Don't go by the smattering of grey hair in his beard or his age (41). Rohan Bopanna is the senior most player in the Indian Davis Cup team but his enthusiasm and keenness to play for the country have not diminished. While he is not a sure shot for the doubles matches in the forthcoming tie against Denmark at the Gymkhana Club in New Delhi over the weekend, he will no doubt play a major role in steering the young team in the crucial World Group 1 play off to be held on March 4-5. Bopanna is upbeat about India's chances of advancing further in the tournament given the current situations and the absence of top player Holger Rune in Danish team. However, there is no player in the Indian team either, who has been ranked in top 100. Ramkumar Ramanathan (177) is the highest-ranked Indian with compatriots Rohan Bopanna (213), Prajnesh Gunneswaran (232), Yuki Bhambri (662), Divij Sharan (1558) and reserves Saketh Myneni (602) and Digvijay Pratap Singh (non-ranked). For Denmark, too, Mikael Torpegaard is the best-ranked player at 278.
Bopanna is extremely satisfied with the grass courts that have been readied for the tie. The last time India hosted a tie on grass courts was in July 2016, when it beat Korea 4-1 in Chandigarh. However, when it travelled to Italy in February 2019, the Indian team lost 1-3 on the same surface. Bopanna urged fans to "come out and watch and support Team India". The Delhi Gymkhana is preparing around 4,000 seating capacity for the tie.
In an interaction today after training, Bopanna spoke about India's preparation and chances of winning the tie, teaming up with far more junior players and his future plans . Excerpts from the interaction:
Q) How have the preparations for Indian team gone so far?
Ans) It's been excellent! We have been practicing for the last 4-5 days. There is a good camaraderie built between juniors and all of us have been playing for a long time. The courts have been fantastic. I was surprised, there was a hail storm here a few days ago. Groundsmen have been doing a fantastic job, the courts were covered. It's always great playing in such a prestigious club.
Q) Is it advantage India given the conditions and absence of top ranked player in the Denmark team?
Ans) That was one of the reasons why we decided to pick grass courts. Grass is one of the surfaces we chose in order to give us best chance to beat the Denmark team. It's up to us to play ourselves in over the weekend.
Q) Being the senior most player in the squad, how do you look back at your Davis Cup career?
Ans) There are three guys in our team who were not even born when I made my debut in 2002. That really brings a different perspective. Looking back at the journey, this will be my 31st tie. There is so much I have learnt, being in team and playing with my seniors. Today being with the team as its senior most player I am happy to hep them both on and off the court. Every little thing makes a difference and this is where I feel I can bring in my experience and share with them.
Q) Your experience of playing with younger guys like Ram Kumar—you guys teamed up earlier this year in Adelaide. How easy or difficult would it be to adjust?
Ans) The doubles combination is upto the captain. Who am I to say? He can choose anyone he wants to, out of the five members of the team. That's the beauty of Davis Cup. Whoever gets to play singles or doubles, it's about putting in a commitment. It's a different atmosphere to play on ATP circuit. There doubles scene will be strong, so no matter who we play, it will be a challenging scene for us.
Q) You recently said that you would be taking it month by month when it comes to playing at the top level. How challenging is it to keep yourself motivated to compete at the highest level?
Ans) I enjoy competing, as long as I am competing, playing events. I think I have enjoyed and won events in the last two months more than I did in the last year. As long as I get to play in top events like grand slams, this is what keeps me going.
Q) Apart from the ATP events and Davis Cup matches, there are Asian Games and CWG to be held this year. How are you looking to manage your workload?
Ans) Doing it one month at a time. Asian Games is all the way in October. It will be difficult for me to answer the question as to where I will be at that juncture. So it will still be going one month at a time.
Q) Your thoughts on state of Indian tennis ?
Ans) A lot more has to be done at junior level and a lot more international tournaments need to happen in India. We end up getting support for top 20-30 juniors, but I think a group of 20-30 juniors needs to be supported and this is what we have been missing. I have been saying it for 20 years. fFocus on juniors. Nothing will change if that doesn't happen.
