Saturday 18th April – 12 pm
Less than 24 hours to go before the first serve is hit and co-organizers Haresh and Ashutosh (to be referred to as HareAsh going forward – pronunciation Hare-Ash) have their task cut out. They’re still one player short to complete the field. Frantic calls and SMS’es follow. Haresh takes some time off organizing duties to knock with school mates Nimesh Vora and Suvir Shah. While Suvir battles the heat, Haresh is feeling the pressure of maintaining his unbeaten record on the tour. His press conference gives us an insight into his frame of mind - "I've created a monster, so I know I always need to win every tournament. Winning every tournament means that when I just lose a few games people say I'm playing bad. It's my own mistake, I guess. It's not easy coming out every time trying to win. You'll always run into fellow top players or other guys on a streak who surprise you. That's the difficulty about tennis.”
Saturday 18th April – 7 pm
The elusive 12th man is discovered. Nimesh recruits colleague Prashanth Suresh into the fold. Prashanth, who’s made a habit of running marathons around the world, might be an unfamiliar name to the AATP folks but certainly not an unfamiliar face. A frequent visitor to the MSLTA courts until he shifted to Bandra, Prashanth’s playing demeanor and sleeveless tee had already earned him comparisons to the Belarussian beast Max Mirnyi inside the AATP coterie. Ashutosh also warms up with a final practice session against Siddharth Singh Rathore. AATP’s enfant terrible, Rathore had to withdraw from Edition 3.0 after losing his sponsorship deal with Fair-N-Handsome. Also seen practicing under the lights is Sachin Gupta, CEO of Inventurus; the global recession affording this head-honcho some leisure time to wield his racket skills.
Sunday 19th April – 7 am
The defending champion is the first to reach the courts for his routine pre-tournament knock with hitting partner Siddharth Sharma. Inspired by Richard Williams’ decision to let his daughters Venus and Serena bypass the junior circuit and go straight to the pros, Sharma has decided to bypass the AATP tour and go straight to the veterans’ tour. (Official AATP astrologer Bejan Daruwalla tells us that Sharma will make his debut at the AATP Seniors Event in July 2034).
Sunday 19th April – 8:30 am
The action shifts to the players lounge. Pranav ‘Scud’ Bhatti, Phillips Eapen and Suvir Shah are among the first to arrive; a few hours later, Suvir would be the first to depart. Ashutosh struts in ten minutes late but is forgiven by all when he announces the prize money. The winner of the Champions League gets INP 75000 while the Champions League runners-up and Challenger League winner get INP 37500 each.
The 12 man field is split into 4 groups of 3 players each. The winners of each group go into the semi-finals of the Champions League; the runners-up of each group go into the Challenger League; third-placed finishers in each group go home to watch the Indian Premier League. The tournaments’ top 4 seeds – the Ramchandani brothers, Dr. Malpani and Bhatti head the groups. Watched by the curious eyes of support staff Mangesh, Vishal and Pratik, the draws are picked by MSLTA curator Ajit Sawant (recently voted the non-player most likely to be inducted into the AATP Hall of Fame). Haresh draws Jonty Kandpal and Azeem Ebrahim in his section; Bharat draws Nimesh and Sachin while Dr. Malpani draws Ashutosh & Suvir. What are the chances that the only 3 smokers in the field get dragged into the same group – Pranav, Phillips and Prashanth are drawn into Group D, the Group of Death.
Sunday 19th April – 9 am
The round robin matches kick off simultaneously on courts 2 to 5 even as some of the players are yet to arrive. Haresh begins proceedings on court 5 against Azeem. It’s a homecoming of sorts for the U.S.-returned Azeem, who took his first coaching lessons at the age of 10 on the very same courts. Ebrahim shows flashes of his loopy forehand and wicked backhand slice but is far too inconsistent as he goes down 0-6 to the top seed. On Court 4, Dr. Malpani gets down to business with a clinical 6-2 win over Suvir while Bharat easily beats Nimesh 6-2 on court 2. The Group of Death kicks off on court 3 with Pranav vs. Phillips, a 26 year old techie who was invited to play this weekend after impressing talent-scouters at the Hikal Cup and whose top-spin backhand is a treat to watch. Phillips takes pole position with a 6-3 win.
Sunday 19th April – 9:30 am
Still struggling with thoughts of retirement from the sport, Nimesh pulls off a surprising 6-3 win over Sachin winning the last 6 games to notch his first win on the tour. School mate Suvir isn’t as lucky – going down 2-6 to Ashutosh. This diamond merchant still needs some polishing. On court 5, Jonty Kandpal is giving Haresh all that he can handle. The pint-sized stock star breaks to lead 3-2. His vocal cords seem to be getting as much exercise as his legs. A few words from Sharma and one bathroom break later, Haresh wins four games in a row to triumph 6-3.
The most intriguing match of the round robin is being played out on Court 3 as Prashanth takes on Phillips. Battling to stay alive in the tournament, Prashanth digs deep and wins a close fought tiebreak 7-5. The competition is friendly yet intense. Immediately after match point, Phillips throws his racket into the net; missing his opponent by a whisker. A little later, the two go out for a smoke together.
Sunday 19th April – 10:15 am
It’s down to the business end of things as the battle for semi-final berths heat up. With Haresh having already qualified from his group, Jonty & Azeem battle it out for the Challenger League spot. Jonty rides out a comfortable 6-2 win. On Court 4, Dr. Malpani and Ashutosh face off in a winner-tops-group contest. The Doctor’s spermtastic forehand leaves Ashutosh feeling impotent as he crumbles to a 1-6 defeat. (While his tennis career has yet to take off, Ashu need not fret; Daruwala tips him as the odds-on favorite to be the next CEO of Baskin Robbins, India). On Court 2, two-times finalist Bharat sets up a semi-final rematch against the Doctor after his 6-0 win over Sachin leaves him atop Group B. Nimesh joins Ashutosh & Jonty in the Challenger League.
Bhatti redeems himself as he races to a 5-0 lead against Prashanth before easing up – something that will come back to haunt him a few minutes later. Bhatti eventually wins 6-2; with all 3 players scoring one win each, the standings are determined by the percentage of games won. Out comes the calculator; In go Phillips and Pranav into the Champions and Challenger League semi-finals respectively. Prashanth begins his marathon journey back to Bandra. For the statistically curious, Phillips ends up with 0.54 percent of games won, Pranav with 0.52 and Prashanth with 0.47.
Sunday 19th April – 11:00 am
The heat & humidity are taking a toll on the players. Bharat’s shoe soles come unglued but nothing that a quick run to the nearby cobbler can’t fix. For back up, Haresh runs home to fetch him a spare pair of shoes as well. (Bhai Ho to Asia!!) Pranav heads to the players lounge to ice his knee and ponders whether to continue or let Prashanth take his place. His plea to the organizers to change the format to a quarter-final knockout draw is shot down.
In the Challenger League semi-finals, Nimesh uses his slice-n-dice game to good effect and surprises Ashutosh 9-6. In the other semi-final, Jonty takes on Pranav in another David vs. Goliath battle. The gods seem to be smiling on Jonty whose match is played amidst falling flowers on his side of court 2. Could this be the sign of an impending coronation? Pranav’s boombastic groundstrokes boomerang right back to him thanks to Jonty’s sexy-back skills. Down 4-7 and still bothered by his knee, Pranav calls it quits to send Jonty into the Challenger final against Nimesh.
In the Champions League semi-final, Bharat faces the Doctor for the second consecutive event. The Doctor begins strong & establishes a 7-4 lead. Not best known for his ability grind out a victory, Bharat begins an uphill climb and embarks on a 5-game winning streak to run out a 9-7 winner. On the adjacent court, Phillips breaks early against Haresh on two occasions but is broken right back each time. Both players struggle under the blazing sun. From 4-4, Haresh surges ahead and wraps up a 9-5 victory that is much harder than the scoreline suggests. The players retire to the lounge for now. The brothers will be back in a few hours to battle it out for the trophy again. The opposition is left to wonder when their turn will come.
Sunday 19th April – 1 pm
The cameras are closely following the brothers as allegations of Father Ramchandani influencing the result of the finals resurface. Bharat heads home to shower and spend time with his wife, who made a fleeting appearance on the courts earlier in the day. Unaware of the paparazzi following him, Haresh heads to Churchgate. The pressure of his monstrous creation seem to take a heavy toll as just hours before the final showdown, he is snapped gorging on Wada Pav. This is not the first time that Haresh’s unusual eating habits have caught the attention of the tennis community. Earlier this year, he was spotted munching Bhujia Sev in between his matches at the Hikal Cup and last year, he was caught eating boiled eggs on court in between serves. Haresh then heads home for a customary Sunday afternoon lunch with the whole family; Bharat included. Father Ramchandani gives grace and prays for his first-born to win his first title.
Sunday 19th April – 4pm
The official car of the tournament (Ashutosh’s Chevrolet Aveo) picks up the finalists from their residence and heads to the courts. The final is scheduled under the shade of court 1. The brothers begin their warm up. They’ve gone from fighting over chocolates and TV remote controls to battling over championship titles and prize money. Haresh starts strong and seems in control of the first set, winning it 6-3. Bharat hopes for some respite but gets none as Haresh breaks early in the second set and moves ahead 5-3. The tennis is average; the conditions sub-par. One would expect Bharat to fold easily in this situation. At 5-4, Haresh holds match points on three separate occasions but each time fails to serve it out. Bharat breaks back for 5-5 and gets a new lease of life. Another hold and break later, its one set all.
On court 2, Nimesh is unable to find an answer to Jonty’s consistency. Jonty wins 9-5 and is crowned the Challenger Champion. The two settle court side as the brothers get set for the super tie-break. This is the second time that one of their finals has gone the distance. It’s the first time that Bharat jumps ahead though. Mixing big shots with good defense, Bharat gets two mini-breaks and never looks back. At 9-5 in the tie break, he stands on the brink of realizing his father’s dream. One point later, he is the Champion. Haresh can hardly believe his inability to close the match after 3 match points. Bharat can hardly believe his ability to dig himself out 2 matches in a row. THE KING IS DEAD. LONG LIVE THE KING.
Monday 20th April – 9 pm
The dust may have settled; the enthusiasm certainly has not. You would think with the success of Edition 3.0, HareAsh would take a well-deserved break. Instead, they’re back in the MSLTA canteen – plotting Edition 4.0. The last weekend of May is the date. The field will expand to 16 players (I am told Roger Federer will be offered a wild card in case he chooses not to make the futile trip to Paris); the timing will be post-sunset. Lights out for now guys… HareAsh have left the building.
