Wednesday 1 January 2014

What a start for Indian tennis . . .


It was not a surprise that Indian tennis got off to a robust start for the season.

There was a lot written about Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain, quite understandable as the 22-year-old had rocketed from 715 to No.64 in the world. The reluctance of the Indian media to ignore our players and find faults with them was also natural.

What was not noticed was that Yuki Bhambri was playing solid tennis, and had reached the next level and had the cooperation of a strong body to back his tennis dreams. He had narrowly missed winning the singles wild card for the Australian Open but had hinted at his versatility by winning the doubles wild card in China a few weeks ago.

 It was solid tennis that won as Yuki prevailed 6-4, 6-3 against the ‘most improved player’ on the Tour. Having won a Challenger in Australia apart from making the final of a $125,000 tournament in Chinese Taipei as a qualifier, the 21-year-old Yuki had not only learnt the art of playing a consistent good level but also providing the finishing touch to a match.

The former world No.1 junior and the Youth Olympics runner-up Yuki is ready to rock the tennis world in the new season with the support of his coach Aditya Sachdeva, who himself has hit the next level in terms of coaching ability, apart from the young trainer Nasir Ahmed. A strong family support, with sisters Ankita and Sanaa who had both represented the country with distinction, and parents Indu and Chander, playing a splendid role, Indian tennis does have a champion in the making in Yuki, with a big game.

It may have been a shock for many that the country’s No.1 Somdev Devvarman lost to qualifier R. Ramkumar, better known as the national champion who has been winning the singles titles in recent ITF Futures events at home and abroad, the lowest rung in the professional circuit.

It was ironical to see the huge photo of Ramkumar, celebrating one of the many exciting points that he won, on the pages that had struggled to accommodate his face in the smallest of photos that had ever been published in the history of newspapers. It was a photo that Ramkumar himself had to arrange from Cambodia ! Ramkumar may soon face reality yet again, but he will be recognised as a player of considerable potential.

Coming back to Chennai, Ramkumar rode on his big forehand, much to the delight and pride of his coach T. Chandrasekaran, who had groomed him for a few years, before he moved to Europe for better training with the support of the Tamil Nadu Tennis Association (TNTA). Of course, Karti Chidambaram, the brain behind the players’ development scheme of TNTA, was proud about the 19-year-old Ramkumar coming of age on the big stage, as he gave him a warm hug after he dumped the country’s No.1.

Of course, a lot needs to be tuned with Ramkumar’s game and approach, but he will learn them a lot quicker now, after having tasted success at a high level, in front of a home crowd that adored him like a champion.
It was a stumble for the 90th ranked Somdev, but he will continue to be successful as he has really worked very hard to return to the top after a shoulder surgery. It was just a wake-up call for Somdev who was unduly subdued on court, as was noticed by Vijay Amritraj and Enrico Piperno from their commentary position.

From the court-side view, the new Davis Cup captain Anand Amritraj must have been pleased with the options opening up before the first round Asia-Oceania tie against Chinese Taipei in Indore from January 31 to February 2.

The former national champion Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan, who had reached some of the difficult corners of the world in 2013, at times without his racquet bag, to become the third best Indian singles player in the ranking list, was not his usual self in his first round as a wild card. He was up against a good player, a fellow left-hander, but Jeevan lacked the belief, the conviction to play his best.

The whole trick is to play your best and stay with your opponent. It is easily said than done. Ramkumar drove a few hard core tennis followers mad with his choice of shots, but overall was quite hungry. He believed in God more than his game, but will soon realise the need to stay focused rather than get distracted. In contrast, Somdev may need some of those distractions to get out of a rut when he gets into one during a match.

A lot of people who keep harping about the lack of supreme physical fitness in the Indian tennis players, miss the point completely. With all respect to their training regimen, Sania Mirza, Rohan Bopanna and Mahesh Bhupathi had proved the pundits wrong in reaching the higher echelons of the game and staying there for long. There is a plethora of young players who are ready to follow suit.

Tennis should remain the focus. The players need to get good technique, a flexible and strong body to back their dreams. You want to see the flair and firepower of a player with the heart of a champion, not robots in action, who may put you to sleep.

We have not talked about the fortunes of Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna. Yet, there has been a lot to write on Indian tennis. That is a great sign at the start of 2014 !