Observe and report: Somdev Devvarman is interested to see how new Davis Cup format works out

CHENNAI: Late on Monday, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) came out with a radical proposal to change the format of the Davis Cup. It has evoked mixed responses, with a few players even calling it ‘the death of the Davis Cup’. Former India Davis Cupper Somdev Devvarman does not get that dramatic in his assessment but he is of the opinion that the uniqueness of the event may be lost if the change is ratified. In a chatty mood after finishing a Pro-am event on the eve of the Chennai Open, Devvarman also spoke about the challenges of being a national observer, the ongoing Ankita Raina controversy and India’s chances at the Asian Games. Excerpts...  

On the Davis Cup proposal.
I think the current format is special, to spread it out through four weekends in a year really gets the fans going. Doing it over one week takes the sheen away. I am not a fan but then again, I’m not a current player so this doesn’t affect my life (laughs). Saying that, I am interested to see how it works out. Maybe the fans can get together and build a (football) World Cup-kind of atmosphere. The first round has eight matches in eight countries and that doesn’t happen in many other sports. I think the (ATP) Tour has realised that a lot of players skip the Davis Cup and that’s why they have wanted to make it like this so everyone can get in.  

On India’s chances at the Asian Games.
My understanding of Asian Games is tricky as it clashes with the US Open. In India, we value Asian Games and playing for the country a lot. That said, it is tricky, what if Ramkumar is ranked inside the top 100 and gets into the main draw of the US Open, which is his first-ever. You can’t blame him for not playing in Asian Games. It is a double-edged sword. You don’t know if Lee (Leander Paes) and Bops (Rohan Bopanna) are available.

On whether issues such as these makes his job as a national observer difficult.
It makes it hard. You don’t want to fund players that are not going to play for the country. But as a tennis player, you also realise the importance of playing Slams. So I think every case has to be studied individually. It’s going to be very hard to make a grand set of rules and tell players to follow it. Sania’s (Mirza) case will be different from say Ramkumar’s or Ankita’s (Raina). You have to make players understand that they are accountable. (But) it’s an absolute necessity to play for India when called to do that. I believe in that. If they don’t want to do that, then they shouldn’t accept any money from the government. It is unfair to take funding from the government and not play for what they are funded for. It is simple as that.

On his take on the Ankita Raina controversy (she was left out of TOPS based on Devvarman’s recommendation).
The last thing Indian tennis needs is another fight. Of all the things wrong with Indian tennis, selection of players for TOPS is the last thing to be worried about. We need to be worried about organisation. Who is running the organisation? How have they run it? What have they done? Why are we still in such a bad place? We should be talking about things like that rather than whether players ranked 250 in the world should be funded or not. I think the conversations are being diverted. The main points of why Indian tennis is not improving are being missed. We should try and see who is heading organisations, do they actually have the best interests of the sport in their hearts? For me, those are the real issues.

Chennai Open kicks off today
The second edition of the Chennai Open — the city’s only Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) event — is scheduled to begin at the Madras Gymkhana Golf Annexe on Thursday. The four-day tournament, which carries a prize money of `30 lakh, will be headlined by the likes of Shamim Khan, Shankar Das and Syed Saqib Ahmed, the Order of Merit Leader for 2018. Defending champion Mukesh Kumar is also in the mix. The 2017 edition did not happen thanks to the northeast monsoon.

swaroop@newindianexpress.com