CHENNAI: Last week, the All India Tennis Association’s selection committee decided to field Leander Paes instead of Rohan Bopanna as the doubles specialist for the Davis Cup Zone Group I first round clash against New Zealand in February. While much coverage has been allotted to convey the latter’s grievances, another point was made at the same meeting — that three players would vie for the two crucial singles slots.
The same situation arose during the World Group Playoff versus Spain, but Yuki Bhambri was yet to recover from a tennis elbow in September. But this time, the New Delhi native, who peaked at World No 88 in late 2015, will have to contend with the likes of Saketh Myneni and Ramkumar Ramanathan, both of whom are placed over 300 spots higher than his current ranking of 532.
The script has thus flipped quite dramatically. Instead of getting a direct entry into the 2017 Chennai Open main draw, he required a wild card to even get into the qualifying draw.
“Unless Yuki does something dramatic, one can be sure that Ramkumar will be the second singles player with Saketh being the first,” a well-paced source within the system said. That’s quite a statement given Bhambri was handpicked to be Somdev Devvarman’s successor.
But, to be fair, this injury-related jinx continues to be a thorn in his own flesh. According to his own admission, the 2015 season was the only one that was relatively injury-free.
Nonetheless, Bhambri’s response to the query about not longer being the top Davis Cup pick was interesting. “I’m pretty sure if the captain had picked the team, he would have chosen me even though I’m not high up in the rankings. I don’t think anyone doubts my ability to compete for the country if I’m fit. I’d have been surprised if I didn’t make the cut,” the 24-year-old said.
In all honesty, Bhambri’s highest level would still make him a top-100 player, something that no other singles team member can boast of. “When I made myself available, I expected to be on the team. Not to sound cocky or anything, but I believe I belong in the top rung nationally.”
The answer also sounded like he didn’t have much faith in the AITA selectors. Another well-informed source added that it was likely Bhambri would have been dropped if the ‘three singles players’ brief hadn’t been decided upon: “There was definitely a chance Yuki wouldn’t have been picked if it was ‘two singles and two doubles guys’. The captain had made the brief very clear.”
A member of the selection committee, however, shot down the idea that Bhambri might not have been picked as pure conjecture.
rohan@newindianexpress.com