‘Play together on Tour to win in Davis Cup doubles’
Tennis great Vijay Amritraj says there should be least controversy with regards to India’s doubles combination in Davis Cup since the doubles match matters only when there are “even singles matches”.
The All India Tennis Association (AITA) has teamed up Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna for next month’s tie against China despite the latter’s reservations about being paired with the veteran. Asked if it was a good idea to pair the players, who do not share chemistry, Amritraj said, “I don’t know,” but pointed that those players who play together on the Tour are likely to have a better chance to win in Davis Cup too.
In this case, both Paes and Bopanna play with different partners on the ATP Tour. “It’s a such secondary issue for me. The first issue is always four singles. Our goal is to get into the World Group and play well in the World Group. To get into the World Group, you need to have top-50 players. Every other issue is going to come and go. They are making a mountain out of a molehill, to be honest,” Amritraj said.
“Nobody starts playing tennis, thinking of becoming a doubles or a mixed doubles specialist. Tell a five-year-old, he won’t say ‘I want to be the best mixed doubles player’. It does not work like that. You want to be the next Roger Federer and the next Rafael Nadal. That’s the goal.”
When pointed out that doubles has always been India’s strong point over the years, Amritraj agreed. “(Doubles is still important) when it comes down to very even (on even keel) singles matches. The important aspect is how to get there where the singles matches are even and doubles is going to matter.”
Amritraj asserted that it would be difficult to produce results in Davis Cup if the players have not played together on a consistent basis. “These players have to play together to play Davis Cup. We had good years in Davis Cup when all the way from the Krishnans (Ramanathan and then Ramesh), to Jaideep (Mukerjea) and Premjit (Lal) to Anand and myself, Leander and Mahesh played. All those were good teams because we played together whole year.
“Today also you have to play together during the course of the year, it’s difficult to suddenly pick up someone and play well together (in Davis Cup), if you have not played together (on Tour),” Amritraj said.
NEW DELHI: