a lot better when I am more aggressive out there. And whereas Satwik plays a lot better when he has his composure. He’s extremely cool. I think it complements each other really well. And I think that is one of the reasons why we’ve had some good performances,” the 26-year-old added.
Satwik would jump in with another reference, “I would say we are kind of like Nadal and Federer. I’m a fan of Federer, Chirag loves Nadal. So that style — like I like to be calm. Sometimes I try to be aggressive, but I can’t (laughs). Chirag is different. He just won’t give up. Like Nadal, he will keep on fighting for the point. Dive from here to there, keep the point alive, move all over the court. I look at him and think: ‘Kidhar jaa raha hai Shetty bhai? Kidhar kood raha hai? (Where are you going, Shetty bhai? Jumping here and there?)’”
Having clinched the gold medal at last year’s Commonwealth Games, Satwik and Chirag have extended their victorious run with the Indonesia Open Super 1000 and Swiss Open 300 titles earlier this year.

The win on Sunday was the duo’s third Super 500 title of their career so far after Thailand Open 2019 and Yonex Sunrise India Open 2022. With the Asian Games nearing, there’ll be higher hopes from Indian badminton’s Nadal and Federer pairing.