NEW DELHI, February 5: First, it was table tennis. But it didn't take long for Vijay Kannan's father to realise that table tennis will not take his son anywhere. Then came the initiation into tennis.An employee of Union Bank, his father was brave enough to go the whole hog taking care of the huge expenses that go on to make a tennis player. It was a tough decision, as it were, because this was a situation where irrespective of the amount of money you pump in, there is no guarantee of returns, even in the form of fame.Today, Vijay Kannan is not only the junior national champion. He is the reserve in the Davis Cup squad to play Italy in the World Group first round in April. His father can afford a smile now because all his efforts seem to be bearing fruit. And the icing on the cake is a place in the final of the ITF junior tournament, currently on at the DTA Complex.Playing his last year as a junior, he is still 120 points short of getting a place in the main draw of junior Wimbledon. And he iscounting on the next couple of ITF junior tournaments to gather them.``I want to make an impression in the world of tennis and playing the Grand Slams is a long-cherished dream. But becoming a reserve in the Davis Cup squad has come as a big surprise,'' he says.It was a successful last season that helped Kannan earn a place in the reserves and also the fact that as a DHAITA trainee he was perhaps one of the most successful juniors in the country.He won three titles in the under-18 category, starting with the Junior Nationals in his hometown Chennai followed by doubles and singles crowns in the ITF Junior ranking tournaments in Brunei and Calcutta, respectively.The confidence and recognition have rubbed off on him. 1998 is just two months old and he has already reached the final of a ITF junior tournament.He began with the Brittania Amritraj Tennis (BAT) Academy in 1994 where he honed his game for two-and-a-half years. But BAT ran into financial problems and he had no option but to move out. His nextstop was the AITA's academy, DHAITA, in July 1996, which is no better shape than BAT.Recalling his triumph at the Chennai nationals, he says, ``Winning in Chennai had always been easy for me. Because there are so many familiar faces to cheer you up.'' He feels that this is probably one of the reasons why Indians have not been able to make a mark at the international level. ``You need someone to keep motivating you and you don't get all that when you are travelling alone,'' he says. ``A travelling companion, especially in a form of a coach, helps your game a lot.'' And that is exactly what he is getting from DHAITA and he wants to make most of it till his contract ends in September.The company of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi should do him a world of good. ``I should acquire the fighting spirit and fitness like them when we are together,'' he says. For years, Kannan has been idolising Paes. ``He is a great player,'' Kannan opines and feels that adjusting with the team should be no problem as ``Leanderand Mahesh are great persons too.''But there are certain points on which Kannan knows he has to improve, the returns being the most important of them. At 18, it is high time he became part of the travelling ATP circus. Surely, he won't be one of the jokers.
