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Vijay Amritraj has been the face of international tennis in India, especially Davis Cup ties. The Davis Cup returns to New Delhi after a gap of eight years. The Amritraj brothers — Vijay and Anand — were the first to arrive for the draw ceremony media briefing of the India v Togo World Group 1 playoff tie starting here from Saturday.
On his expectations from the tie, where India are ranked 36th while Togo are lower-placed at 73, Amritraj was every bit excited despite the difference in rankings. “First and foremost, it’s great that the Davis Cup tie is back in Delhi. You always look forward to these matches. The tougher the match, the more interesting it gets so on and so forth. It gives people like us, me and Anand, a chance to see the boys playing. I haven’t seen Sriram’s partner [Balaji] play before, so that’s what I am looking forward to. Others, we know.”
New opponents, not a worry
Asked about not knowing the opponents Togo too well (the Indian team have stood and watched them practise to get an idea), Amritraj didn’t think it was a serious issue. “When you are on tour, you are constantly playing unknown kids today. [Novak] Djokovic had the best answer — it’s like turning the page of a book, you don’t know what’s coming next. And they have seen you play all along. Frankly, in the first four games, they should figure out. And these boys have been playing each other. Our main boys have played them in Futures and Challengers.”
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Asked about the singles scene in India, the former India Davis Cup star said, “We have one guy in the Top 100 from India [Sumit Nagal], who is not playing here. Outside of that, to get into the World Group, which is where we belong, we should really focus on our singles. How we can get into the Top 50 — that should be our only focus, nothing else.”
Asked whether the new format of Davis Cup affected India poorly, Amritraj brushed the fear aside. “Frankly, it doesn’t matter which group you are in. If you don’t have players in the Top 50, it doesn’t really matter. So, we have to really work our way into it. Similarly, how do you really get in? You win a Challenger or two, but points are so heavily skewed in favour of top tournaments. ATP and WTA have a lot of work to do in our part of the world, there is no question about that. We don’t have one Tour event in India. How is that possible? We are looking at a global sport. How can we not have a tournament here?”
Asked why India are lagging behind in producing top players, Amritraj said the commitment has to come from players themselves as there is no dearth of support or sponsorships now. “First and foremost, the commitment has to come from Indian players, there is no question about that. In our sport, because it’s high risk, if you don’t make it in two-three years, you say let’s go play some doubles; prize money is up.
Absolutely nothing wrong with it, but further to that, there has been lot of support from the state governments and Centre to send kids abroad. They have sent them to Barcelona, Dubai. There is no excuse. The goal has to be to get into the Top 50-20, that’s it.”
Sponsors available
He laughed when the matter of less sponsors in tennis in India was brought up: “Sponsors are available. There are some sponsors who go straight into cricket first. But, there is good filter, not all can get in there. So, you have sponsors who cannot get into cricket. Now, it has to be what aligns with sport. Some may align with football, hockey, tennis. Lots of high-end products can align with tennis.”
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