Davis Cup ties involving India generally manage to create a buzz even before the first serve of the opening singles rubber. It is a different matter that the reason for that might not always be a positive one.
In this regard, the build-up to the ongoing World Group I Playoff against Togo was relatively low-key despite the continued absence of Sumit Nagal and Yuki Bhambri, the nation’s top singles and doubles players, respectively.
Even on Saturday at the DLTA complex, the host looked at ease against a lower-ranked and inexperienced opponent. The team had positive energy and comfortably won both singles rubbers to go into the second day with a 2-0 lead. Captain Rohit Rajpal hardly needed to leave his chair throughout the two rubbers, one of which featured S. Mukund.
READ MORE | Mukund, Ramkumar win in straight-sets as India takes 2-0 lead against Togo
There were no signs indicating any lingering feelings from last year’s brouhaha over Nagal’s controversial absence from the World Group I tie against Sweden or Mukund’s two-tie suspension for missing the World Group I Play-off against Pakistan or him hitting back at the All India Tennis Association (AITA) and revealing that he was never informed about the ban.
“I was asked to play by the captain and coach (against Sweden), and I chose not to play because one, I don’t have a visa and two, I just didn’t want to be there due to bad management,” Mukund had written in a social media post which has since been taken down.
“They came up with a ban which nobody knew about, including me. If I had a ban, why was I asked?”
“Bad treatment is the biggest reason why an athlete loses interest for national duty despite that being the biggest honour.”
In the press conference on Saturday, Mukund reiterated that the drama around India Davis Cup ties has never been about tennis and the team atmosphere is not dependent on the result.
“Drama was always with everything else other than tennis. It is about the environment. It is about how you keep some people out of the player’s lounge which Rohit did well this time. I did not see some faces which I normally see and are trying to do things which are not healthy for the team. At the end of the day, the tennis result…nobody cares. We all are here to give our best effort and you can’t do more than your best. Just because you lose, nothing changes,” said the 28-year-old.
“You feel upset for a few minutes or hours after a loss and that’s normal. We’re not human if that does not happen. I don’t think my respect or liking for my teammates, captain or coach changes with the way I play on the court. That is always constant. Even if my teammate has a terrible day, I completely understand that he is human and it can happen to anybody. We shouldn’t mix tennis with that and it was never about tennis in the past. The drama happened for other reasons.”