The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : National loyalty or star power?

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Thursday, Jan 08, 2009
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National loyalty or star power?

Kunal Diwan

CHENNAI: So driven is the drama of professional tennis by personalities that there appears to be limited scope for national loyalties to come into play, more so when a large majority of tennis-following countries have just a handful of journeymen to bear the brunt of their vicarious competitive aspirations.

It wouldn’t be too hard to imagine a sizable home following for stalwarts like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and other regular inhabitants of the tennis stratosphere. American and other European fans, too, wouldn’t bat an eyelid before homing in on whichever compatriot they would want to root for. The trouble arises when one does away with the spoilt-for-choice, rose-tinted viewpoint of the Caucasian and considers things from the seamier perspective of the Asian fan.

Indian hopes in singles at the Chennai Open were shouldered by three players — one whose national credentials were a shade murky — of which just a solitary competitor survived through to the second round. While Rohan Bopanna and Prakash Amritraj — crowd support notwithstanding — were sent hurtling to the netherworld of defeat, Somdev Devvarman managed to stay afloat beyond the initial challenge.

Perfect test

A perfect experiment to determine viewer inclinations will be conducted at the SDAT Stadium on Thursday, when several-time visitor to the Chennai Open and crowd favourite, Spaniard Carlos Moya, takes on the India’s great new hope Devvarman in the second round. Who the spectators decide to get behind is anybody’s guess.

The beneficiary of astounding support every single time he has played in Chennai, Moya was unfazed about facing the local hero in his next match.

“The crowd here has always been very supportive. The atmosphere last year during my semifinal against (Rafael) Nadal was better than any Grand Slam I have played in. Even if the crowd does not back me tomorrow, it wouldn’t be such a bad thing because I’ve already received such phenomenal support from them over the years.”

The two-time Chennai Open winner said he had read reports of Devvarman being in good form and that he would use his experience to nullify the young Indian’s approach.

Devvarman said he would be happy to turn in a good performance in front of an Indian crowd. Whether or not he had their support was a non-issue.

“Moya is one of the guys I grew up watching…I’ll just have to step up my play irrespective of who my opponent is and who the spectators back.”

Vijay Amritraj said that Davis Cup apart, the professional tour too provided ample space for jingoistic excursions.

“In any setting, the national identity will take precedence over personality or celebrity status,” he said.

“Take the case of the Swedish army of fans in Australia. And I’m not just talking about support for the big names such as (Stefan) Edberg or (Jonas) Bjorkmann…even players like (Mikael) Tillstrom had raucous support on the outside courts. This stems from a sense of national identity and nothing else.”

As another illustration, Mr. Amritraj constructed a hypothetical match up between Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka and India’s rising star and Orange Bowl winner Yuki Bhambri at a neutral venue…say…Hong Kong.

“Who do you think the Indians in Hong Kong will turn up to cheer?” he asked.

That’s not such a difficult question to answer.

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