$15K+H ITF Futures, Chennai (March 21)

[srivaths]

You guys seem to have all the results, but I did go to the Gymkhana after lunch and managed to catch the doubles action. I can't quite provide a game by game bulletin but for what it's worth, here's my take.

The all-Indian match was quite entertaining. It's easy to see why Rastogi is considered the future of Indian tennis. He really can crank them up from the back of the court. His volleying is pretty good too but I always cringe when I see a service action such as the one he's got. But I have seen some players use it the big Tour as well, so what the hell! And Ashutosh Singh was certainly a worthy partner. His serving and volleying was solid throughout and he came up with some great returns late in the third set. Harsh seemed out of sorts and was nowhere near his best. I saw the heights his tennis could reach in the Kevin Kim match(1st round Chennai Open), and as odious as the comparison might be(singles/doubles), he didn't play nearly as well this afternoon. Fatigue maybe(what with the singles match in the morning)? Despite all that, he clearly possessed the best court craft of all the four players. He seems to know how to use the entire length and width of the court. Experience matters I guess. But for me, the real story was Sunil Kumar. The abundance of his talent comes through even in an ordinary doubles match. He really should be ranked higher than he is. But his shot selection does hurt him at crucial moments though.

And I managed to catch a bit of Rohan Bopanna's doubles match as well. What shoulder injury? That serve is a bloody missile.

Srivaths

UPDATE: I must mention that Harsh thought he played pretty well except for a few missed volleys early on.

[PKBasu]

Man, are we lucky or what? Terrific report Srivaths! Looks like everyone on that doubles court had something to impress our reporter there!!

[PKBasu]

"

And PKB, I may have already spilled those insider secrets .. I didn't know it was such a big secret ..

I was joking there about "trade secrets" . What I meant was the "bata" you were asked about. Remember now, your "boss" has already offered you a virtual dinner and chappals. Keep piling up the bata!!

As for the other matter to which you allude (and we briefly discussed on Sunday)... That is indeed confidential because the arrangement hasn't been concluded on either side, as I mentioned to you. Until it fructifies, there's really nothing to talk about!

[Sandeep]

Well I guess the broken watch thing can also be used as source of inspiration when nothing is going in your way. In what ever places I read that it goes like "Nothing is completely wrong in this world, even a broken watch shows the time correct, twice a day" . I always looked at as an inspirational line when everything is going wrong for me.

[amr090]

kumar just awesome reporting. you must really be having a great time in India! if you can take a camera and some pictures that would be even better! especialy since you seem to have easy access to these players!

[BSharma]

Jay and Dhruv are paying Kumar an arm and a limb to do the reporting from Chennai. I wonder what Kumar will ask for if he has to take photos of the players also.

Good idea amr090.

Kumar, a few photos will be great.

[BSharma]

Kumar wrote:

3) An Umbrella?
After playing in the sun, players don't seem to be getting a whole lot of respite,even during the 'side change'... They sit on the chairs by the shade provided by the Walls/Trees (which doesn't extend a whole lot)...A picnic style umbrella extending to both players may be something to think about? Or would it protrude into playing area ?

You could suggest to the organizers about letting a ball boy hold an umbrella to provide shade to the players during the change over. The umbrella can be folded and kept aside when the match starts.

...or am I asking too much?

[jayakris]

Hey, at least they have ballboys there. There are many futures I have seen here, where there are no ball boys for even main draw matches (never for qualies). You are lucky if you have two linesmen for the first couple of main draw rounds...

They do use better balls, but balls are not a huge expense, as part of the daily expenses here in the US I guess.

Jay

[Red_Indian]

In US it's getting people that's expensive, in India it's the "infrastructure"... same old...

[Dhruv]

Going offtopic here once again......


Anyway the balls in the US can cost as little as $1.80/can for Championship quality balls from either of these manufacturers (Wilson, Penn, Dunlop, Slazenger). Now that converts to < Rs100 but I don't know what the cost of these same balls is in India.

[BSharma]

I wish that junior tennis players get a chance to be ball boys in Indian tournaments and that they can bring umbrellas and then both the tennis player and the ball boy can be in the shade during the change over.

I am not sure how the ball boys are chosen in Indian tournaments. Labor is cheap in India (as Kunal said) although most ball boys in US Futures are not paid much, if at all.

[BSharma]

Anyway the balls in the US can cost as little as $1.80/can for Championship quality balls from either of these manufacturers (Wilson, Penn, Dunlop, Slazenger).

The cost goes down more if you buy cans by the dozen, as I have occasionally done. Prof. can tell us if the tennis clubs get a bigger discount than the general public.

[Red_Indian]

Now that converts to < Rs100 but I don't know what the cost of these same balls is in India.

:off topic:
IIRC a can (3 balls) costs around 120 rupees in India, so that's around 3 dollars. Though someone who buys balls more regularly would be able to give a better estimate.

:off topic:
400!

[Dhruv]

:off topic:
400!

Now that is completely offtopic. What is 400!

[gvhvhg]

Wow!!! What a fantastic day in Chennai!!!! Wow Jay, kudos on your prediction.

Amazing reporting Kumar, and Srivaths too.

Wow, what a day....ive spent half an hour reading all the posts on the results