The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : The focus this year will be on slams, says Nikolay Davydenko

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jan 06, 2009
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Sport

Sport - Tennis

The focus this year will be on slams, says Nikolay Davydenko

Kunal Diwan

— Photo: R. Ragu

MARCHING ON: Rohan Bopanna, in action against Michael Berrer, came through the energy-sapping qualifying rounds to enter the main draw.

CHENNAI: In its perpetual, expansive avatar, modern day tennis resembles an evening of dining out: there is room alike for the high-hat and humble, the truffle and tikka, and all sorts of wherewithal — either innate or budgetary — finds a place on its globalised menu.

The mighty rulers of the game have often remarked that tennis, for them, is “just about the Slams.” But this disdain for the downmarket is an ideology harboured only by the select few possessors of exquisite skills.

Yet to play in his first singles Grand Slam final, the top seed at the Chennai Open — Nikolay Davydenko — would be hard pressed to make the elite list of the phenomenally talented.

Elusive success

Success in slams proved to be rather elusive for the balding Russian in 2008, his two fourth round appearances in Melbourne and New York not being anything to shout home about.

But the aggressive baseline prowler credited his constant presence in the top five to good showings in the Masters and other tournaments. “The small tournaments are very important. My ranking is largely the product of points accumulated at ATP events and the Masters win at Miami,” he said.

Speaking in a thick, almost-indecipherable Russian accent, Davydenko — who has just about emerged unscathed from the shadow of match fixing — sputtered and shot down questions on his goals for 2009.

“The focus this year will be on the slams. But it’s not easy because each week is a new week in tennis. You have young guys like (Novak) Djokovic, (Andy) Murray and (Jo-Wilfried) Tsonga trying to make an impression,” he said.

Calming influence

Davydenko also let slip a mental advantage that he has over most opponents. His wife, Irina — a major in psychology — accompanies him to tournaments and provides a calming influence amidst the turbulence of the professional tour.

“I don’t like to travel alone. But if my wife is with me, then no matter which country or tournament I am playing in, I always feel at home.”

Sniffing around

Another creature who felt right at home at the venue on Monday was six-year-old Anju. Sniffing around like it was going out of style, the prized Chennai Police sniffer dog nosed its way around the press lounge, sparing neither shoe, nor table, nor any object worthy of the attention of its advanced olfactory apparatus.

Patiently posing for photographs before an over-the-top contingent of shutterbugs, Anju’s departure led to the arrival of another home-grown talent, one who gave enough indications of the hard-end bargain he felt he had been dealt by the local tennis association.

Rohan Bopanna’s pleasure on making the main draw of the country’s principal tennis tournament was marred by his relative disappointment of having to wade through the energy-sapping qualifying rounds.

“I asked for a wild card but the authorities did not oblige. There is nothing one can do about such things,” he said after toppling German Michael Berrer in three sets.

Cold statistics, at least at this year’s event, vindicate the Association’s denial of Bopanna’s request. The three wild card recipients — Somdev Devvarman (202), Prakash Amritraj (206), and Lukas Dlouhy (180) are all ranked above him, while Bopanna is cooling his heels at number 332.

The gangly tennis player had received a wild card for the Chennai Open in 2003, following which he had promptly crashed out in the first round.

The sparse opening day crowd was also treated to the presence of two of the city’s most famous denizens. Chief Selector of BCCI and former captain of the Indian cricket team, K. Srikkanth, was led by Vijay Amritraj through a felicitation ceremony for promising tennis player Yuki Bhambri, the junior world number two. Yuki has teamed with Harsh Mankad for the doubles event.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport