Is There Really Better Tennis in Store?
India's only singles entrant at this year's Australian Open, Yuki Bhambri, made a first round exit, after a straight sets loss to Britain's Andy Murray. Somdev Devvarman didn't even make it to the main draw, he crashed out in the first round of the qualifiers of the tournament itself. What then is ailing India's male singles players, and is the wait, for them to shine on the big stage, really worth it?
Yuki Bhambri has happy memories of Melbourne. In 2008, Yuki won the Australian Open singles title as a junior. Seven years since that feat, the Delhi boy hasn't exactly set the senior circuit on fire. In fact this was his maiden Grand Slam appearance in singles as a senior. Ranked 317 in the world, Yuki did make 6th seed Andy Murray sweat a bit in their first round clash on Monday, but it was largely forgettable.
Yuki's problem seems very similar to that of his senior compatriot Somdev Devvarman, who failed to make it to the main draw in Melbourne this year. The lack of any weapons as such in their game, which is leaving them way behind the others. In fact, after this year's first round loss at the Chennai Open, Devvarman fell out of the top 100 in the world rankings once again. Both losses, Yuki's in the Australian Open and Somdev's in the Chennai Open, came against the same player. Chinese Taipei's Yen-Hsun Lu, ranked 47 in the world.
At 29, Somdev's journey back to the top 100 of the world rankings is going to be anything but easy. Switching to doubles maybe the easy way out, but Som's not going down that route, at least for now. In an interview to NDTV a month ago, Somdev had said, "Doubles maybe a good option at some point, but right now it's still the singles that fire me up. We'll have to see how my body holds up of course,". A decent all-round game and a never-say-die tie attitude have always been Somdev's strengths. But there isn't a single weapon in his armory that can hurt an opponent. Yuki Bhambri, similarly, served well while playing Murray on Monday, but that was about the only thing he did well.
Former World No. 4 Tim Henman believes it is the physical aspect that's keeping India's singles players lagging behind. "They do have a lot of natural skills. But the game has become faster, and players today are very athletic. If they gain some overseas exposure, and improve on their physical frame, there's no reason why they can't do well on theTour,"
But that logic doesn't hold true always. Kei Nishikori is a classic case in point. The Japanese started his professional career exactly the same time as Somdev. The 25 year old, who at 5 feet and 10 inches, is roughly about Somdev's stature physically, broke into the top 10 of the world rankings last year. Not just that, Nishikori made it to the final of the 2014 US Open, and is now ranked 5th in the world. So to dismiss Indians off because physically they're not powerful enough isn't portraying the complete picture. And there is an immense deal that needs to be done.
It's back to the drawing board for both Somdev and Yuki, as they continue to try and find their feet in a highly talented and competitive international circuit. The question that begs to be asked is will they ever be good enough?