The All India Tennis Association (AITA) on Wednesday allowed Leander Paes, Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna to skip the Asian Games for ATP and WTA events with the players saying that they had an obligation to earn their ‘bread and butter’ on the professional tour.
Leading singles player Somdev Devvarman was the first to pull out of the Games, the dates of which are clashing with many ATP and WTA events on the circuit, where Indian players have a lot of points to defend.
Bopanna and Sania had left it to the AITA to take a call on the matter. The AITA said considering the very important requirements of players, it has decided to respect their request and allow them to play ATP and WTA tournaments so that they can have a respectable opportunity to represent the nation in the World Championships at the end of the year. Somdev was categorical when he reasoned his decision and Sania, who won the US Open mixed doubles title, had left it to the AITA to take a decision whether she should play.
Bopanna also reasoned it was not easy for him to make this decision. ‘We as Asian players look forward to this. Like Lee said, it’s been a tough year for us. Last year I won in Tokyo, so I have to defend there, so it was tough decision. It had nothing to do with representing the country or not.
Whenever we have been called, we have represented the flag. It is just unfortunate,’ the tall and big serving player said.
It has been learnt AITA did try to get Sania and Bopanna to pair up for the mixed doubles and efforts were made so that they get late entries. However, it could not materialise. Top players can not be replaced with others as the deadline for that has expired. It means that India have been left with only four players in the men’s events, Yuki Bhambri, Sanam Singh, Saketh Myneni and Divij Sharan.
In the absence of Sania, the women’s challenge will be led by Ankita Raina, the highest ranked sin gles player in the country at number 293.
It was a question of bread & butter: Paes
Their commitment to country questioned after a pullout from the Asian Games, India’s top tennis players today tried to put their decision in perspective by saying that they had an obligation to earn their ‘bread and butter’.
‘This is my bread and butter and at the end of the day my ranking has dropped to 35 in the world. Hence I have to get some job security for next year. I have to play a long fall season, through Kuala Lumpur as well as Tokyo, these two tournaments are the exact dates in the nine-day span of the events in Asian Games,’ Paes said while speaking to media ahead of the Davis Cup tie against Serbia here in Bangalore.
Paes said his service and commitment to the nation cannot be questioned. ‘For me, as far as playing for the country, I have done it for 24 plus years and I will always put my best foot forward just as I am here even though initially I was not available to play. I will always do that. Looking at the longevity of my career, playing at Kuala Lumpur and Tokyo has become very important,’ he said.
Paes also revealed, ‘I think I have played with nine generations of Indians. Played with Zeeshan (Ali) in my first tie, in February 1990. Playing under Anand (Amritraj) is great fun. He is very relaxed. No matter what, good advice. Very peaceful man.’
Leading singles player Somdev Devvarman was the first to pull out of the Games, the dates of which are clashing with many ATP and WTA events on the circuit, where Indian players have a lot of points to defend.
Bopanna and Sania had left it to the AITA to take a call on the matter. The AITA said considering the very important requirements of players, it has decided to respect their request and allow them to play ATP and WTA tournaments so that they can have a respectable opportunity to represent the nation in the World Championships at the end of the year. Somdev was categorical when he reasoned his decision and Sania, who won the US Open mixed doubles title, had left it to the AITA to take a decision whether she should play.
Bopanna also reasoned it was not easy for him to make this decision. ‘We as Asian players look forward to this. Like Lee said, it’s been a tough year for us. Last year I won in Tokyo, so I have to defend there, so it was tough decision. It had nothing to do with representing the country or not.
Whenever we have been called, we have represented the flag. It is just unfortunate,’ the tall and big serving player said.
It has been learnt AITA did try to get Sania and Bopanna to pair up for the mixed doubles and efforts were made so that they get late entries. However, it could not materialise. Top players can not be replaced with others as the deadline for that has expired. It means that India have been left with only four players in the men’s events, Yuki Bhambri, Sanam Singh, Saketh Myneni and Divij Sharan.
In the absence of Sania, the women’s challenge will be led by Ankita Raina, the highest ranked sin gles player in the country at number 293.
It was a question of bread & butter: Paes
Their commitment to country questioned after a pullout from the Asian Games, India’s top tennis players today tried to put their decision in perspective by saying that they had an obligation to earn their ‘bread and butter’.
‘This is my bread and butter and at the end of the day my ranking has dropped to 35 in the world. Hence I have to get some job security for next year. I have to play a long fall season, through Kuala Lumpur as well as Tokyo, these two tournaments are the exact dates in the nine-day span of the events in Asian Games,’ Paes said while speaking to media ahead of the Davis Cup tie against Serbia here in Bangalore.
Paes said his service and commitment to the nation cannot be questioned. ‘For me, as far as playing for the country, I have done it for 24 plus years and I will always put my best foot forward just as I am here even though initially I was not available to play. I will always do that. Looking at the longevity of my career, playing at Kuala Lumpur and Tokyo has become very important,’ he said.
Paes also revealed, ‘I think I have played with nine generations of Indians. Played with Zeeshan (Ali) in my first tie, in February 1990. Playing under Anand (Amritraj) is great fun. He is very relaxed. No matter what, good advice. Very peaceful man.’