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“Circle Of Life”: India Tennis Great Leander Paes Gives Candid Answer Current Struggles

admin — Wed, 09 Oct 2024 16:58:28 +0000

The legendary Leander Paes on Wednesday lamented the decline of Indian tennis, describing it as part of the “circle of life” while emphasising the need for patience. The Indian team endured a 0-4 defeat against Sweden in its Davis Cup World Group I tie recently, which relegated them to the play-off stage for the upcoming year. “Like anything in life, when you go up, you have to come down, and then you come back up again. I am a big believer in the circle of life,” the former world No 1 in doubles said.

“I think we all need to have a little bit of patience as far as tennis goes. We have all enjoyed such an upswing over the last 40 years, proving that we can be number one in both women’s doubles and men’s doubles.” Currently, Sumit Nagal is the only Indian player in the top 100 of the ATP men’s singles rankings, positioned at 83, while Ramkumar Ramanathan follows at 332.

At 44 years, Rohan Bopanna remains the flag-bearer of men’s doubles in India, currently ranked sixth, with another veteran, Yuki Bhambri, at 43rd.

The WTA rankings reveal a grim situation for Indian women’s tennis, with no players in the top 200; Sahaja Yamalapalli is the highest-ranked Indian at 293.

The 51-year-old further highlighted the significant growth of tennis in India over the past four decades, noting its rise to become the second most popular sport after cricket.

“Over the four decades that I played, tennis grew in popularity so much that it became the number two sport in the country after cricket,” the winner of 18 Grand Slam titles said.

“At the international level, tennis was winning more Grand Slams and international events. Between Sania, Mahesh, Bopanna and me, we have collectively won close to 40 Grand Slam titles, along with Olympic medals and several Asian Games medals. Tennis saw a great period over about 40 years.

“A little bit of patience is needed; the circle of life is playing out. We will experience a slump, but we will rise again.

“The circle of life is evident in everything — business or otherwise. The greatest key to success is patience. I have no doubt that tennis will rise again to the top in India,” he added.

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Davis Cup: N Sriram Balaji, Ramkumar Ramanthan Lose On Opening Day, India Trail Sweden 0-2

admin — Sat, 14 Sep 2024 15:56:47 +0000

Ramkumar Ramanathan lost to son of the legendary Bjorn Borg 3-6 3-6.© X (Twitter)

N Sriram Balaji was easily tamed by Elias Ymer while Ramkumar Ramanathan lacked the killer instinct even against a lower-ranked Leo Borg as India were left trailing 0-2 against Sweden in the Davis Cup World Group I tie, on Saturday. Balaji, who is a doubles specialist, found the going tough against Ymer, who raced to a 6-4 6-2 win in the opening singles. Ramkumar, who is a seasoned Davis Cupper now, was expected to bring India back into the tie but he lost to 603-ranked Borg, son of the legendary Bjorn Borg 3-6 3-6, in the second singles at the Royal Tennis Hall.

India were forced to field Balaji in singles as the country’s top singles player Sumit Nagal opted out of the tie due to a back injury. While Balaji did the job against Pakistan, playing someone of the calibre of Ymer was always going to be a tough task.

The onus to win a point for India on the opening day was on Ramkumar. He should have won his singles match against the 21-year-old Borg but he did not seem to have a way to go past the Swede.

Ramkumar’s challenge fell apart in just 58 minutes.

India now need to win all the remaining three matches on Sunday if the team has to make it to next year’s Qualifiers.

It remains to be seen if captain Rohit Rajpal goes with Balaji and Ramkumar in the do-or-die doubles, or changes the combination.

Most likely, Balaji and Niki Poonacha will take the court.

Twice in Davis Cup history, India have managed to win a tie after being down 0-2. In 2010, India beat Brazil, and in 2018, it won against China after trailing 0-2.

Ramkumar could not charge to the net in the opening set as was the plan but did comparatively better in the second set. Bjorg served well, made fewer unforced errors and found some good passing winners when Ramkumar approached the net.

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Tennis Ramkumar-Myneni Pair One Win Away From Men’s Doubles Gold

admin — Thu, 28 Sep 2023 15:02:30 +0000

The Indian tennis camp had something to cheer on Thursday with Ramkumar Ramanathan and Saketh Myneni reaching the men’s doubles gold medal round and the mixed doubles pair of Rohan Bopanna and Rutuja Bhosale assuring itself of a medal. The second-seeded team of Ramkumar and Myneni downed the gutsy Korean pair of Seongchan Hong and Soonwoo Kwon 6-1 6-7(8) 10-0 to move to the title clash. Myneni will now gun for his second Asian Games gold, having won a mixed doubles yellow metal with Sania Mirza in the 2014 edition.

It will be a maiden Games medal for Ramkumar.

The Koreans fought back after losing the opening set in a rather sedate manner but Myneni and Ramkumar held their nerves to outplay their rivals in the Super Tie break.

The Indian team will now take on Chinese Taipei, that ousted Thailand, in the gold medal match on Friday.

India had won the men’s doubles title in the last edition in Indonesia with Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan emerging victorious in the final.

The second-seeded Bopanna-Bhosale pair moved to the mixed doubles semifinals with a fluent 7-5 6-3 win over Kazakhstan’s Zhibek Kulambayeva and Grigoriy Lomakin.

The first set seemed going into a tie-break as Kulambayeva was serving at 40-0 in the 12th game but she lost her serve from that strong position.

There was hardly any fight in the second set. Bopanna, who is playing his last Asian Games at 43, will not go without a medal.

He has already been ousted from the men’s doubles with partner Yuki Bhambri. (Asian Games 2023 Medals Tally | Asian Games 2023 Full Schedule)

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