The Great Indian Tennis Mess

The All India Tennis Association (AITA) genuinely desired scenes like the one depicted below at the London Olympic Games.

(Photo from Wikimedia Commons. Click to enlarge.)

The original decision was to field only one men’s doubles team consisting of Paes and Bhupathi, ranked 7 and 14 respectively. Perhaps it would have been better to have Bopanna (ranked 12) partner Paes. They have played together in the Davis Cup.

But arrogant, well-connected players and politicians who should be having better things to do forced the AITA to keep on changing their decisions. Instead of taking a stand, the Association succumbed. Bopanna and Bhupathi would team up. Leander Paes, India’s No.1 is to play with 207 ranked Vishnu Vardhan.

The poor selectors of AITA did not know that their job had been done several months ago by Bhupathi and Bopanna. According statements of those players, they had decided to represent India at 2012 Olympics and had put in a lot of effort. Neither of them could qualify individually is another matter. Both refused to partner Paes, the only Indian to individually qualify. They defied the AITA selection, and politicians got into the act.

The Association said sending Leander to the Olympics partnering a youngster without Grand Slam experience was meaningless. Paes also said that he would play with a lower ranked player only if Bhupathi and Bopanna refused to partner him and opted out of the Olympics. But AITA had to do a summersault. The revolting players won. The word ‘discipline’ is not in the dictionary for some.

Bhupathi, even with 12 Grand Slams in his pocket, does not have the iconic stature of Leander Paes in Indian tennis. The performance of Paes has been outstanding in both ATP and Davis Cup in which he holds the ‘world record of third highest all time matches’ (quote from AITA President).

Why can’t Bhupathi forget whatever problems he has with his former partner and play with him once again for India to win a Gold Medal at the London Olympics? That would have meant two medals for Leander (he had won a bronze at the Atlanta Olympics) against Bhupathi’s one.

Incidentally, the current ATP ranking the top three players is:

           Paes. Rank 7, points 6,245 from 19 tournaments

           Bopanna. Rank 13, points 4,405 from 27 tournaments

           Bhupathi. Rank 15, points 4,330 from 24 tournaments. 

Bopanna and Bhupathi have slipped down one point each from their rankings on the Olympics qualification cut off date. But what do all these mean in Indian Tennis.

According to The Hindu (Cochin ed. June 22) the President of the AITA says that the Association agrees that the present decision is unfair to India’s No.1 and World No.7 player and that Leander Paes has been driven to the wall. The President also praises the ‘most patriotic’ Leander's selfless service to Indian tennis for 25 years.

I suggest that Leander Paes should frame the above mentioned statement in gold and keep it among his souvenirs.

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At 22, can Sania Mirza make a comeback?

Sania Mirza was the heartthrob of millions. Good looks combined with tennis skills made her a heroine, a poster girl. The whole nation looked up to her to bring home more and more laurels and proudly followed her career.

At the age of 22, Sania is the 91^st ranked women tennis player in the latest (September 8) WTA list. That sounds good. An Indian girl in the top 100. But what is bothersome is the route map to her present grade.

Sania Mirza started 2005 with a rank of 134. From there onwards, it was a steady climb. By the end of August 2005 she had brilliantly fought her way to the 42^nd place. In August 2007 she reached her best ever rating, 27^th in the world. That was incredible. Many expected her to break into the top 20 this year. But instead it was a downward slide from then on.

What went wrong? A lack of focus and commitment? Nonchalance? Immaturity? I suppose a bit of all these plus fitness problems and a penchant for getting into controversies. Some of the issues she had to face were ridiculous. They were not of her making but brought severe pressures on her.

However, Sania Mirza cannot shirk the responsibility for appearing at the Beijing Olympics march past in training clothes. The explanation that she had to come straight from practice was childish. All those thousands of athletes who took part also had to practice.

Sania Mirza could have taken a cue from Leander Paes (once ranked 73 in men’s singles) for commitment and fitness. Or she could draw inspiration from the other three Indian girls who are doing brilliantly in their chosen sports.

Saina Nehwal is just 18. She reached the quarterfinals in badminton at Beijing Olympics with a great performance. The girl is now ranked 14 in the world. The other two are in squash racquets. Joshna Chinnappa, 22, the National Women’s Champion, is 39^th in the world (slipped two places recently). There is an interesting aside about Joshna. When someone mentioned that she was the Sania Mirza of badminton, her repartee was, ‘No, Sania is the Joshna Chinnappa of tennis’.

Then there is Dipika Pallikkal, the beauty who will be turning 17 this month. (A rising hope squashed?) This brilliant squash player is the world’s 57th ranked women. She slipped three places in the latest ranking. She certainly has a bright future if she does not follow Sania Mirza’s pattern.

There are great comeback stories in sports. Let us hope that Sania Mirza returns with all glory. But that would take a lot of character and hard work. Among the current top ten women tennis players, four are her age or younger. On the other hand is the example of Lindsay Davenport. Even at the age of 32, she is ranked 21.

Sania can still do it. She should ignore everything else and concentrate on her game and fitness.

Ends.

Also see:

Tennis: Leander Paes, the Indian Hero

Ramanathan Krishnan: India’s Tennis Legend.

Sports scan

[Blog activity had to be suspended temporarily due to a bad cold. Chennai weather – hot and cold, rain and sunshine – is to be blamed I suppose. A doctor joke – if you don’t treat a cold it will take 7 days to go away. But if you consult a doctor and get proper treatment it will disappear in just 1 week!]

The euphoria of the two great cricket victories – under 19 World Cup and CB Series in Australia – vanished with the news that India failed to qualify for Olympic hockey. Well, it has been on the cards for some time, because of the way the game was being managed. Nevertheless, failing to make the grade has come as a shock.

Why doesn’t KPS Gill resign as President of the Indian Hockey Federation? Is he taking a clue from Musharraf from across the border? The latter once said ‘Pakistan needs me’. Gill seems convinced that India hockey requires his services to rebuild and regain the lost glory.

Well, so much for ‘officers and gentlemen’.

After India lost the Olympic Hockey Gold in 1960 I wrote an article about a plan for restructuring Indian hockey. Sport & Pastime (a great magazine which just stopped publishing) carried it prominently. Wonder if The Hindu archives would have a copy so that I can see what I wrote nearly 50 years back and how relevant it is today.

Clouds are over the tennis courts too. But don’t blame the officials. The Bangalore open went off successfully. I don’t think anyone missed Sania Mirza. She lost without even playing. Whoever advised her pull out of the tournament did a disservice to her and the country.

The Davis Cup mess is unpardonable. There is no point sulking because Paes has been doing a great job for India. What right has a player who once opted out of the Indian team to revolt against the captain. He has set a bad example to the junior players.

Indian approach to sports seems to be highly subjective. The reaction of a former Indian Davis Cup player and non playing captain to Prakash Amritraj being ticked off by the captain for late night outing was something like this – the boy is the son of the great Vijay.

Of course India is proud of Vijay who is one of the greatest tennis players the country has produced. But that doesn’t mean his son should not conform to team discipline.

Ends.

Also see: Ramanathan Krishnan: India’s Tennis Legend.

Tennis: Leander Paes, the Indian Hero

Leander Paes

It is difficult to say where Leander Adrian Paes would stand if one tries to rank all the top Indian tennis players in history. But one thing is certain – Indian tennis never had an icon like him. He is the hero.

Paes was born on June 17, 1973 to Vece Paes an Indian Hockey Olympian and Jennifer who had represented the country in basketball. World took note of him when he won the Wimbledon Boys Singles in 1990 and went on to become the world number one among boys. Next year he bagged the US Open boy’s crown as well.

Mere statistics would indicate that Paes didn’t really achieve all that the nation had hoped of him in men’s singles though in men’s doubles and mixed doubles he continues to be one of the world’s top players. A podium performance at the Atlanta Olympics, just one singles title, a few brilliant victories like the one over Pete Sampras in the 1998 Pilot Pen International, career best ATP singles rank of 73. But he was always the man to beat, a fighter who would not give up till the last bullet is expended.

It is a different story in the Davis Cup in which Leander rose to great heights. On several occasions he beat players ranked much higher than him to bring India victory. He ranks fifth among the 4500 or so players who have participated in the Davis Cup since its inception in the win – loss ratio.

It is not just that. It is the manner in which Leander Paes performed. He gave each match everything that he had and often pulled back from seemingly impossible situations. He drove himself and went that extra mile. On 32 occasions in 40 Davis Cup ties Paes played two singles, and doubles. And 16 times he won all the three matches, carrying India to the next round virtually single handed.

It is amazing how this man with comparatively limited tennis capabilities has transformed himself into a real champion. The leadership expert Saurabh N. Saklani wrote an article about Paes in Businessworld captioned ‘Lessons from Leander Paes’ He says, ‘The Indian tennis ace is a great example of someone finding success within individual limitations’. You can read the full article at

http://www.businessworld.in/content/view/654/705/

Being presented as a business model does not mean that Paes is a money manic. At an age where most players would conserve their energies for the professional circuit and earn more, Leander’s first priority continues to be playing for India. He has been doing that for nearly 18 years now.

When India takes on Uzbekistan at Delhi on the 8th, Paes is not likely to play because of the injury sustained during the Australian Open. But he will be there, as captain, to lead and inspire his players.

Good luck Leander, good luck India.

Ends.

Photo: Wikipedia Commons Public DomainAlso see: Ramanathan Krishnan: India’s Tennis Legend.

Ramanathan Krishnan: India’s Tennis Legend.

Today’s newspapers carry a report from Kula Lumpur stating that the renowned Indian tennis player Ramanathan Krishnan was awarded Lifetime Achievement Award by the Asian Sports Press Union. On reading it, my mind went back to a print media report on the Wimbledon Championships in 1956 – 51 years back.

Centre Court. First round match. The1954 champion, J. Drobny seeded 5 and the crowd’s idol was playing a 19 year old from India, R. Krishnan. The youngster had won the Wimbledon boys crown two years earlier, but nobody gave him a chance against the Czechoslovak-born veteran left-hander who was making his 13th appearance at the All England Championships.

Krishnan took the first set 6-1. Drobny the next at 6-4 to equalize but there was nothing more he could do. The Indian won the next two at 6-1, 6-4. It was the greatest moment in Indian tennis since Independence notwithstanding Dilip Bose’s Asian Championship triumph in 1949 and subsequent seeding (15) at Wimbledon.

In the pre-Independence era, India had done well in tennis. The 1920s saw a string of victories by the Indians, particularly in the Davis Cup. The top players at that time were M. Saleem, AH Fayzee and AA Fayzee (brothers), Cotah Ramaswamy and Krishna Prasad. They triumphed over players from France, Romania, Holland, Belgium. Spain, and Greece. M. Saleem also reached the singles semi-finals in the 1924 Paris Olympics. Then there was Ghouse Mohammed who reached the last eight at Wimbledon in 1939.

But Krishnan surpassed them all. He reached Wimbledon semi-finals in two successive years, was 4^th seeded there once, and was ranked No.3 in the world. He spearheaded India’s entry into the Davis Cup finals in 1966; we lost 4-1. The match that we won was doubles in which Krishnan and J Mukerjea beat Newcombe and Tony Roche the previous year’s Wimbledon Doubles Champions. Krishnan’s Davis Cup record is outstanding, winning 50 out of 69 matches in singles and 19 out of 29 in doubles.

A grateful nation honored the tennis ace with the Arjuna Award, Padma Shree, and Padma Bhusan. Salaam, Krishnan!

Ends.

Also see:

Tennis: Leander Paes, the Indian Hero

Hockey days in Bangalore