Courting Controversy!!!!

Barely 24 hours into the AATP Masters 999 singles tournament, controversy is at the fore once more. Close on the heels of the tennis fixing scandal that has raised its ugly head on the international scene, the AATP tournament has been rocked by all sorts of disputes and allegations.

Just hours after the last match was completed at 165 Maharshi Karve Road, the organisers were slapped with an unofficial notice for draw rigging. The notice claimed that the organiser has, with predetermined foresight & malicious intent, doctored the draw to create the "group of death" and eliminate the strongest players from appearing at the semi finals. When contacted, a spokesperson for the Ramchandani brothers had this to say..

"we all know what is happening here. there are serious attempts being made to take some players down. past winners are being clubbed together for no reason. can you imagine nole and roger being made to play each other in the first round of wimbledon? i feel bad for players like Mr. Raja who could have and should have made it to the semi finals if not for this unfair treatment."

Even before the organiser could respond, another thunderbolt was heard from another direction. Apparently one of the players was extremely upset that his opponent was not disqualified for flinging his racket at the ballboy during the match. "My opponent, this young upstart, lost the point and threw his racket at the ball boy, hitting him hard on his hallux. He should have been disqualified there and then, but he was allowed to play on. My protest is not because he then managed to overcome a 0-3 deficit and beat me - no, its about the principle of the thing. rules are rules. If Tim Henman, David Nalbandian and most recently Jelena Ostapenko have been disqualified, who is this guy to escape it?? AATP cannot function this way. I intend to seek legal counsel" When informed that (a) Jelena Ostapenko had NOT been disqualified and (b) his opponent was, in fact, a lawyer himself, the claimant mumbled something that sounded like "i'll break his wrist, let's see how he plays the semis.."

But by far the most serious issue has cropped up just a few minutes ago. EndieTV reports that Mr.Modi, while following the matches live from Chandigarh, was shocked to see AATP blatantly disregarding his "Make in India" initiative and vowed to take immediate action. "How can we allow this?" said Modi. "Don't we have enough players in India? How can you solicit and allow a Venezuelan boy to take part in such a prestigious national tournament? At least you could have waited until I visit Venezuela first? If Diego is not expelled from the tournament immediately, I will have your faces blackened by my henchmen. Besides, everyone knows that tennis racket strings are made from cow guts which are now banned for use - you should stick to organizing kabbadi only. if you want to play tennis, go to Pakistan or Venezuela!" 

Diego's scheduled opponent in the semi's Mr. Rakesh commented by email to this development saying that the law of the land should be followed and Diego should not be allowed to participate. "The fact that I will thus get a walkover in the semi's is immaterial. I don't mind the disappointment of giving up the chance to play one extra game - as proud Indians we should all do what is best for the country!"

What more could possibly go wrong? Stay tuned...