‘Grass will be a challenge’

A year on,as the current batch — Saurabh Singh,Mohit Mayur and Ronit Bisht — prepares to head Down Under for the zonal qualifying rounds beginning April 15,hopes of surpassing last year’s feats are not too high. The team,already weakened by the absence of the current Australian Open junior champ,will have to contend with the unfamiliarity of grass,the chosen surface for the matches in Shepparton,near Melbourne.

Coach Vishaal Uppal admits it’ll be tough. “It will be difficult,but what’s important is to go there and play our hearts out. We have to work really hard in every match we play,and hopefully the results will come,” he says,speaking to Sportline.

The grass factor,he says,is another challenge. “Obviously the surface will be difficult for them,more mentally than anything else. I hope I can help them out a bit with my experience of playing on grass,but it’s not easy to change someone’s game overnight. But it’ll be the same for everyone,I don’t think any team would have played much on grass.”

There are 16 teams in four groups each and the top two from each group qualify for the quarter-finals. “My aim is to take it one tie at a time,we don’t want to get too far ahead. The ultimate goal will be to qualify for the world finals,” says the coach.

The team members are currently playing an ITF Grade B1 tournament in Indore,and will assemble in the Capital before taking off for Australia on Sunday. The teams will have a day’s practice on grass before the competition begins.

Interestingly,while Delhi’s Ronit Bisht is part of the team,his inclusion seemed improbable a few weeks ago. The International Tennis Federation had sent a notification to the All India Tennis Association (AITA) of ‘disciplinary problems’ with the youngster as a member of the under-14 team last year. They made it clear that any team with his name on the roster would be considered ineligible,but have lifted the ultimatum after the AITA made his father sign an agreement,promising there would be no scope for further complaints.