Prakash through as Vijay talks down ‘rift’ reports

Blistering aces,forehands going by in a flash,and an abundance of winners at the net were duly noted as the match stretched into the final set,and as each of the five match points he saved came up,Prakash seemed to dig that much deeper into his reserves. The final point of his 4-6 6-4 7-6 (9) win turned out to be a shanked Polansky forehand,which was the signal for many to rush courtside and congratulate him.

The backdrop of this win has been tempered with plenty of murk and allegations,with reported rifts between Vijay Amritraj and new organising committee chairman Karti Chidambaram being the root cause of tension,and Prakash not being given his usual wild card into the tournament escalating the issue further. On Sunday,Vijay insisted there were no hard feelings,but the voices in the background continued.

Amritraj junior has faded into oblivion ever since the sports ministry’s ruling preventing foreigners from representing the country was set in stone. Being India’s second-highest ranked player after Somdev Devvarman at 212 has little significance if he is not part of Davis Cup plans,and by the look of things,Prakash is still extremely reluctant to give up his American passport.

“Vijay has been in touch with the All India Tennis Association trying to do something about the rule,but so far nothing has come out,” said Anand Amritraj,Prakash’s uncle. “But it is a loss to Indian tennis,and I think they were lucky to make it to the World Group last year. One win against Chinese Taipei,a walkover against Australia and one good tie against Russia. There isn’t even any player in the top 100,” he added. Anand also voiced his views on the appointment of non-playing captain SP Mishra. “I think they wanted someone non-controversial to keep the peace within the team,otherwise some players wouldn’t have played with Leander at the helm. But SP Mishra is very far removed from the job,he is a very hands-off captain.”

Yuki beats world No.120

Down 4-1 in the first set,Yuki Bhambri may have noticed the crowds trooping out from his match against Ukraine’s Illya Marchenko,ranked 120 in the world. Those who chose not to watch his remarkable comeback missed out on some excellent tennis as Bhambri took his place in the final qualifying round with a 7-6 (2) 6-3 win. “This is the biggest win of my career,and after the slow start I had,I’m happy I managed to win,” he said.