It is that time of the year again in Chennai when the locals make a beeline to the well-appointed SDAT Stadium for the ATP Chennai Open that over the years has evolved into a social event. With the weather being at its best (by Chennai standards!), the setting is just right for an evening out.
This year, there is no Rafael Nadal, who has opted for the more lucrative Doha tournament after twice failing to win the Chennai Open title. The presence of Nikolay Davydenko, ranked No 5 and the top seed, besides a host of rising young stars from Europe, should guarantee the spectators quality tennis.
The Chennai Open traditionally depended on big names to pull in the crowds, though it was not always successful in luring the big names who cost quite a packet in terms of appearance fee. In the past, we have had the likes of Pat Rafter, Pat Cash, Boris Becker and Nadal himself. Those were halcyon days when tickets were at a premium. But then, there is certain repetitiveness and a sense of familiarity that has led to dwindling spectator interest in the past couple of years.
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If anything, Chennai Open has underlined the shallowness of Indian tennis talent. Some years ago, the likes of Leander Paes gave the home crowd plenty to cheer about, especially in 1998 when he made it to the semi-finals. Subsequently, his pairing up with Mahesh Bhupathi and their successful campaigns drew huge crowds. However, their break-up and also their virtual exit from singles play has robbed the tournament of a lot of its charm as far as the home fans are concerned
Currently, we have Rohan Bopanna (who was still to quality for the main draw at the time of writing) and Prakash Amritraj carrying the Indian torch, but they have rarely created a ripple of excitement.
Bopanna has never got past the first round while Amritraj has won just two matches since his Chennai Open debut four years ago.
Much as we would like to believe that Indian men’s tennis is alive and kicking, the fact is that barring Ramanathan Krishnan, Ramesh Krishnan, Vijay Amritraj and Paes, no Indian male player has made it to the top 100.
This piece of statistics alone should convince us that our male players are a long way off from making it to the top although Sania Mirza did provide us some hope in the past couple of years. But she too has dropped out of the top 100 following a string of recurring injuries and absence from the tour.
The best thing about the Chennai Open is that it puts into perspective Indian tennis. Of course, the authorities are always under compulsion to say some nice things in the run-up to the tournament with the Media releases in particular going overboard in creating a hype around Indian players. The only consolation is that Lee and Hesh are still around in doubles and enjoy top billing besides winning the odd Grand Slam title in the paired events.
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So much so that Vijay Amritraj is routinely posed the question on future of Indian men’s tennis when he makes his annual pilgrimage to his hometown of Chennai for Christmas, New Year and the Open. Each time, I can sense some discomfort in Vijay as he is forced to speak optimistically. I am sure that in his heart of hearts, he is only too aware that it might take a couple of generations before we see another Indian player like him or the Krishnans or, for that matter, Leander.
Of course, this is a depressing scenario, but the sooner we face up to it, the better, and it is certainly preferable to harbouring false hopes. Rather, it is best to introspect and perhaps, revisit the system that is unable to produce players who can make it to the big league and stay there.
As for the 2009 Chennai Open, I fancy Davydenko to sail through the singles draw, though he needs to be wary of several younger and hungrier players en route.
In doubles, it would be a splendid New Year gift for India if either Leander or Mahesh win the doubles crown with their respective partners.
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