Net fault

At 22 and 26 respectively, Amritraj and Bopanna are expected to be at the prime of their tennis careers8212;or at least sprinting in that direction. So struggling to put it across an unfancied crop from Pakistan 3-2 on home turf8212;the CCI courts in Mumbai8212;points to a serious crisis.

That Paes, 33, was required to drop his doubles-only 8216;rule8217; against an opponent outside the 1,000-bracket in world rankings, was more an indicator of India8217;s desperation to save a relegation tie than of Pakistan No.2 Aqeel Khan8217;s skills. Bopanna8217;s booming serve had failed to carry the weight of India8217;s challenge and Amritraj8217;s quick feet could only take half the strides to a cent-percent result in singles.

8216;8216;We are still in search of a pair of steady singles players,8217;8217; said Paes after avoiding relegation to Group 2. 8216;8216;It points to a lack of depth in singles,8217;8217; he added. Bopanna, who made his Davis Cup debut in 2002, has a 2-9 singles record, while Amritraj, who donned India colours a year later, is now at 5-9.

Paes8217; first Davis Cup coach, the 78-year-old Naresh Kumar, is clear. 8216;8216;It8217;s high time we look for options. These guys are already into their mid-20s and have had enough exposure. If they can8217;t deliver now, we should move on,8217;8217; he says. Former Davis Cup captain, Akhtar Ali, is harsher: 8216;8216;Age is catching up with them. Results have to show now.8217;8217;

So is GenNow simply not good enough? Ask Bopanna and Amritraj, they will point to the double burden weighing them down8212;not enough back-up from the officialdom and, well, grass.

8216;8216;We just have one national championship on grass. Most of the year, we are playing on hard courts and all of a sudden for Davis Cup ties, we find ourselves on grass,8217;8217; says Bopanna, even if it happens to be captain Paes8217; favourite base.

8216;8216;There is no support from the AITA All India Tennis Association. The association should help financially so that we can play more tournaments. Right now, the players are managing on their own,8217;8217; he adds.

AITA general secretary Anil Khanna admits that the choice of surface is always the captain8217;s prerogative, but is quick to counter Bopanna. 8216;8216;Does Pakistan have a tennis academy? Do they play regularly on grass? Yet they have done well on grass and they also have a world class player in Aisam Qureshi,8217;8217; he says.

But what Khanna forgets is that Pakistan No.1 Qureshi, who hails from a leading business family in Lahore, had a European travelling coach while he was still in his teens. That8217;s a luxury Bopanna, Amritraj or Mankad don8217;t have, even now.

Both Amritraj and Bopanna say they don8217;t expect the AITA to sponsor a personal coach but a 8216;8216;proper academy8217;8217; in any metro with a 8216;8216;top quality common coach8217;8217; could be the solution. 8216;8216;If we have such a facility, we can practice together. We will get quality competition under proper guidance,8217;8217; says Amritraj. 8216;8216;Most top tennis federations have such a facility, it might make a big difference here,8217;8217; says Bopanna.

Khanna admits that the AITA could do more. 8216;8216;My full sympathies are with them. But the AITA, too, has limited funds. The government and corporate houses should help8230; When a player reaches the top 300, costs escalate,8217;8217; he says.

Future sense

MAYBE, that8217;s the reason results are showing in AITA8217;s less-expensive junior programme. In the recently released ITF junior rankings, three Indians have made it to the Top-50s8212;Sanam Singh 4, Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan 21 and Rupesh Roy 45.

At 18, Chandigarh-based Sanam Singh is the youngest Indian to win the ITF Futures. He is the reigning Asian and Asia-Oceania junior champ and his match trips8212;12 abroad8212;were funded by AITA, an opportunity that Bopanna or Mankad could have benefitted from, had it come their way many years ago. Both Singh and Karan Rastogi, another promising talent, train at Nick Bolletieri8217;s in Florida8212;again an AITA-supported venture.

Jeevan, the southpaw from Chennai, has tagged his doubles-mate Singh to junior Grand Slams. At 17, he played 16 tournaments last year on varied surfaces and on foreign shores. Just out of his teens, Rastogi has been on the Davis Cup bench for the last two years. He is being managed by IMG is, according to Paes, the 8216;8216;next big thing in Indian tennis8217;8217;.

Davis Cup coach Nandan Bal, however, warns against rushing GenNext. Rastogi at least, he says, 8216;8216;needs to be tested in pressure situations, especially when we are talking of Davis Cup. He has potential but needs to be groomed8217;8217;.

For Bopanna and Amritraj then, it8217;s now or never.

With Anupama Bagri