Amritraj unhappy over change in Davis Cup format

Indian legend Vijay Amritraj still speaks with passion about Davis Cup, but wasn't impressed with International Tennis Federation's (ITF) tinkering of the traditional format.

The ITF has changed the Davis Cup format to three-set matches over two days against the five-setters spread over three days. Amritraj, however, believed the old format was beneficial for countries like India.

"When I started playing tennis, it was for my health and to represent my country in Davis Cup and Wimbledon. The rest of the tournaments I played for myself and the paycheck. I am all for the five-set format over three days. I feel it is a good thing for our players who might also play in the doubles. It is also about developing the mindset to play the five-set matches," said Amritraj on the sidelines of Road to Wimbledon event on Tuesday.

India will be playing China in Tianjin in Davis Cup tie in April and Amritraj felt they had a good a chance to win. "We have a good chance to win against China despite this being an away tie. There is very little difference. Davis Cup is about four singles and our players have been doing quite well," he said.

Both Yuki Bhambri and Ramkumar Ramanathan have been notching wins over top-ranked players. Yuki, in particular, has given spectacular performances in Chennai Challengers and Indian Wells where he took out veteran Nicolas Mahut and World No 12 Lucas Pouille. Amritraj, who had reached quarterfinals of Wimbledon and the US Open, believed Yuki had the potential to be in the top 50 of men's singles.

"I had told Yuki earlier that his best years would be from 25 years to 33. The same applies to Ramkumar too. It is because Indians mature mentally first and then physically. The Europeans mature physically early and mentally later. When we try to push these boys hard physically at an early age, it leads to injuries. That 's what happened to Yuki," said Amritraj.

The former World No 16 took out time to encourage the Indian junior players participating in the tournaments. While the girls' Masters tournament took place in Kolkata last week, the boys' event began on the grass courts of Delhi Gymkhana place from Tuesday. The best two players from the event will qualify for the UK under-14 championship, scheduled on the grass courts of Wimbledon in August.

The British coach Dan Bloxham said they were focussed on providing specialised training to the select group of top 16 players. "We have a small group of 16 very best players. We are looking for big impact through specific work. We have your Davis Cupper Vishaal Uppal teaching the kids drops and slices. During the girls event in Kolkata, we had a woman helping the players between the age of 16-18," he said.