His parents may be his biggest supporters at the tennis courts, but Myles Bonnard prefers that his dad stays away when he plays. Not because of any sinister reasons but because of love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy dad used to come and watch all my matches. But he was always getting too stressed seeing me play. I told him not to come as I don\u2019t him to be so stressed. Now its mom who comes along, \u201c said the 15-year-old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With his father Patrick Bonnard \u201cbanned\u201d from the stands, it is mom Vibona Som, who not only travels with Myles but also as him unofficial manager.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy parents have been extremely supportive of me playing tennis. It is not only that they have been bringing me everywhere to play but also all the money they have spent on my tennis,\u201d added Bonnard, who is playing in Cambodia for the first time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He entered for both the boys singles and doubles at the 30th<\/sup> edition of the Tep Khunnah Memorial Cup, an ITF J30 event taking place at the Morodok Techo Tennis Complex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After defeating Singaporean Andre Harnadi 7-5, 7-5 in the boy’s singles on Tuesday, he was beaten 6-3, 6-0 in the second round by Hong Kong\u2019s Takuto Matsuo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was still a good outing for the youngster, who has just recently come back from a left wrist injury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI injured the wrist two years ago and had to stop playing for several months. And when I returned to competitive tennis, I injured the wrist again,\u201d said Myles, playing in his first ITF event this season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The injury forced Myles to change aspects of his game including to start playing one handed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI switched from double handed game to actually playing right handed four months ago after I recovered. I will need at least two surgeries to fix the left wrist,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, the surgeries will have to wait as the doctors have advised him to wait until he was at least turn 18 before opting for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt has something to do with my young age that could complicate matters as I grow older if I opt for surgery immediately,\u201d said Myles, who is also taking the second round defeat here in his stride.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While he hopes to play collegiate tennis in the USA in the future, he also has a more important target in Cambodia. He holds dual French and Cambodian passports and is looking at representing Cambodia in the Davis Cup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI had no specific target here but just wanted to win matches to and improve my tennis,\u2019 said Myles who also played in the boys doubles partnering Shreyanth Mahanthesha of India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The pair were beaten 4-6, 1-6 by the Sri Lankan-Chinese pairing of Ganuka Fernando-Hao Yi Zhang on Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI want to know more about tennis in Cambodia and if things work out I want to be able to represent Cambodia by 2027\/2028,\u201d said Myles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the meantime, Myles, coached by former French International Achraf Okasha, is juggling between his studies and tennis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI am actually supposed to be in school now. I am missing two weeks of school to play here,\u201d said the lad, whose idol is the legendary Roger Federer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Myles, who also supports the Paris Saint German football team, said he catches up on school work online and distant learning with the full support from \u00c9cole Diagonale, where he is enrolled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “For the past six years, my club (Azur Asni\u00e8res) has also really supported me in improving my game,” said Myles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n