Paes-Bhupathi is cliche, he’s not

Rajeev (19), who in April was named Freshman (debutant) of the Year by the prestigious BigTen college grouping, also figures, with Wimbledon semi-finalist Andy Roddick, in ‘The Replacements’, an informal listing by the US tennis establishment of the 10 players likely to succeed the Sampras-Agassi generation.

The son of cell biologists — father Raghav is from Bangalore, mother Sushma from Delhi — Rajeev picked up tennis as a child. ‘‘I played every sport but simply enjoyed tennis more’’, he told The Sunday Express. ‘‘I played with my father pretty much everyday, and I just learnt it by watching TV and through simple trial and error.’’

His playing style is unmistakeably Indian, the serve-and-volley, touch-artist game that Vijay Amritraj excelled at, winning most of his points at the net as opposed to the big-serving baseline game of net net as opposed to the big serving baseline game of many of his peers. ‘‘I think my serve and my net play are the strongest aspects of my game’’, he says.

If there is one area that marks him as very different to Leander and Mahesh, it is his preference for playing singles, as opposed to doubles. ‘‘Right now I’m trying to make it as a singles player because I think that’s where the game is headed’’, he says. Smart move because, in the tennis world, singles is where the money and recognition are.

Rajeev’s battle now is against time. At 19, he should have turned professional, as his contemporaries have, but opted to pick up experience on the tough college circuit.

Indians have always been a big draw in US college tennis — Bhupathi, Harsh Mankad and Prakash Amritraj, India’s next big hope, have all cut their teeth playing for their colleges. It’s an opportunity Rajeev appreciates: ‘‘I’ve been very lucky to play college tennis. It’s a unique experience; the team atmosphere is very uncommon and requires one to respond to a whole new kind of pressure.’’

So, the Big Question: Will he play for India, like his friend Prakash? Rajeev is clear that it’s not an option at the moment. ‘‘Prakash and I are friends, we play doubles whenever we can. But at this point, the USTA is supporting me and I have no intention of playing for any other country.’’

Again, while Sunitha Rao opted to play for India citing discrimination against her in the US, Rajeev says he’s faced none of that. ‘‘I’ve been treated fairly as a tennis player and as a child coming through the American school system.’’

He emphasises, though, that his Indian origin — ‘‘I have only been to India once, when I was 5, and I’d love to visit again’’— is very important to him. ‘‘There haven’t been many great players of Indian origin and I’d love to put my name on that list.’’

Though he’s met both Paes and Bhupathi, and admires them, his idol is Sampras. ‘‘Ever since he became a household name I have admired him for all parts of his tennis.’’ So how does it feel to be mooted as a possible successor? ‘‘It is really an honour but I have a long way to go to really be compared with players like that.’’