Only two Indians in the fray

We have more tournaments than players — that's been the underlining thought about Indian tennis in recent times, reports K Kumaraswamy.

We have more tournaments than players — that's been the underlining thought about Indian tennis in recent times. The ATP and the WTA tours put together, the country now has four tournaments with world-class player field, whereas the number of quality players the country has unearthed in recent years has been half of that. Or, perhaps, even less. We are not talking about Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi, who have been around for more a decade and a half now.

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So, it should be no wonder that the 2008 Chennai Open, which starts on Monday, has only two Indians — both widlcards — in the main draw. None of the 17 who entered the qualifying made it past the second round, leaving Prakash Amritraj and Vishnu Vardhan with the burden of carrying the Tricolour. Paes and Bhupathi have opted to play elsewhere with their respective partners due to commitments and it would not be fair to have expected Rohan Bopanna to turn down the invitation to play alongside Sania Mirza at the Hopman Cup.

Amritraj, 24, chose to look at the situation positively, though. "Whether it is two or five Indians, the crowd is always behind you. And if we are the only two, then we are going to get all the crowd support," the US-based Indian said. Amritraj will play a qualifier in the first round, but it won't be easy since he is coming back from a surgery. "It is more of a mental thing. You must be able to focus," he said. "I will try and use my past experience.