Backpackers

That ‘somewhere’ is on the ITF Futures circuit — the bottom rung of the professional tennis circuit. The base of the pyramid comprises hundreds of tennis players ranked in the 500s and lower,trying to qualify for a $10000 or 15000 Futures tournament. In order to increase their ranking,a player plays 20-30 tournaments a year. A win earns you between 18 and 35 points (as compared to 2000 in a grand slam) and a maximum 2000 dollars. Rack up enough and you could climb the next rung – the Challengers.

The circuit involves travelling alone,checking schedules for available tournaments,being present for sign-ins and losing money for late withdrawals. Even after you enter a tournament,frustrations are never far from the surface as players deal with relatively untrained match staff who lack that attention to detail players take for granted in major tournaments – the ball boys if any won’t necessarily proffer a towel between points,or fetch balls,or change scores for example. Finally they have to avoid ‘I told you so’ episodes from family and convince themselves to repeat the process week after week.

Indeed if the image of the ace tennis pro is that of the glamorous jetsetter,then the Futures tour player is a backpacker. But counting on the fact that a few players have lived the dream including everyone competing at the World Tour Finals,enough players are willing to chase it each year.

A balancing act Life at the bottom of the barrel consists of finding balance between money and ranking points – you need to travel to take part in enough tournaments to win points that will boost your ranking. And an improved ranking will let you play in more rewarding tournaments that will generate money to travel to more tournaments.

“Unless you are in the top 100 of tennis you are not going to make enough money by playing. It is impossible to tour unless you have some sort of sponsorship. You choose which tournaments you play not just on how well you think you can do there but on whether taking part will be within your budget,” says Becker in his first year of the Futures tour that has had him playing tournaments in Germany,Turkey,Thailand,Indonesia,Romania,South Africa,Serbia,Italy,Finland-where he got his solitary win- and currently India.

“I was playing three back-to-back tournaments at the same venue in Turkey. Because I had got a deal I was staying at the same hotel. I just was not playing well. But because I had committed to those three tournaments and hotel,I was staying in the same room,lying on the same bed,staring at the same sunflower print on the wall. I was then be playing on the same courts,getting bad calls from the same umpire and losing in the first rounds,” says Becker.

Of course there are times when players feel they have beaten the system. Futures tournaments in off-the-beaten track venues in Kazakhstan,Uzbekistan,Turkey,Iran,Nigeria mean cheaper accommodation and easier draws. Each of these countries,though,should come with their own statutory warning with players recounting innumerable tales of gun fights,muggings and carjackings.

Of course the best way to stretch a dollar lasting it longer is not spending it. Spaniard Marc Fornell Mestres was in India on the circuit playing Futures in Noida and Chandigarh in April. Unlike others who hitched rides and shared rooms and even beds in low budget hotels,Mestres arrived in a Porsche SUV and stayed in a five-star hotel. His end of the bargain was to play as doubles partner and simultaneously coach 18-year-old Mike Vermeer,the son of a financial consultant from Luxembourg. While Mestres seemed to have made a good deal,his pound of flesh was drawn in the Chandigarh Futures when he gave a walkover in the semi finals,as he was required to be with Vermeer who was playing a qualification round in Noida.

Past perfect,Futures tense

Mestres though wasn’t complaining. At 29,he is at an age when the term Futures seems to bear little meaning and so is happy simply to be competing. Mestres had been a promising youngster on the Futures circuit,beating an upcoming Rafael Nadal twice in 2002 but suffered injuries himself. “I know that I probably won’t play any higher but I still like the excitement of competing. In the Futures I have competed with Soderling and Baghdatis. I always think one of the guys I am playing against could be the next world number 1,” he says.

Whilst the rush of competition is constant,thrill of traveling all over the world diminishes rapidly. There are few picture-perfect poses in front of the Eiffel Tower but for the most part a monotonous hotel-competition-hotel-training-hotel drill. “I have played in Egypt thrice and never had the chance to see the pyramids,” says Karan Rastogi. With players restricted to playing a few days at any tournament,in a country,it is hard to get a feel of the land. “In Iran a few of my friends were arrested by the local police for talking to local women. We had a tough time but managed to bail them out. It was a lesson in cultural differences we learnt the hard way,” recalls one player.

Finding the positives

Of course the circuit is not all about dangers and challenges to overcome. Davis Cupper Vishnu Vardhan reached semi superstar status in Uzbekistan as Bollywood crazy locals cheered him with chants of “Shahrukh Khan Shahrukh Khan”. Others manage to put a positive spin on losing. Danai Udomchoke a Thai player who reached the third round at the Australian Open in 2007 was working his way back up the rankings after returning from injury when he played the Noida ITF in April,with his wife Charinporn traveling alongside. “When Danai was playing at Grand Slams,it was exciting but in these smaller tournaments,I get to be far more involved in the proceedings. Additionally if he wins it’s good but if he loses early that means we have time to see the place,” says Charinporn. When Udomchoke lost in the semifinals,there was little moping as the couple quickly put together a trip to go see the Taj Mahal.

The only trip Richard Becker will be taking is to Kolkata to play another Futures tournament. It will be his last of the 2011 before he begins the next year afresh at a tournament back home in Germany. While the plan is to be the show stopper at the O2 arena sometime in the future,he expects to be playing the Futures at least for the next year. “The Futures are part of the journey. Every year we will be traveling,practicing and playing for some 35 weeks. Of those nearly thirty will end in disappointment. But then every couple of times you do well in a tournament somewhere and that makes everything worthwhile,” he says.

Countries visited: India,Thailand,France,Uzbekistan,China,Taiwan,Guam,Kazakhstan,Turkey,Spain,Iran,Malaysia,Indonesia,Korea,Australia,Russia,Romania,Poland,USA,Great Britain,Mexico,Venezuela,Canada,Egypt,Slovenia

Highest ranking: 295

Playing a Futures event in Iran,I wanted to visit a cyber cafe and I was told it was barely 20-minute taxi ride away. The driver had already been driving for 40 minutes but I hadn’t reached my destination. He was driving really fast with an eye on the rear view mirror. I told him to stop but he didn’t and that’s when I realised he was trying to kidnap me. My tennis kit strapped on my back,I jumped out of the moving car. Things only got worse when the driver took a U-turn and came back for me. That night,I begged all the players in the tournament to sleep in my room because I was so scared.

Next up was Venezuela where living in a budget hotel,I would hear gun-fire and police chases all day and would duck under the window each time because it sounded so close. Then one day I saw an armed robbery happen right in front of me.

In Chennai in April this year,I was cramping after a long match but the auto driver was making us wait at a petrol pump so I asked my trainer Shogo Yokoyama to treat me there itself. But our drunk auto driver charged at us with a broken tubelight,splinters of which made my trainer bleed from his face,neck,eventually got him hospitalised,needing stitches. Glass shards were all over me as well. I tanked the next match and returned. And my trainer has refused to travel with me to India anymore.

Weerapat Doakmaiklee,24

No. of countries visited: 17

When wheels came off In Bangladesh we were traveling by car when we see a wheel on the road. And then we realise,wait,it’s from our car. The whole car came down with a thud and we nearly had a heart attack.

Karan rastogi ,25

No. of countries visited: 27

On sidelines of terror attack

A day before my Futures semifinal in Uzbekistan in 2005,all players were summoned by the tournament officials and told that 2kms from the stadium,terrorists had hijacked a mall. Next day we played with an army convoy of 20 cars surrounding our courts.

Ranjeet

Virali Murugesan,26

No. of countries visited: 20

Nightclub nightmare

In Kazakhstan we went to a club where we saw only men dancing so we left the place. Then some armed men began demanding money and cursing us. We ran to the hotel,still followed by their threats.

Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan,23

No. of countries visited: 9

Knocked out on match eve

As a 15-year-old I went to Pakistan for a Satellite tour. A day before my match I told my hotel neighbours to keep the noise down. Next thing I know,I’m pinned high up on the wall,and getting beaten up.