Tennis: Somdev, Prakash handed Chennai Open wildcards

Somdev and Prakash Amritraj were handed down wild cards into the main draw of the Chennai Open to be held in January 2009. Somdev is ranked 200 and Prakash is ranked at 2004. Another entry will be Lukas Dlouhy who will be making his maiden appearance at the Chennai Open. If you havnt forgotten, Dlouhy is the doubles partner for Leander Paes.

Tennis: Somdev-Izak in main draw of Champaign Challenger

Somdev Devvarman and his South African partner Izak Van Der Merwe qualified for the doubles in the ATP Challenger series tournament in Champaign, USA.

The second-seeded pair of Somdev and Izak outplayed the top seed Indian pair of Ashutosh Singh and Harsh Mankad, winning 6-3, 6-2 in the final round of the qualifying competition.

It was sweet revenge for Somdev and his partner as they had lost to the same Indian pair in last week’s Challenger at Nashville at the same stage.

Somdev and Izak will play their first match against Indo-American pair of Prakash Amritraj and Amer Delic.

In the singles event, Prakash will open his campaign against Izak, Somdev’s doubles partner, who entered the main draw as a qualifier.

Column: Infusion of quality players needed

In a column Naresh Kumar writes that the need of the hour is the Infusion of quality players without the messy politicking that goes on in the associations as well as well as between players and associations. The most memorable one has been the tiff between Mahesh Bhupati and AITA over Mission 2018 by Apollo Tyres. The groupism that is developing in the Indian Tennis Team and the revolt against Paes has only added to the woes of the system.

Pasted below is the complete article. The link to the article

Indian tennis is in a turmoil. The Davis Cup team is in revolt. The rebels — reportedly led by Mahesh Bhupathi/Prakash Amritraj — are trying to sign up Somdev Dev Varman to retain their stranglehold on the Davis Cup team. The All Indian Tennis Association (AITA) is also at loggerheads with Bhupathi over his flamboyant Apollo Tyres Mission 2018 programme, a Rs 100 crore project promising a Grand Slam Champion in ten years!

Furthermore, the AITA has banned private promoters from conducting WTA and ATP tournaments. Happily, the controversy about the selection of coaches for training the team for the Commonwealth Games seems to have died down with the appointment of Jaidip Mukerjea as the chief coach. Quite a plateful.

The turbulence started during the Indo-Japan Davis Cup tie in Delhi in March. In an appalling move, the team wrote to the AITA refusing to play under the captaincy of Leander Paes and listing his failings. The ominous letter was also signed by Karan Rastogi, a Davis Cup prospect not on the team.

Not only was it an effort to oust Paes, but the inclusion of Rastogi made it apparent that it was an effort to ‘hijack’ the team.

With the powerful Bhupathi-Amritraj combine and the forthcoming important pre-World Group tie against Romania, the AITA had little option but to back down. A non-playing captain, S. P. Misra was appointed and Paes ‘voluntarily’ stepped down from the captaincy.

The matter is put away in the cupboard and may be raised again when the next Davis Cup tie in the Asia Oceania Group I comes up in April ’09.

Somdev’s performance in tournaments has now made him a key member of our future Davis Cup tennis. He needs a sponsor badly and understandably he will have to follow his sponsor’s directions. If the AITA can help him and receive his support, the revolt could well peter out and the AITA would be back in the saddle. If not, the ‘rebels’ will retain control of the Davis Cup team.

For some years now WTA and ATP tournaments have been organised by tennis loving promoters and sponsors, at times working with state associations.

The tournaments, held at a total cost of more than Rs 100 crores with almost all the prize money being taken away by foreign players, have done little for Indian tennis. The sole exception was when Sania Mirza won the tournament in Hyderabad. One does not need a consultant to tell you that the absence of a meaningful Indian presence in the events cannot be compensated by glitzy promotional gimmicks with prancing models and Bollywood stars.

Sponsors are not in love with the game. They want adequate return on their money. It is reported that the cancellation of the Bangalore ATP tournament was triggered by the absence of sponsors. The promoters wriggled out of their commitment, citing security apprehensions after the bomb blasts. The excuse outraged AITA, who apprehending loss of face on the international scene, fired a broadside by banning private bodies from conducting WTA or ATP events.

Though the promoters grudgingly pay royalty to the AITA for holding the tournaments, they will strongly contest the AITA’s jurisdiction over them. The dispute will surely escalate and could end up in the covernment’s lap.

Yet another source of irritation for the AITA is the Rs. 100 crore sponsorship Bhupathi has received for the Apollo Tyres Mission 2018 programme. The aim is to produce an Indian Grand Slam winner by 2018. The racy title conjures up images of Tom Cruise emerging successful in ‘Mission Impossible’. The AITA has taken strong exception to the advertisements and newspaper reports on the grounds that it conveys the false impression that the AITA is not doing anything for Indian tennis.

Bhupathi, in a press statement stated, “We have never had a structure to produce players in the country. All eight players who made it to the top 100 in singles or doubles over the last 30 years have made it privately. We have created this structure and are confident it will work. The mission is to produce results.”

Player versus association skirmishes are a global phenomenon and India is no exception. The confrontation between the AITA and the others is moving towards an all out Twenty20 cricket slog.

Indian tennis badly needs an infusion of good quality players without which promotional hype is futile and global recognition a dream.

India loses in the Davis Cup Play off

India lost to Romania very badly i.e 4-1 in the Davis Cup playoffs in Bucharest. On a surface that they were hardly comfortable with, Indians even before the play started had very little chance of beating the Romanians. The sole consolation were provided by the Lee-Hesh duo who won their doubles tie with Prakash Amritraj and Somdev losing heavily.

So India will come back to the Asia-Oceania group, where they will fight out to reach the world group.

Davis Cup Tennis

India meet the Romanians in the play offs for the Davis Cup in Bucharest. Prakash Amritraj and Somdev will represent India in the Singles while Lee – Hesh combine will play the doubles.  The Romanians head India 2-1 in one to one’s. 

The Indians are pitted against the Romanians on a turf which they dont seem good at. Clay. Prakash has come good only in grass, while Somdev , we have no idea of. Lee and Hesh are still no winners on Clay. With this background, I am not too sure that India will progress beyond this round.  India last played the World Group in 1998 while Romania has been in it for long now. The next two days, will probably answer a few questions. 

Indian Tennis– What next in the Play offs

Its been a long time since India has been in the World Group of the Davis Cup. India has a chance of making it to the final round of the Davis Cup only if they play well in the play offs. But looking at the way the team is performing I am sure they wouldnt cross the first hurdle. I am not taking away credit from them for their victories. But its been ages since India last entered the World Group of Davis Cup , to be precise nearly 10 years now. The last time they entered the World Group was in 1998 and they lost to Italy 4-1. Italy went on to play in the finals of the Davis Cup, but ended as runners up to Sweden.

I can only cry at the plunge Indian Tennis has taken in the last ten years or so. While players like Lee and Hesh have done themselves a world of good in Doubles Tennis, our performance has been at the best mediocre in the Davis Cups..

Lets to cheer to our Tennis players for making it to the Playoffs.. I wish they play well and go on into the World Group and maybe the finals of Davis Cup…

India lose the reverse singles.

Well, it had all the makes of a Bollywood potboiler, first there was the revolt, then the get together, then a show of togetherness and ultimately a win. Not to be out done, there was a mutiny again. If you thought this was a plot of a bollywood movie, think again. This is what is happening with Indian Tennis. That was the story line of the way Indian Tennis Team played at the Davis Cup tie against Japan.

First there was a revolt against Paes, then the sham of a get together, then 3 wins. Suddenly the single’s specialists Rohan Boppanna and Prakash Amritraj pulled out of the reverse single citing injuries. Isnt that strange considering that just 2 days ago they played tennis under the most trying circumstances. Whatever the differences they might have had, it is appropriate that they realise that playing for the country is of utmost importance than their individual squabbles.

The net result was, Mahesh and Paes come out to play the singles and promptly lost them i.e India lost the reverse singles. It was a quick affair and it was all over, Hesh lost it in under an hour and Paes too followed suit.

Either way , these 2 rubbers were dead rubbers anyway…but the point lies elsewhere