India’s sorry Davis Cup tale of friction continues in circles

Mumbai: There was a time when Davis Cup ties, irrespective of how quiet things were in Indian tennis, would evoke some buzz on the court. Think of that sparkling triumph against Brazil in the winter of 1966, or that stunning turnaround from 0-2 down against the same opponents in 2010. Think of the various moments of magic whipped up by the Krishnans and the Amritrajs, or those chest-bumping Paes-Bhupathi celebrations.

“We were considered a leading and strong opponent for any nation because of our performances,” Ramanathan Krishnan, a two-time Wimbledon singles semifinalist, told HT in an interview in 2021.

Even during phases of lull in terms of individual presence on the professional tour, Indian tennis would produce sporadic collective boom in Davis Cup.

That has made way for sustained collective gloom of late. Not merely in going from being three-time Davis Cup finalists to barely even staying afloat in lower groups. Or in going from looking the mightiest of opponents in the eye to being blinded by a far-from-strong Sweden. More glaring is the frequent bickering, finger-pointing, no-shows and general apathy around Indian tennis’ Davis Cup present.

What followed a 4-0 rout by Sweden last weekend was perhaps worse — the captain of the team asking his critics to “shut up”; the federation passing the blame onto some players; Sumit Nagal, the country’s only top-100 singles pro, defending his physical issues and compensation demand.

Such is the breakdown within the current player-team management-federation ecosystem that for a second tie running this year, India did not field a team that could classify as even second string. Three of the country’s top singles and doubles players in Nagal, Sasikumar Mukund and Yuki Bhambri stayed away — either by choice or injury concerns — for the Sweden contest, and the team management that comprises captain Rohit Rajpal could do little to persuade them otherwise.

Indian tennis has had its share of player-vs-player friction (Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi doubled up to script some of India’s finest victories) and player-vs-federation feud in the past, but it was seldom this dire.

“Look, never say no to playing for India. You have grievances, and everybody understands that. On the flipside, those grievances need to be addressed,” Vishaal Uppal, former India Davis Cupper and captain of the women’s Billie Jean King Cup team until last year, said. “That’s where the discord is.”

And that discord has been brewing for some years now, with little being seemingly done to stem it. Almost a similar story had played out three years ago. Before India’s away tie against Finland in 2021, Nagal had pulled out with a hip injury that risked getting aggravated on hard courts. Mukund was approached to replace him, but he preferred competing on the tour.

“Right now, Mukund feels that it’s a bigger loss for him to go there (Davis Cup). What kind of leadership must we have for that to happen?” Somdev Devvarman, India’s former No.1, had said then.

That same leadership, instead of sensing the mood and working its way towards getting players on board, has let history repeat itself. That same association, instead of creating a rapport with players, continued to reprimand (the All India Tennis Association refused to nominate Nagal for the 2024 Australian Open wildcard after he missed the Pakistan tie). Those same players continue to find turning up for Davis Cup under this leadership far from attractive.

Three years on, Indian tennis continues its Davis Cup plummet in circles.

The AITA elections are scheduled later this month at its annual general meeting, and the players are keeping a close eye on it. A change there could signal the start of a shift they have been eager to see within this broken chain that binds Davis Cup and Indian tennis.

“It could be a start. It will be nice to have people who care — or at least show that they care,” a leading Indian player said.