It’s been a week since the Championships ended and four days since the New Year rang in; just about enough time for reflection and posting some of my random thoughts on the event.
• The Ramchandani brothers ended the year just as they began it – dominating the rest of the field to be crowned the first AATP World Team Champions. It would be interesting to see what other firsts are in store for the brothers in 2010
• Rizwan Sumar’s hopes of returning to Dubai as champion fell 3 games short. The soon-to-be-married Sumar went 4-0 in singles play (including victories against Ayaz and Bharat which you will read more about later) but even his brother’s presence could not help him and partner Pranav Bhatija close out the doubles tie in the finals
• While younger bro Haresh went 4-0 in singles play, elder bro Bharat managed a lackluster 2-2 record in singles play (with losses to Ayaz and Rizwan). However, Big B managed to redeem himself with some stirring play in the deciding doubles tie of the finals
• Pranav Bhatija played some spellbinding power tennis on his way to the finals but once again came up short in the end against his least-favorite-player-to-play Haresh.
• Third-ranked Phillips Eapen and fourth-ranked Dr. Aniruddha Malpani headed the list of notable absentees. Others included temperamental Rajput Siddharth Singh Rathore, Haresh’s coach Uncle Toni Sharma and diamond merchant Suvir Shah
• In the absence of Suvir, organizers drafted in Manoj as a last minute replacement to team up with Nimesh Vora. In spite of his valiant efforts to beat Jonty Kandpal, Nimesh could not help but watch in agony as his partner Manoj was unable to string together enough balls on court in his singles or doubles matches. Post his exit, Nimesh gained sympathy from fellow players and lashed out at the tournament organizers – both well deserved in our opinion
• The singles tie between Bharat and Rizwan in the finals gets our vote for best match of the tourney. The childhood buddies stayed close to one another early on before Rizwan moved up 5-3. Bharat managed to claw his way back to 5-5. At 6-6, Bharat wasted two break points that would have given him a chance to serve for the match (including one forehand return which he thought was a winner but was called out by Rizwan). At 7-6, Rizwan wasted three set points that would have given him the match (including one on a backhand lob which he thought was a winner but was called out by Bharat) before finally claiming victory on his fourth set point as he watched Bharat’s backhand sail long
• In a bizarre twist that seemed to be taken straight out of the hit TV series LOST, Jonty Kandpal inexplicably found himself in Kandivali hours before his semi-final match against Rizwan and Bhatti. Jonty managed to get to the courts a full one later than schedule; just in time to take on Pranav Bhatija
• Faced against the daunting situation of being defaulted if partner Jonty did not arrive in time for his singles match, Ayaz Vasi prolonged his singles match against Rizwan in the semis for just about as long as he could. After going up 4-0 and 30-0, Ayaz decided to apply the brakes on himself. Once he decided to accelerate again, he realized it was Rizwan who was in the driver’s seat. Rizwan bounced back to 5-5 and then won 7-2 in the tie break to complete the most memorable comeback seen on the AATP tour
• Think of tennis folklore and Borg-McEnroe’s famous fourth set tiebreak at Wimbledon in 1980 which Borg won 20-18; or Graf-Sanchez’s famous 20- minute game at 5-5 in the third set of the 1995 Wimbledon final comes to mind. Now one can also add the 42-stroke rally between Ayaz and Rizwan in their semi-final match to the list. Described as jaw-dropping by some and yawn-inducing by others, the rally saw defensive tennis at its best with both players scrambling alternatively between net post and the baseline. Fans staying at the MSLTA guest rooms on the second floor apparently had the best view in the house
• New father Anil Goel came out of self-imposed retirement to beat Adil Ebrahim 6-4 in a see-saw battle on Day 1 but that was not enough to see the Goel brothers into the semis as older brother Ashutosh disappointed in singles play against Rizwan and Azeem.
• Azeem Ebrahim (not related to Adil in case you were wondering) followed up his victory over Ashutosh with a doubles win over the Goel brothers which put him and Adil through to the semis
• Chief Guest at this year’s final was Mr. Rehan Sumar, brother of Rizwan, and also likely to be responsible for laying down the new practice courts at MSLTA
• If the sparkling trophy (read as rolling trophy) given to the brothers for their efforts is any indications, the ATP tour is set for bigger and brighter things in 2010
• Action likely will move to Bombay Gymkhana for the Hikal Cup in February; not a sanctioned AATP event but likely to be supported by all AATP players. The tour’s next scheduled event is likely to be in March 2010.
• Happy New Year to all our readers and keep coming back for more!!
