Lost amid the euphoria over Sania and the depression over the cricket team has been the news of Rupesh Roy making it to the second round of the US Open boys’ singles. Big deal, you may think, Sania’s just raised the bar for tennis players to get column inches. But for a farmer’s son from Monghyr, all of this would have been improbable four years ago. That’s when Roy, then aged 12, left his family home and went to Kolkata with his uncles. They were ‘markers’ — trainers, in ordinary parlance — at two well-known clubs and Rupesh would tag along with them, picking up the game, like many of the greats, by watching from behind the baseline. He eventually picked up a liking for the sport and, in recognition, his uncles managed to get him into a camp organized by Paes-en-Sport, the talent-spotting firm run by Leander’s father Vece. ‘‘It was a favour returned to us by Vece’’, says Bengal Tennis Association administrator Sujoy Ghosh, who was the manager for that camp. That was the break Rupesh needed. Soon he was Bengal No 1, then a winner in tournaments outside the state. ‘‘He was too good for his age’’, Ghosh says. It also helped that Paes Sr remained a benefactor. ‘‘He funded most of Rupesh’s trips outside the state because he was impressed by the boy’s commitment to the sport’’, Ghosh recalls. Rupesh’s efforts bore fruit when he was selected by the AITA Academy in Gurgaon, which in turn got him a berth on the Indian Junior Davis Cup squad. He then went on to his maiden Grand Slam event, the French Open. Rupesh’s next big break was being sponsored by the Bose Foundation, set up by Amar Bose of audio systems fame. The three-year deal took care of most travelling and tour expenses and left Rupesh to focus on his tennis. There have been hiccups, of course, such as the six-month struggle to get a US visa, a delay that saw him fall from 50 to 350 in the ITF rankings. That was sorted out in April, since when Rupesh has been on the US circuit. In the past five months he’s upped his ranking to 105 with singles titles in Philadelphia, South Africa and Zimbabwe and a doubles crown at the Grade III ITF junior meet in Botswana. From there to the second round at Flushing Meadows is a big step. The bar has been raised, and Rupesh Roy is going to try his best to match it.
