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Photo: Bhagya Prakash K.

Firing aces Sunder Raju: ‘We believe it is tennis first and star value next’

Sunder Raju says: “Bangalore Open is not about Sania’s presence or absence.It is about bringing a World class event to Bangalore.

Raju is determined to move forward and make the championship, an event to savour.

IOn conducting India’s first Tier II event Raju said: “It has been a conscious effort towards that progression for the past seven years. We have strived to make Bangalore a world class tennis destination.The road was not a easy and neither it is going to be.

Talking about the lack of an Indian challenge, Raju commented: “It is imperative that we conduct such events in our backyard and even if one or two Indian players come through qualifying rounds, it gives them a great opportunity to play in such high class field, which includes Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Patty Schynder, Sybil Bammer and Agnes Szavay. They would have the home crowd backing them up to play beyond normal capabilities.”

Setting the record straight on Sania’s absence, Raju said: “I believe that every player has a shelf life and they should address their demands within that space, taking into consideration the field and star value of the event. The KSLTA certainly respects a player’s position on that. But we at KSLTA believe it is tennis first and star value next. Having said that, I want to set the record straight. Yes, Mahesh Bhupathi called me before he left for the Australian Open, asking about the Bangalore Open. I said we have not got the sponsors yet and we will talk about it a later and he did not call back and the next thing we heard was the press conference where it was announced that Sania was not going to play. I don’t want to speculate. As I said earlier, the question of appearance money was not discussed for any length of time. So, one has to go by her reasons. Another thing I want to make clear is we had reasons to believe, through the AITA, which had been in touch with her, that she would play the Tier II event. Circumstances seemed to have changed. Irrespective of who plays here or not, we have a top class field and even without any Indian player, there are always crowds at the KSLTA.

Commenting on the impact of the Bangalore Open, Raju said: “I think with an event like this, grass-root tennis gets a surge. There is interest created among youngsters. More and more sign up for tennis camps and this kind of interest needs to be sustained. Beyond that, it generates a kind of tennis tourism, for instance, we have had ticketing enquiries from Sri Lanka, Maldives and a few other neighbouring nations.”

Raju promises the Bangalore Open will not be short on colour. “We want this event to remembered not only by tennis fans but also the general public. So like last year, we would have enough programmes and off court activities to keep them engaged. Future plans for KSLTA include “By 2010, we want to go Tier I and by 2012, we wish to hold the ATP men’s Tour and WTA events together, a combined show. There is a lot of road to cover and we have the vision.”

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