Once again India came a cropper in its bid to qualify for the Davis Cup. For a nation that has made the Davis Cup finals thrice in the past (1966, 1974, 1987), the 5-0 drubbing at the hands of Spain recently was heart-breaking. It was, however, not surprising, given the fact that India was playing against a formidable team comprising world no. 4 and a 14-time grand slam champion Rafael Nadal, world no.14 David Ferrer, Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez .
India’s options were limited considering we lacked the services of Somdev Devvarman and Yuki Bhambri in singles and Rohan Bopanna in doubles. We had a World No. 203 Ram Kumar and Saketh Myneni for singles and Myneni again pairing up with veteran Leander Paes for the doubles.
One might take solace that Ram Kumar took a set off Feliciano Lopez in the opening singles and the doubles team of Paes and Myneni valiantly pushed the Olympic champion pair of Nadal and Marc Lopez while debutant, Sumiot Nagal , who came in place of Saketh in the first reverse singles, took a set off Marc Lopez . The gap between the two teams was glaring with one playing like a well-oiled machine, while the other sputtered and came to life in patches.
India has no singles player in the top 100 . Yuki and Somdev do produce flashes of brilliance but have failed to do so consistently. Saketh has been improving -- he lost a close first round tie at the US open, after slogging through the qualifiers.
Most Indian players lack the stamina to slug it out for hours on end, unlike their European or American counterparts. Technically too, they are often not on par.
If singles is a major worry, doubles is not far behind. At 43, Leander Paes, a legend in his own right, is shadow of his old self. He has gained weight and seems to play from his memory, drawing inspiration from his experience. Rohan has his moments on the court, but is not very consistent. Paes, after teaming with Saketh, reportedly remarked, “Saketh has the potential to become a Grand Slam doubles champion”. It is a pity that our players take the doubles route without making serious and consistent attempts to crack the singles. One hopes Saketh focuses on singles rather than doubles.
As far as Paes is concerned, his time is up and he should make way for a younger and fitter bunch. We do have a depth though, with players such as Vishnuvardhan, Sriram Balaji, Mohit Mayur, Jeevan Nedunchezhian and others. They are yet to get into the higher bracket of the game.
The picture on the women’s side is not particular rosy either. Most of the girls on the circuit, seem content with wins and losses in ITF $10,000 events. Right now, the only world class player India has is Sania Mirza who reigns as the No.1 doubles player. Sania was ranked 23 in the singles, before injury, forced her out. The gritty Hyderabadi has shown the will, passion and talent to become a multi-grand slam champion in women’s and mixed doubles. After Sania, however, the road seems long and barren.
What Indian tennis needs is a dramatic shift which focuses on developing a strong base, revamping training programmes, keeping our coaches abreast of latest trends, good tournament exposure for players and strong support.
