One of India’s foremost tennis players, Vijay Amritraj is now on his 44th consecutive visit to the Championships at Wimbledon. In an exclusive telephonic chat with The Hindu from California, he shared his views on his memories of Wimbledon, the evolution of the grass-court game, the current crop of players and Indian participation.
Excerpts:
Question: What are you fond memories of Wimbledon?
Answer: My early days were all about making a mark and wanting to play at Wimbledon, to do well and to win. I reached the quarterfinals twice [1973 & 81]. Perhaps my only regret was not winning the singles title. I think I was good enough to have won it at least once. It was a place where I wanted to play not just for myself but for the country. Wherever I went, Indians always wished me luck for Wimbledon, irrespective of what time of the year it was. So, it was very special.
How do you think grass court tennis has evolved over the years?
The grass itself is not like what I played on in the 1970s. It’s of a completely different texture and much slower. The game as a result is being played completely from the baseline. If you look back at the last leg of the faster courts, in which [Boris] Becker, [Stefan] Edberg and subsequently [Pete] Sampras played, it was still down to a big serve-and-volley game. But with the racquets getting more and more powerful, the balls and the courts were slowed down worldwide. It made a big difference to the style of play.
What then is the future of serve-and-volley tennis?
Serve-and-volley tennis that we know is history. It doesn’t have an immediate future. Even if you get a guy to play it today, say Milos Raonic who is probably the closest that we can get with his huge serve, it still comes down to whether he can do the same on his second serve, which is tough.
Bjorn Borg won French Open and Wimbledon back-to-back thrice. Is it easier now with the courts homogenising?
To me, Borg’s achievement will always be unique. He won on slow clay and came to Wimbledon without playing any grass court tournament. He won on fast grass not just against [John] McEnroe and [Jimmy] Connors, but against many other players like Mark Edmondson, Ilie Nastase, Raul Ramirez and others who could serve and volley really well and push him to the limit.
Now with the Wimbledon courts being much slower and the ball not dying fast, it gives an opportunity for someone like Nadal to play the groundstrokes from eight feet behind the baseline.
Is the 2013 edition perhaps the most interesting in recent years – with Nadal’s spectacular comeback, Djokovic still the number one, Murray having a good tune-up and Federer always in with a chance?
Absolutely. Strangely enough, when Federer was dominating Wimbledon, we always felt ‘let’s see who is going to be playing for second place?’ But now that’s the way we feel about women’s tennis, with Serena. It’s very hard to bet against Serena at Wimbledon. To be honest, it’s like watching Nadal play on clay – you are always looking at second place.
But in the men’s draw, you are looking at four guys who are favourites. Barring any unforeseen blip in the form during the fortnight, these four should be there towards the end of the second week. The draw is going to be interesting especially if Nadal is seeded fifth he could run into any of the other three in the quarterfinals.
On the chances of others, especially the second rung of players.
Let's not rule them out. Outsiders, like [Jo-Wilfred] Tsonga, [Tomas] Berdych and [Marian] Cilic They are all dangerous floaters who can do some damage but might not win it.
The grass season will be extended by a week next year. Will it help if we can get a Masters in?
It will be very helpful. Certainly providing a week more between French and Wimbledon will be of great help.
With Somdev Devvarman bowing out of the qualifying, there will be no participation in the singles. Your views.
It’s disappointing. We can continue to have representation in doubles, which is great for us to keep our name up there. But at the end of the day singles is where we need focus. We need see how to have players in the top 100 on a regular basis, for them to compete in Grand Slams and cause upsets along the way to put India back on the tennis map.
An edited version of the interview can be found here:
http://www.thehindu.com/sport/tennis/serve-and-volley-is-history-says-vijay-amritraj/article4827526.ece
Excerpts:
Question: What are you fond memories of Wimbledon?
Answer: My early days were all about making a mark and wanting to play at Wimbledon, to do well and to win. I reached the quarterfinals twice [1973 & 81]. Perhaps my only regret was not winning the singles title. I think I was good enough to have won it at least once. It was a place where I wanted to play not just for myself but for the country. Wherever I went, Indians always wished me luck for Wimbledon, irrespective of what time of the year it was. So, it was very special.
How do you think grass court tennis has evolved over the years?
The grass itself is not like what I played on in the 1970s. It’s of a completely different texture and much slower. The game as a result is being played completely from the baseline. If you look back at the last leg of the faster courts, in which [Boris] Becker, [Stefan] Edberg and subsequently [Pete] Sampras played, it was still down to a big serve-and-volley game. But with the racquets getting more and more powerful, the balls and the courts were slowed down worldwide. It made a big difference to the style of play.
What then is the future of serve-and-volley tennis?
Serve-and-volley tennis that we know is history. It doesn’t have an immediate future. Even if you get a guy to play it today, say Milos Raonic who is probably the closest that we can get with his huge serve, it still comes down to whether he can do the same on his second serve, which is tough.
Bjorn Borg won French Open and Wimbledon back-to-back thrice. Is it easier now with the courts homogenising?
To me, Borg’s achievement will always be unique. He won on slow clay and came to Wimbledon without playing any grass court tournament. He won on fast grass not just against [John] McEnroe and [Jimmy] Connors, but against many other players like Mark Edmondson, Ilie Nastase, Raul Ramirez and others who could serve and volley really well and push him to the limit.
Now with the Wimbledon courts being much slower and the ball not dying fast, it gives an opportunity for someone like Nadal to play the groundstrokes from eight feet behind the baseline.
Is the 2013 edition perhaps the most interesting in recent years – with Nadal’s spectacular comeback, Djokovic still the number one, Murray having a good tune-up and Federer always in with a chance?
Absolutely. Strangely enough, when Federer was dominating Wimbledon, we always felt ‘let’s see who is going to be playing for second place?’ But now that’s the way we feel about women’s tennis, with Serena. It’s very hard to bet against Serena at Wimbledon. To be honest, it’s like watching Nadal play on clay – you are always looking at second place.
But in the men’s draw, you are looking at four guys who are favourites. Barring any unforeseen blip in the form during the fortnight, these four should be there towards the end of the second week. The draw is going to be interesting especially if Nadal is seeded fifth he could run into any of the other three in the quarterfinals.
On the chances of others, especially the second rung of players.
Let's not rule them out. Outsiders, like [Jo-Wilfred] Tsonga, [Tomas] Berdych and [Marian] Cilic They are all dangerous floaters who can do some damage but might not win it.
The grass season will be extended by a week next year. Will it help if we can get a Masters in?
It will be very helpful. Certainly providing a week more between French and Wimbledon will be of great help.
With Somdev Devvarman bowing out of the qualifying, there will be no participation in the singles. Your views.
It’s disappointing. We can continue to have representation in doubles, which is great for us to keep our name up there. But at the end of the day singles is where we need focus. We need see how to have players in the top 100 on a regular basis, for them to compete in Grand Slams and cause upsets along the way to put India back on the tennis map.
An edited version of the interview can be found here:
http://www.thehindu.com/sport/tennis/serve-and-volley-is-history-says-vijay-amritraj/article4827526.ece
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