Sweden’s Thomas Enqvist on Sunday said every era has its own set of heroes and it was wrong to say that current generation of tennis players are not entertaining to watch.
Pat Cash had recently said that the type of grinding baseline tennis that current top player Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic play, lacks skill.
“I don’t say it is not entertaining to watch this generation of players. I love watching the old clips where Bjorn Borg played John McEnroe in the finals but I also enjoy watching Nadal and Djokovic play each other, which is quite amazing. I have heroes from all eras, and I respect them all,” he told PTI in an exclusive interview in Bengaluru.
“They (Nadal and Djokovic) are not all-round players like Boris Becker or Pete Sampras. They were baseline players and they were also attacking players and they could do it against baseliners like Mats Wilander or Andre Agassi. Now that was entertainment. You never knew which way it was going to go.”
Enqvist said the players of yesteryear including Borg, McEnroe, Jimmy Connors and Vijay Amritraj, played as impressively as Nadal, Roger Federer and Djocovic play.
“All eras have heroes -- Borg, McEnroe, Connors, Vijay were part of that. What they did in 70s was as impressive as Nadal, Federer and Djocovic are doing today,” he said.
Enqvist said he is very happy to be part of Champions Tennis League to promote and popularise the game in cricket-crazy India.
“I was here in Kolkata for Davis Cup in 1996 and I won my first Indian Open in Delhi. India has a very good tennis culture. I am happy to be back after so many years to boost and popularise the sport in India,” he said.
“We, in Sweden, also have a very good tennis culture, but there is a big competition coming from football and ice hockey. In India, cricket is giving a big challenge, and this scenario to play in CTL is good to popularise tennis -- that way the league is good,” Enqvist added.
Asked the difference he found in tennis played in 1996 and now, Enqvist said the sport has changed with lot of technology being used which is good for the sport.
“What has happened world over in twenty years time -- it is amazing revolution with technology and everything which comes with it. Things have changed on the positive side,” he said.
Asked was there any pressure on him when he was touted as the only Swede who could follow in the footsteps of Bjorn Borg, Mats Wilander and Stefan Edberg, Enqvist said he never felt it so because there were many great players which helped reducing pressure on him.
“My generation had lot of great players like Borg, Stefan and Mats. I never felt the pressure that I had to be one because there was so many which helped reduce pressure on me,” he said.
On Davis Cup, Enqvist said it is an honour to play for the country and feel nice winning as a unit and as a team in contrast to playing an individual event.
“Every time you have a chance to represent your country it is an honour. It is nothing nicer than winning together with your teammates. I think that makes Davis Cup that more special for tennis players. When you are alone you play for yourself,” he said.
Replying to a query, Enqvist said he supports the idea of using Hawk-Eye in Davis Cup events as it is being used in individual tournaments. “Hawk-eye should be used in Davis Cup. It is good,” he said.
Having learnt the rules of the game, Enqvist said he follows cricket and knew the West Indian superstar Brian Lara.
“I do follow cricket because we spend so much time in Australia. The one-day matches I really enjoy as I learnt the rules of the game. I watched a couple of one-day matches live, and was exciting.”
“I know Australian cricketers than the Indians. I know the West Indian Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar of India,” he added.
