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ARTICLES- Men
'The best is yet to be' I do not agree with Bollitieri's training methods
Mahesh Bhupathi
He's got the world on the string. For the moment. But Mahesh Bhupathi is not worried. As he steps into the coffee shop at the Maurya Sheraton, the room seems to shrink. He's big enough at 6ft 2in. An earring glints and his bronze face smiles hesitantly.
He's the first Indian to win a Grand Slam title ever. But there's nothing remotely grand about his manner. Was this the boy who set Indian hearts singing when he felled top-seeded players at the French Open mixed doubles? He may be soft-spoken, even shy, but in Roland Garros, he was boom, boom Bhupathi - which is what he really is.
Teaming up with Rika Hiraki of Japan, the 23-year-old made history and ever since has been hailed the new star of not just Indian tennis but Indian sports. At his 'boom boom' best, he reportedly raked in 2,01,522 dollars this season apart from getting more (All India Tennis Association) and the Delhi Tennis Association last week. Nowadays, people even see him as one of the most eligible bachelors.
The fact that he's teamed up with Rika a couple of times since his French Open triumph, was enough to put the grape vine in the tizzy. World wide. Bhupathi is going to marry Rika, they claimed excitedly. The Indo-Japan venture has borne fruit, they whispered. But no, he waves it away smilingly, negating everything with a shake of his head. Just rumours. In fact, a Japanese film crew came all the way to ask him if he was in love and really to marry Rika as she was willing to do so. The went away disappointed.
"It was a coincidence. I needed a partner and we came across Rika," he says about his teaming up with her. "Winning at the French Open was one of my happiest moments. The trophy must have been about 40 Kg and Rika is so small, like a doll, just 4ft 11 in. She's a very sweet girl. Very polite and always smiling." Most people can't be anything but that with him.
As a person, he's calm and unruffled, so with-it, yet so away from it was, that fame rests lightly on his shoulders. "Fame doesn't trouble me. It's nice and I'm happy with myself," he says. His ambition is to win a grand slam doubles title.
There is a story behind the single earring he sports: "Leander and I decided that if we qualified for the Olympics, we would either shave our heads or pierce an ear. We settled for the latter!"
The 'NRI kid' started wielding the racquet at the age of three and has never looked back since. He went on to become a champion in the University of Mississippi and now he's one on home turf.
When asked about his other interests in college, wearing a faintly perplexed look on his face, the gentle giant asks, "Uh, you mean besides Physical Education?" His directness is disarming.
He attributes his success to a lot of hard work and sacrifice his family who miss him a lot.
Now for some news: Bhupathi is in love. Does that make his tennis better or worse? I don't know. Her name is Shuchita. She's from Delhi. We went to school together in Muscat. But we've been dating only for the past two years." No wonder he spends the most on phone calls. With the amount of travelling he does, he certainly needs to keep in touch.
Courtesy The Times of India
Seeds fall aside as a new breed of exciting players come to the fore
Brazilian who has never won a tournament and a Belgian who came out of the qualifying rounds suddenly found themselves headed for a semifinal showdown at the French Open. After the quarterfinals neither of these modest mystery men seemed able to believe their fate.
"It is a strange situation," said Gustavo Kuerten, after ousting defending champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov to become the first Brazilian to reach a Grand Slam semifinal. He had earlier defeated the high ranked Thomas Muster and Andrei Medvedev.
"I have no words," said Filip Dewulf after his four-set victory over Magnus Norman, the Swede who knocked out Pete Sampras. Two days earlier, Dewulf had beaten one of the tournament favourites, eighth-seeded Alex Corretja.
Kuerten, a slender 20-year-old with shy smile and killer groundstrokes, acknowledged that he took tennis tips from his grandmother. "She has studied every player," he said. "She knows Becker, Sampras, Kafelnikov. She tells me how to play a particular guy."
The 66th-ranked Brazilian, who had the crowds at Roland Garros chanting his nickname, Guga, had never won a tournament before. His opponent in the semifinal was an even more lower ranked player--Dewulf is ranked 122 on the ATP tour.
Kuerten says he adopted his style watching top players in action. Asked what he is happy with in his game right now, he said "Everything." He has changed a bit lately, though. Kuerten is letting the stubbie on his chin grow, for superstitious reasons. He says he is aiming for a long goatee.
If luck favours him, Kuerten will become the first South American to win the Grand Slam since Ecuador's Andres Gomez won in Paris in 1990.
Dewulf, the qualifier who made it to the semifinals, was a little more modest than Kuerten. He said he lost the second set of his quarter final because he started thinking he didn't belong there. "I was thinking about the fact that I might be in the semifinals at the French Open. That was so unexpected," he said.
Only two qualifiers before Dewulf have reached the semifinals of a Grand Slam tournament in the Open era--John McEnroe at Wimbledon in 1977 and Bob Giltinan at the Australian Dewulf has won an event, an indoor tournament in Vienna in 1995. After that, things went downhill.
With his success in Paris, the 25-year-old is going to move up not only in the rankings but on the pay scale. But he said he hadn't even checked how much semifinalists make at Roland Garros. Whatever it is, he's going to spend the money the same way he always does--on compact disks. "I'll be able to buy many now," he said.
The other surprising quarterfinalist, Hicham Arazi made big news in his native Morocco even though he lost his quarterfinal to Sergei Bruguera. "In taxis, in boutiques, everyone is talking about Arazi," said Mohammed Meguid, president of the Royal Moroccan Tennis Federation. The player's picture was splashed on the front page of the Moroccan daily Le Matin with a screaming headline: "Arazi, sports power."
Many Moroccans left work early to watch his fourth-round match on TV when he beat Marcelos Rios of Chile to become the first Moroccan quarterfinalist ever in a Grand Slam. Cafes were filled with spectators watching the lunch-time match. Arazi, who relaxes by reciting poetry with his coach, has lived in France since he was two years old. "His victory is a miracle," Meguid said. "He is incredibly mature and calm."
On shot making basis, Arazi could be considered the most talented of the unknown players to make an impact at Roland Garros. The southpaw can mix up his game, hitting thrilling shots from the baseline and volleying with conviction.
If former champion Bruguera wins, he will become the first Spaniard to win the French Open twice. Three years ago Bruguera along with Arantza Sanchez Vicario had claimed a Spanish double at the Roland Garros. When the circuit resumed in January after the brief Christmas break, no one looking at the men's rankings would have imagined predicting any of these four players to be French Open semifinalists. Australian Patrick Rafter started the season ranked No. 62, Bruguera No. 81, Kuerten no. 88 and Dewulf No. 96. At the start of the French Olpen Dewulf was ranked 122, Gustavo Kuerten 66 and Patrick Rafter 25.
In the history of the French Open, only two unseeded players before this have taken the honours on the terre battue of Court Central--Frenchman Marcel Bernard in 1946 and Swede Mats Wilander in 1982.
Patrick Rafter is certainly not a name that tennis insiders expected to see in a French Open semifinal. A consummate serve-and-volleyer--Australia doesn't train players any other way--Rafter surprised opponent after opponeny by playing aggressively on the rust-hued earth of Roland Garros.
'That's the way I play," Rafter surmised of his strategy on the clay. "If I try and stay back I'am not going to compete as well. If the conditions are right, I'll keep it going." But he admits he surprised himself by whisking through the draw.
It was in the 1994 that both Bruguera and Rafter experienced their last sweet taste of success. Since then for both there's been injuries to deal with and comebacks to orchestrate. "Never have I ever thought of reaching this far at the French Open." said Rafter, when asked if he envisioned himself a French Open star. "It's just amazing. I think the first two (were) Wimbledon and the Australian Open. The Australian Open, obviously, because its' regarded as where tennis started," Rafter reflected. "The chances are a billion to one. But it's happened, so that's tennis, I guess. "It could be just a new breed of players all coming through," Rafter beamed.
Rafter, who won a title in Manchester in 1994, is having an excellent season this year: he has reached three finals. But his stunning play at Roland Garros will move the Australian into the top-20 in the rankings for the first time. If he does win the title, he will be the first Australian to win the French Open. It is also the first time since Phil Dent in1977 that a "Down Under" gent moved into the semifinals at the French Open.
For those bewildered individuals who are wondering what happened to the players of international stature, why not view this French Open as an exciting time of discovery.
I do not agree with Bollitieri's training methods
This has been a very successful year for Leander Paes. The 24-year-old spearhead of Indian tennis capped his performance on the ATP tour by breaking into the top 100, albeit for a brief while. He made it as far as the third round in the singles and the semifinals in the doubles of the US Open. The performance earned the Paes-Bhupathi pair the No. 5 world ranking, the best by Indians to date.I am very careful when it comes to tennis. I came up the hard way in this game. I had to pick up everything all by myself to sustain myself in this game because I did not come from a rich family.
In the Davis Cup match against Chile Paes churned up another quality performance, despite a hip injury and two days of non-stop tennis in the Delhi heat taking their toll. The weeks on end spent on the ATP tour seem to have made him a little more distant; on the tour players learn to shut out the crowds. And in his match against Marcelo Rios he did not look his old pumped-up self. As he admits, by the time he realised it he had lost the fourth set and the match.
On court and off it the ebullient Paes. a descendant of the renowned Bengali poet Michael Madhusudhan Dutt. has always been difficult to pin down. He spends a better part of the year touring the ATP circuit. Soon after the match in Delhi Paes stopped by in Calcutta to spend a few days with his family and his two German Spitzs.
Excerpts from the interview:
What was the mood in the Indian camp on the eve of the crucial encounter with Chile?
We were fairly confident of doing well. Mahesh and I had done well on the ATP circuit. And before the tie, we worked hard and, importantly, did our homework well.Did you feel the same way after the first day's play, when the two teams had one win each?
I think we had predicted the outcome of the matches that were to be played on the first day long before we took the courts.
I was supposed to win and I did just that. Mahesh did fairly well against Marcelo Rios though he eventually went down fighting. After the first day's play things were in pretty good shape and went as per our plan.What were you thinking during the crucial five sets of the doubles match? Did you expect the Chileans to stretch you?
It was an excellent decision on the part of the Chilean captain to put in Massu with Rios for the doubles encounter. Massu knew he had nothing to lose, so he put in his best effort. That is why he played such a fantastic match. Gabriel Silberstein, who was supposed to play the last singles against Mahesh, got the invaluable rest on Saturday.
But honestly speaking both of us were taken aback by the way Massu played. At one stage we thought he would not be able to sustain the high speed, high skill level of the match. But he continued to churn out a fantastic performance till the end. There were times when he outshone Rios too.
All through this we knew we could beat them if we played solid tennis. I don't like to think about results. While playing I always think about my strategy and innovate as and when required. That is exactly what we did during that encounter.Were you tense the night before the final day?
No. On the contrary, Saturday night was very interesting. We had played a very tough match that day. We were on court for two consecutive days and I knew what was expected of me the next day. I needed complete rest to recover and rest my muscles.
Moreover the Delhi grass court was quite slippery and I had injured my left hip while playing. So I went to bed early without working myself up about the next day's match.You did not seem your usual self the next day against Rios. Even though you won the first set why could you not motivate yourself?
Perhaps, it is an ATP circuit syndrome where I don't expect any support from the crowd. I have attuned myself to block out the crowds while playing. So I was doing the same thing here. I realised my folly during the fourth set and raised the level of the play. I was a bit unlucky in losing the fourth set. If it had gone to the fifth set in all probability I would have won. Rios, I noticed, was getting tired. But my hip injury started acting up and that proved to be the last straw.Did you expect Mahesh to pull it off after being down two sets to nil in the deciding match?
I was impressed with the way Silberstein started. He seemed to have everything going his way starting from the Saturday that he got off. Mahesh, on the other hand, was playing non-stop for the third day. Yes, Mahesh did get opportunities to win the first and the second set but Silberstein was really playing good tennis.
The champion in Mahesh came out in the fourth and the fifth sets and Silberstein just could not cope with the storm called Mahesh. I think it was a superb all-round performance on Mahesh's part.The victory coming as it did after so much hard work must have been sweet. How did you celebrate?
We were all exhausted but we did celebrate, as much as one can with a bad throat, a cracked voice and an injured hip.How did you two suddenly transform yourselves into a successful doubles team on the ATP circuit?
We believe and trust each other not just as tennis players but as human beings. One has to be honest if one has to achieve anything in life.Do you think you lack anything to become the No. 1 doubles team in the world?
I do not think we lack anything. Only time will tell where we reach. We are now No. 5 in the rankings.
Do you have any superstitious beliefs while playing together?
No. But I am very particular about certain things. I must pack my bags in a certain manner before going out to the court. I always carry extra shoes, wrist bands, grips, rackets, racket strings and things like that.
I am very careful when it comes to tennis. I came up the hard way in this game. I had to pick up everything all by myself to sustain myself in this game because I did not come from a rich family. My parents have been helpful. From my father I imbibed meticulousness and I guess I inherited my speed from my mother, who was a dedicated basketball player.Are you peaking now?
I think so. But the next couple of years are very crucial for me as a tennis player.You were supposed to join Nick Bollitieri's training camp...
I actually went to the Bollitieri camp and spent 10 days there. But did not agree with the training methods they have there. I was looking for a top-notch physical trainer, who could hone my physical capabilities, and a coach to sharpen my serve and volley skills.Do Indians lack what it takes to be an excellent coach?
I don't think we have a very good training system in India, especially in tennis. We lag behind other tennis-playing countries by quite a few years. That is why I became an NRI and relocated to Orlando, Florida, in the US. I have been attending the training camp there for the last three-four years.You were said to be excellent in hockey and football. Why did you choose tennis?
In my school, La Martinere, I played all sorts of games. But the evaluation of personal capabilities is not possible in team games like football, hockey, basketball or rugby. In tennis everything was left to me. When I was five or six I had developed a tremendous faith in my own abilities. Tennis satisfied me the most from that angle.Among your Davis Cup victories which was the most satisfying? On the ATP circuit which comes first to mind?
The two moments I cherish most are the 1993 quarterfinal match against France in Frezus and this year's US Open, which is the farthest I have gone in a grand slam tournament.Money is certainly important, but I am not money-minded. I plough back most of what I earn from the circuit into my training and the rest I use for a comfortable living.
Are some of the big names on the circuit favoured? Some get a favourable draw or a better court. Do you think the incident during your US Open match with Agassi last year showed a bias? The referee asked you not to grunt at a time when Agassi seemed down and out.
I am not one to brood over things that happened in the past. It's a waste of time. But there is no doubt that they were rooting for him. I was playing on his home turf.How and where are you planning to train for the coming World Doubles Championship? Do you have a specific strategy?
Well, I think that the next six weeks will be crucial for Mahesh and me. We have to consolidate our position. We'll have to improve ourselves on fast, indoor courts. With winter approaching, matches will be played mostly indoors on synthetic surfaces. Those who can adjust fast will do the best.
In tennis, unlike in other sports, you can't have out-of-court practice. It's in a match that you hone your skill. It is a very demanding and competitive sport. Thirty weeks a year you are playing on the circuit, almost non-stop. Then there are Davis Cup, Asian Games and Olympic matches. Just because I withdrew from the circuit for a week to play the Davis Cup my ranking slipped to 109 from 98.Do you use any special racket to play the Davis Cup matches?
I am not superstitious. I think every racket is lucky. I believe in my ability. Normally I carry along 10 rackets of the same make, weight, length and string tension.How do you choose which tournament to participate in? Do you decide on your own? Is money a criterion?
I get a tennis calendar at the beginning of the year and then I sit with my coach and my father and chalk out my circuit schedule. Normally my schedule is always made in advance for three months and tentatively for six months at a stretch.
Money is certainly important, but I am not money-minded. I plough back most of what I earn from the circuit into my training and the rest I use for a comfortable living.Do you have any property in your name?
Other than my tennis kit, nothing at all. After I won the Olympic bronze medal the West Bengal government promised me a plot. I haven't found the time to complete the land transfer documentation in Calcutta. But I plan to do it soon.Where do you see yourself 10 years from now? Do you plan to take up coaching later?
I want to give back to my country what I got from it all these years. I may go in for a tennis academy in the future or, possibly, an academy to train athletes. We have a large number of talented tennis and cricket players but hardly any camps to develop their fitness. Orlando, where I get training, is one of the best training centres in the world. I want to build a similar institute in India.Does tennis get the required support in the country? Do you think it will change with your recent success?
I think both Mahesh and I are popularising tennis in India. We are projecting India and Indian life abroad, too. We are the tennis ambassadors of the country. With popularisation, I hope, the required support will come.In the Davis Cup team, who after you and Mahesh?
I have no idea. There are lots of talented young people and I have seen some of them. But lots of things have to be done before some of them reach the top.There is this story about a pact between you and Bhupathi that prompted the two of you to start sporting ear studs. Mahesh and I have a fantastic relationship. we're almost like brothers. Whatever may happen to our tennis career we will always remain close. Three or four years ago we decided to go for the studs. Our fathers are very conservative and they opposed this. I got it done in England and Mahesh in Germany, same metal, same size.
How do you respond to your female fans, especially since you have a steady girlfriend?
Well, I have known Anisha (daughter of former tennis ace Jaideep Mukherjea) since I was five years old. We are very close friends and have grown up together.
While on the circuit it is extremely difficult to maintain regular contact with each other. Anisha, who was in the US for the last four years, recently graduated with honours in English. Now she is trying to get a teaching degree.
Yes, I do have a female fan following and I know how to handle it in a dignified manner. I have my values.Do you have any plans to tie the knot in the near future?
I haven't thought of a date. I think both of us are at a crucial juncture in our careers. I don't think it would be fair to start a family now. But that doesn't mean this would never be.Courtesy The Week
IN July 1996, in a game interrupted three times by rain, Richard Krajicek (pronounced as Krajicek) defeated his American rival, Malivai Washington, in a clearly unequal duel of 6-3, 6-4 and 6-3 and carried away the Wimbledon Gold Cup.
In a moment the Dutchman was catapulted to the centre stage in world tennis. Emulating Bjorn Borg in the seventies, Krajicek went on his knees and then fell backwards in sheer joy, hiding his tears from the zooming cameras. This was his first Grand Salm title.
In earlier years he had been eliminated at the first or second round at Wimbledon. Krajicek's rise in the sport has been steady. Son of first generation Czechoslovakian immigrants to the Netherlands, he started out playing tennis quite early. His father was his first coach. Since 1989, when Rohan Goetzke took over as this trainer, he has had a string of successes. Wimbledon came as the proverbial icing on the cake for the unassuming Dutch youngster.
Born: December 6, 1971 at Rotterdam
Present residence: Monte Carlo
Height: 1.96 m
Weight: 86kg
Plays : Right handed
Profession tennis : Since 1989
Total money won (before Wimbledon): over $5 million
Position on world ranking : end 1989:392; 1991:40; 1993:15; 1996:9; 1997:7
Titles won since 1991: 1991:Hongkong; 1992: Los Angeles, Antwerp; Barcelone, Rosmalen, Sydney; 1995: Stuttgart, Rotterdam; 1996: Wimbledon.
"I feel good on all surfaces"
An Interview with Richard Krajicek.RICHARD KRAJICEK did not win many matches in the Gold Flake ATP Tour event in Chennai. It was the misfortune of the tennis enthusiasts of the city that the Wimbledon champion fell in the second hurdle to an unfamiliar opponent, Andrei Pavel in straight sets.
B ut the charming top 10 players in the world did not sulk about the conditions or anything else. He gave full credit to his opponent. It was another matter that the 25-year-old Dutchaman, the first to win a Grand Slam for his country, the Netherlands, was thoroughly disappointed with his early exit. He vowed that he would improve his consistency and soon break into the top five.
The Nungambakkam Tennis Stadium, a magnificent facility, let Krajicek practice for two more days after his unceremonious exit, as the champion was stranded in India because of an air strike. Hence his departure for the next stop on the ATP Tour at Tokyo, was displayed.
Some excerpts from the Interview with Richard Krajicek after losing in the ATP Tour event.
Question: How happy are you with the way your career has progressed so far?
Answer: When I started professional tennis at 17 years I was No. 55. in Holland. I think my career has been, I suppose great. My first goal was to become a top 100 player. I have been top 20 for five years. Even last year top 10 and No.6 now, which is my highest ranking. I won Wimbledon. I have won 11 tournaments in all. I have a lot of achievements. Still, sometimes I think that I can do much better. Like here. The favourites go out. Actually me as No. 6 in the world should have won this tournament, I think. Probably semifinal or final. But to lose the second round is very disappointing. It happens. It has happened before. maybe that is part of my game. Maybe, that is why I win Wimbledon at times and lose, because I am very much high sort of and low also, tennis wise. So that is the disappointing part as I said. Everything I have achieved if I look at my primary goal to become top 100 and that could have been unbelievable, I have over achieved. Part of it, looking at it eight years ago when I started professional tennis it is unbelievable what I have achieved. If I look at it now, this week I am disappointed. After being so long in the circuit I am not winning this kind of tournaments. I lack consistency. Maybe that is the reason I am not in the top five as yet.Q: How great has been the influence of winning the Wimbledon crown?
A: In a way it has been very good. And also, a little bit bad. The good thing was I suppose achieving a life time dream and goal. Unbelievable. The best part of it for a couple of months afterwards, I had a tough time to motivate myself. Like I said, I had achieved my biggest dream. And suddenly I had no dream anymore. So standing on the court I was asking myself why I was standing on the court. It took about four months to get back into the fighting rhythm and really wanting to play again.Q: Are you confident that you can go further up in the ATP rankings?
A: Yes, I think so. Maybe a few things to improve. But tennis wise I think I am a very good player. I can beat everybody. But the problem is that I lose to players like yesterday. If I can cut those kind of catches then I think I am going to be a top five player. If I don't give the other guys too much confidence,...... because if I lose to a player today, the lower ranked players are going to believe that they have a chance against me. if you beat these guys, the next time I play somebody ranked 100, I can believe I have a chance, because normally it kills those players.Q: How tough do you feel it is going to be to go back to Wimbledon and win it again?
A: It is another serve or eight tournaments away, the Wimbledon. So, I don't try to think too much of it right now. First time I will start thinking about Wimbledon is after French Open, when I am practising and playing tournaments on grass. I think I should worry about Wimbledon only when I am at Wimbledon. There is no use worrying about it now. Like seven tournaments to go, I have to try to do well in them.Q: It is generally felt that the serve is the basis of your game. How do you react to it?
A: It is a very important part of my game. If I serve well, the rest of my game is going well. So it all go hand in hand. I mean, it is a weapon. Like Courier has got a big forehand, and Agassi too, Michael Chang is fast. If these things aren't there for these players they would be less forceful. So, I wouldn't say it is the only part of my game. Bu, it is a big part. It is almost like the key to my ambition. When my serve works, I can start planning the whole game.Q: In case if it doesn't work, are you in trouble or how do you look at it?
A: I have to work harder for my points. I have to hit more second serves. I am going to get a few ore balls back. So it is tougher. But I won't say difficult. I mean, I have won matches when my serve has not been that good. And I have lost matches in which I have served unbelievable. So, that of course,if my serve goes well, everything is a lot easier. If it doesn't go well, I have to accept it and fight my way into the match. Sometimes I can play a bad first set, serving bad. Suddenly, my serve starts to go boom and I can still turn the match around.Q: Did beating the three-time champion, Pete Sampras, at Wimbledon give you the maximum satisfaction?
A: I have won a lot of satisfying matches. I mean, I won twice in Rotterdam which is important for me, because I was there as a child. It was my home country. It was important to do well. But, of course, In Wimbledon so many of the players lost and I am happy that the other day I beat Sampras in Straight sets, so that nobody can really say that I had an easy draw. Because I know, if Washington had won, they would have said because there was no seeds in the bottom half. He head it easy, he didn't have to beat anybody. I don't think it is true. But that is why I am happy that I beat him. I beat the champion to become the champion. That is a nice feeling.Q: Who are the players who trouble you the most?
A: I have always had a tough time against Courier. Jim Courier has been the toughest. It is like 7-1 for him. Also, difficult is (Goran) Ivanisevic. We have come very close like 7-6 in the third a couple of times, and he has managed to beat me. he is 7-2 up against me. In the top 10, they are all good players.Q: Your knees have often troubled you. How has it been of late?
A: I had a surgery in December. Since then I am happy with the way the knee is faring.Q: How did you develop such a strong serve?
A: I think it came naturally to me. I think it came naturally to me. I mean, being so tall, and having natural technique helps a lot.Q: How much of a struggle was it for you at the beginning of your career?
A: I was pretty lucky that when I became a professional tennis player, Stan Franker became the national coach. He had a different philosophy. Before, the federation had the philosophy that it would pay for everything for you till you were 18, they basically kicked you out. Your are 18 now, you are on your own. So, no support financially, no coaching support, and there was no national tennis centre. It is always nice to have a national tennis centre, where you can practise. Travelling coaches, they would pay part of their expenses. So, it got much easier, and there was much better chance to become a professional tennis player. I was lucky, for if I had been born 10 years earlier it would have been much tougher for me.Q: How happy are you to play on various surfaces?
A: I think I feel good on all surfaces. I think if we had to play match on the same surface, it would be very boring. After some time you go crazy. Playing in different countries, different weather, different surfaces, different types of crowds, some very emotional , some very quiet or whatever. Such things bring variation. Well, after a couple of years in the circuit, it is easier to concentrate that way. you are playing the same tournaments all the time. It is nice that each tournament in itself offers some change.It is important I think. If I have to play one year here, or one year at the U.S. Open or Wimbledon, I will go crazy. Every week you are somewhere. It is good to have a change.Q: How do you spend your leisure time?
A: I like to watch some TV, a movie or some sports or read or sleep. I like to sleep a lot. I would like to have lunch now, and have a good sleep. I travel so much, and you always have a feeling that you are never really used to the time difference. It always feels that you are sleeping low, which is not problem. When you have free time it is nice to get one extra hour of sleep. It relaxes me and I feel much better afterwards.
In the context of men's tennis today, what does Korda"s triumph mean - quite apart from the fact that it leaves a huge hole in the theory that over 30 is over-the-hill?
Grow old along with me
The best is yet to be,
The last of life
For which the first was
made...- Robert Browning
Petr Korda's knowledge of English literature and its vast treasures may not be quite as impressive as his uninhibited devil-may-care attitude to shotmaking on a tennis court. And the Czech with a stringbean frame who looks like an animated cartoon character is unlikely to have read those marvellous few lines celebrating advancing years.
But, deep down, the 30-year-old left-hander from Prague who became the second oldest man to win a Grand Slam singles title this decade at the Australian Open last fortnight, had always believed- through all the dramatic ups and downs of a roller coaster career- that the best was yet to be.
Even when they wheeled him into an operation threatre twice in successive years-first for a hernia operation in 1995 and then to fix a long misbehaving groin in 1996- raising serious questions about his future in the game, the amiable Czech who retains a certain childish innocence into his 30s, continued to believe that the best ways yet to be.
And the moment his former countryman and sometime practice partner, Karol Kucera of Slovakia, outgunned Pete Sampras, who was a strangely wilted version of the giant performer who has won 10 Grand Slam titles, Korda the believer knew that 'the best' was just a few long nights and three handshakes away.
Yet, quite the most remarkable things was how Korda stayed on course with tremendous one-pointedness, with a strength of character which his career record in the Slams had scarcely reflected, to finally achieve a lifelong ambition.
As Korda sank to his knees on the hot Rebound Ace court on that warm Sunday afternoon at Melbourne Park after brushing aside Marcello Rios' miserably inadequate challenge in the final, taking the mind back to a highly romanticised era of the sport when a long haired Swede with a sparse two-week stubble made that little ritual one of the game's unforgettable freeze frames, tennis itself seemed to have scored a famous victory along with the Czech.
As he did his patented cartwheel and scissor kicks and then climbed on to the lowest tier of the stands to hug his wife, the former player Regina Rajchrtova and daughter Jessica, you could not help but feel almost as happy as the new champion himself.
Not only was Korda's triumph in the Australian Open yet another tribute to sport's capacity for surprise but, more importantly, a reminder of what a simple and joyous thing sport can be.
Korda is no superstar. He has never been one. His signature under a brand name is unlikely to send sales soaring - not even after his maiden victory in Slam. Those who know him well also know that he is good company, often hilarious.
But the Czech does not have the steely resolve of a Borg, the genius of a McEnroe, the near-invincible all round game of a Sampras or even the stage presence and charisma of a Pat Rafter. In fact, to put it simply, Korda has nothing that is saleable apart from his tennis.
And this is precisely why, in this highly commercialised era of the game when everything else but game skills becomes important for a player to acquire star status, when sex appeal and stage presence take precedence over forehands and backhands, Korda's success can be seen as a triumph for the age-old values of sport.
"It's been a long ride and I am happy with myself for taking the ride to the last stop," said Korda who had lost in straightsets to Jim Courier in his only other Grand Slam final, at the French Open in 1992.
Since that runner-up finish, Korda had failed to get past the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam, losing in the first or second round in 10 out of 20 Slam appearances until last fortnight's championship at Melbourne.
The brilliant Czech is the kind of player who can beat anybody when he gets hot, but he's never before displayed the stamina or the strength of will to last the distance in a major championship.
While the lack of fat and muslce has left the Czech beanpole vulnerable to a variety of infections, Korda is a bit of hypochondriac too. He can as easily imagine an illness as fall prey to a real one.
At the U.S. Open last year, Korda beat Sampras in the fourth round and then retired with an illness against Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden in the quarterfinals. And there has not been a single press conference where Korda has failed make some complaint or the other about his health.
Even after living through the greatest moments of his career on beating Rios, the Czech came into the interview room and said that he had lived through the worst 48 hours of life - seemingly because he ahd a major stomach upset and could not eat a morsel of food.
Obviously it was simply anxiety and nothing else. Butterflies in the stomach, to put it plainly. Against this background two things become clear. One is that Korda's anxieties would have come to the surface during the final against a mentally stronger opponent. Secondly, his unwavering faith in his own destiny, despite all the real and imagined physical problems, elevates him to the status of a hero.
Then again, in the context of men's tennis today, what does Korda's triumph mean - quite apart from the fact that it leaves a huge hole in the theory that over 30 is over-the-hill?
Many things, really. Seen alongside the successes dof Gustavo Kuerten at the French Open and Pat Rafter at the U.S.Open last year, Korda's Austalian Open victory proves that the men's event at a Grand Slam becomes wide open the moment Sampras departs.
With Stephan Edberg and Boris Becker gone, and Andre Agassi still on a steep road to the top, there is nobody in the game who can consistently challenge Sampras for the top prizes. And, then, given the two successive early losses - at the U.S. Open last year and at this championship - is it quite possible that Sampras himself may have left his best years behind him.
When he won his ninth Grand Slam title here last year, it appeared thatit was only a question of time - short time - before Sampras pulled alongside Roy Emerson, the all-time record holder with 12 Grand Slam titles. But now, with more to go to match Emerson, the road ahead seems slightly bympy for the greatest all-round player of the last quarter of century.
This, for two reasons. While Sampras himself may have lost a bit of his searing intensity in the absence of another genuinely great player who can force him to raise his game at the majors, the number of players who can pull the rug from under the great man's feet when he has a bad day has increased.
If the depth in men's tennis is phenomenal, then what has happened at the top is this: more and more players are able to afford better training facilities -the best of coaches, physios, mind managers etc. - with the enormous increases in prize money. and this means even players with limited talent- in comparison to Sampras' gifts- can do a lot of damage when a player like Sampras is under par in a major championship.
And the way men's tennis is going, it might be very difficult to sustain the star system in the future. It is entirely possible that we might get to see four different Grand Slam winners in a given year - not once but a few times in a decade.
How this will interfere with the plans of men who are keen to promote the sport on the basis of a few names such as Sampras, Rafter and Agassi, it is hard to say. But these people will have a job on their hands if they don't come around to the realisation that the sport has to be promoted on the strength of its quality - of which there is no shortage.
Courtesy: The Sportstar
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