Press Trust of India
Mumbai, Sept 23: Looking back at India’s unsuccessful campaign to enter the World Group in Davis Cup, former India tennis captain Vijay Amritraj said Wednesday that it was crucial for the singles players to break into the top 100.
“For us to get into the World Group it’s absolutely critical to have players in the top 100. Otherwise it’s hard to push through in four singles matches,” said Vijay when asked about India’s 1-3 defeat against top seeds Czech Republic in Delhi last week.
“If you have players in the top 100, preferably in the top 50, then we can push these guys and on a particular day you could actually win. Otherwise it becomes rather difficult,” added the 61-year-old tennis ace.
Vijay stated that at the end of the first day, he had nurtured some hopes of an Indian victory. “It was a real boost after the first day when Somdev (Devvarman) won his singles match. The first day was unbelievable,” pointed of Vijay.
“However, it was very disappointing on the second day when Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna surprisingly lost in the doubles. That was the time, I felt that it (the tie) had slipped out of our grasp,” Vijay added.
Vijay asserted that the important thing is to find a lot many players to push at each other like some of the European countries. “You need a pool, otherwise you will never get players in the top 100,” he stated. Sadly that pool is non-existent. I can’t see any singles player other than Yuki (Bhambri) and Som.”
