Mahesh Bhupathi was recently in the news for the wrong reasons as TV production company Broadcast Sports News posted on social media that the promoters of the debt-ridden International Premier Tennis League were yet to pay them, almost two years since the last edition. Bhupathi is the founder of the franchise-based league.
It’s not just the stakeholders; several players like Marin Cilic are yet to be paid for the 2016 edition of IPTL as well. Bhupathi had explained that that finishing the payments would take time as they are still recovering from losses due to one fraudulent company. But as the founder of the league, he has refused to talk about the situation any further.
However, the 44-year-old wears many hats, the most prominent being that of India’s Davis Cup captain, a job many advised him not to take up. In a recent interview with Mumbai Mirror, Bhupathi refused to talk about IPTL but spoke at length about Indian tennis, the challenges players face and why he chose to lead the country’s Davis Cup side.
He said that this was the perfect time to work with Indian tennis players as there is a wide pool available among the men, unlike the days where the team was a two-man army.
“From a tennis perspective, it was the first time we had six singles and as many doubles players at the same level,” Bhupathi was quoted as saying. “Yuki [Bhambri], Ram [Ramkumar Ramanathan], Prajnesh [Gunneswaran] and even Saketh [Myneni] for singles. Saketh beat Mikhail Youzhny at Astana Kazakhstan this year. In doubles, we have Rohan [Bopanna], Leander [Paes], Bala [Sriram], Purav [Raja], Vishnu [Vardhan] and Jeevan [Nedunchezhiyan]… it’s such a vast group.”
He added, “I thought it was an excellent opportunity to work with a batch of 12 players. When Leander and I were playing, we were essentially a two-man team. Prior to that Leander and Ramesh [Krishnan] were a two-man army.”
Among the men, he picked out India’s top-ranked singles player Yuki Bhambri as “amazingly talented” but said that he had to maintain his fitness and remain injury-free throughout the year to stay in the Top-100.
Bhupathi felt that the reason for Indian players’ persistent fitness issues was a lack of fundamental training at an early age.
“We don’t have the training required at a young age to build that base… The problem in our country is we don’t have enough experts to teach the kids physical fitness at a young age. If you set the base when you’re between 12 and 14, then you can be a world-class athlete. Yuki, Ram and Prajnesh are all behind the curve in terms of where they should be physically.”
He added, “Yuki had been playing the most amazing match against Canada’s Denis Shapovalov in the Davis Cup. At the end of the fourth set, his hip gave way. As talented as Yuki is, if he qualifies for the US Open, is he going to beat Dimitrov in five sets? If you’re not prepared physically, you’re not going to break through.”
Read the full interview here.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!