Your thoughts on the current crop of Indian players.
Prajnesh [Gunneswaran] is now 94 in the world. It is nice to have someone in the top 100 after a long time. It is exciting to see that he will play the Grand Slams coming up. Ramkumar [Ramanathan] is about 120, and he is getting close.... It is a good group of boys we have. But there is still long way to go before we can celebrate them winning ATP titles.
Is our inability to produce world-class singles players down to tennis being expensive to learn and train?
If people are going to hide behind the fact that tennis is an expensive sport, it is a very poor excuse. Someone has to build a system. In countries like Japan and Korea, the chairmen of Samsung and Sony have funded the system because the government has not been able to do it.
Are top players skipping the January Indian ATP event because the Australian Open starts right after it?
[The organisers] have to offer the right amount of money for them to come. That is the bottom line. They compete at tournaments in Doha and Brisbane and the Hopman Cup in Perth. So whoever makes the right offers and the right noises, that is where players gravitate to.
You were praised for your strong statement in support of the MeToo movement.
I think it was just important for someone to say something and it was kind of disconcerting that nobody was, especially from the men’s side. I have been associated closely with many women and felt strongly to come out and say something, and I am glad I did.
Do you miss playing tennis?
No, I do not. I love tennis, but it is just that my body has had enough of all the running and the beating that it took. So even if I try to have a semi-recreational session, my knees and my wrists [hurt] for four to five days and I do not want to deal with that.