The Hindu : Sport : An eventful journey

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Dec 31, 2004

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Sport

An eventful journey

By K. Keerthivasan

POPULAR SPANIARDS: Carlos Moya (right), who is a crowd favourite, will be hoping to maintain his good run in Chennai. Here he and Felix Mantilla take time to talk to a TV reporter during their last visit. — Photo: Vino John

CHENNAI, DEC. 30. The eight years of the Chennai ATP tournament have been eventful to say the least. It has had its highs and lows. Some world-class players touched the shores; some ordinary players went on to win the tournament. All in all, the championship has left an indelible mark on the players' mind. Now, let's have a look at what the eight editions offered the fans.

2004: King Carlos reigns

Fortunately, this time around Carlos Moya knew where the pitfalls were. When he came to Chennai in 1999 as the world No.1 and the top seed, the fans' expectations were sky high, and the drop-dead looks of the Spaniard only added to the curiosity levels. He left midway citing a finger injury. A back injury did him in 2000 at the last minute. Four years later, he returned to a lukewarm response, much fitter and wiser. After surviving a bumpy ride against little-known American Paul Goldstein early on, Moya settled in nicely. Even the frenzied crowd support for Paradorn Srichaphan in the final could not do much to stop the free-stroking Moya. The man famously called King had finally done justice to the title bestowed on him.

2003: The Thai magic

In the summit clash, The Thai, seeded two, tamed Karol Kucera as the shouts of "Paradorn, Paradorn" almost brought the Stadium down. His humility and the Namaste gesture brought him closer to the fans.

Meanwhile, Canas, the top seed, was tipped to win the Open for the second successive time. But once Kucera stopped Canas in the quarterfinals, the attention turned to Paradorn Srichaphan, who had made a silent entry into the last four.

And can anybody forget the marathon quarterfinal match on the outside courts between Fabrice Santoro and Kucera?

2002: Crowd favourite

A curt press release from the organisers informed that Russian Vladimir Voltchkov has pulled out at the last minute and replacing him would be 23-year-old Srichaphan from Thailand. Nobody cared to know more about him. But within seven days, the Thai forced journalists to go through the ATP manual as he reached the final. Canas might have won the Tata Open tournament, but the real winner was Paradorn. Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi played as a pair and won their fourth title. They have not united since then for the Chennai edition, and perhaps will never.

2001: Tabara's Open

Despite the presence of two former champions in Jerome Golmard and Byron Black, a 22-year-old from Czech Republic, ranked 96 in the world, went on to win the championship. Michal Tabara, who worships Ivan Lendl and Miloslav Mecir, made it a memorable Open. The man who shocked the top seed Yevgeny Kafelnikov the previous year, surprised himself in the end.

2000: Golmard's year

Amidst a lot of expectations, top-seeded Russian Yevgeny Kafelnikov brought with him a five-member crew in his private aircraft — Citation 10. But Michal Tabara dispatched the Russian in straight sets. Did Kafelnikov tank? everybody asked then. Even those with the best of investigative skills could not find the answer. Moya pulled out at the last minute. It was a back injury this time. In a wonderful and pulsating final, Frenchman Jerome Golmard ousted German Markus Hantschk.

1999: A noble Black

Having raised the bar by roping in Boris Becker last time, the organisers made the right step by inviting Carlos Moya to play. The Spaniard had won the French Open in 1998, and was the world No.1. But the Spaniard withdrew in the quarterfinals citing injury.

Byron Black worked his way through to win the tournament. He defeated Gregory Carraz in the first round, snuffed out Leander Paes in the next before overcoming the challenge of Richard Fromberg, John Van Lottum and Rainer Schuttler in the final.

1998: Becker mania

A few days during the Gold Flake Open, the traffic police had a hell of a time controlling the flow of vehicles into the Nungambakkam Stadium. The reason for the huge turnout was a six-foot three-inch German player who remarked "Nobody died" when he lost the 1987 Wimbledon second round. Nobody died for sure in Chennai when a past-his-best Becker bowed out to Gerard Solves.

But the German's presence and the crowd's affection gave the young hearts some trouble. The Nungambakkam Stadium hasn't seen such scenes before and will, perhaps, never see another. For the record, Patrick Rafter won the tournament.

1997: Daring Indian duo

The Gold Flake Open returned to its spiritual capital. And a hungry and knowledgeable Chennai fans gave it all making the tournament a success. Leander and Mahesh — the doubles champions — electrified the atmosphere with some outstanding court-craft and understanding. If you look back, everything started from here for the Indian pair — the two Grand Slam titles in 1999 (they reached the four Grand Slam finals that year) and World No. 1 pair tag followed later.

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