CHENNAI: With India taking on Pakistan in the 2024 Davis Cup Group I Play-Off tie in Islamabad on February 3 and 4, pressure is on the former to put on a good show in the two-day event.
Indian tennis legend Vijay Amritraj has said that India are the better team and they would want Ramkumar to get going to have a good contest. “Well, we’re still the better team. I hope Ramkumar serves well and gets his act going. Qureshi (Aisam-Ul-haq) and Khan (Aqeel, coach) are pretty experienced on grass and the fact is it’s a two-day event, best of three sets on grass. I don’t know the quality of the grass. So if the grass is not very good, it’s going to favour them. It’s going to be a good contest,” he said during a press conference ahead of the Chennai Open ATP Challenger 100 tournament Beginning here on Sunday.
Tamil Nadu Tennis Association, in their pursuit to foster young talent, have given wild cards in the qualifying round for four youngsters and two wild cards (Ramkumar, Mukund) in the main draw. Amritraj said that the upcoming event in the city is for the Indian players and they want to ensure more local stars are getting into the main draw.
“Yeah, I think the important thing to note here is that this event is here for our Indian players and every year we want to make sure that more Indians can get into the main draw and qualify. What I would like to eventually see is all these wildcards being given to teenagers in the qualifying round is to do well and get into the main draw.
That’s the goal of this,” Amritraj said on Thursday. “We are trying to create champions in the future, that’s the goal. When we go to a Grand Slam, we cannot see an Indian in the draw. We need to have tournaments like these which are the ones that are stepping stones.”
Rohan Bopanna’s recent success at the Australian Open shows that one should never give up and keep trying. However, at the moment the field looks barren with none from Indians close to going anywhere in the Grand Slams main draw.
Amritraj feels fitness and staying healthy remains the key. “I think you work harder when you’re younger and you work harder when you’re over. So I think that there are several reasons, and it’s the fitness, it’s the ability to stay healthy.
Sometimes you overdo it when you’re young. The injuries that you get stay with you for the rest of your life. And then they’re nagging injuries. They keep coming and going, coming and going,” he said.
Sumit to spearhead India
Sumit Nagal will spearhead Indian challenge in the men’s singles at the Chennai Open ATP Challenger 100. Luca Nardi of Italy is the top-seed as players from 14 countries will be taking part in the tournament here. Last year’s winner Max Purcell of Australia will not be competing this time as he is featuring in other ATP events.