Anand Amritraj said it is worrying that India’s top singles players are not winning close matches

Former India Davis Cup captain Anand Amritraj is disappointed that the country’s best singles players are unable to win close matches on the ATP World Tour despite having a good game which is a “worry”. Amritraj said that at the world tour level, the ability to absorb more pressure from ground strokes and make the right decisions at crucial moments decide the outcome of the matches and Indian players need to work on it.

The country’s top-ranked singles players Shashikumar Mukund, Ramkumar Ramanathan and Sumit Nagal put up a tough fight against higher-ranked players but made first-round exits at the Tata Open Maharashtra. All this took the match to a position where either player could have won but could not win the points when needed. Mukund, ranked 340 in the world, lost 4-6 5-7 to Flavio Coboli (ranked 171) while Ramkumar (ranked 435) lost 6-6 to world number 62 Pedro Martinez despite a one-set lead. Lost 3 5-7 3-6.

Nagal (ranked 503) also suffered a three-set defeat against world number 54 Flip Krajinovic. Amritraj, who captained India’s Davis Cup team between 2013 and 2018, told PTI, “I was very impressed with Sumit Nagal, I thought he played very well. Some wrong shot selection in the final set at 4-4 and it cost him the match. “I saw Mukund as well, again a close match, 6-4 7-5, a few shots here and there, the result could have been different.I don’t understand how our boys play as well as they haven’t been able to win matches on the ATP Tour. He does well in Challengers but he needs to win matches in big tournaments.

The organizers gave a wild card entry to 15-year-old Manas Dhamane and he impressed with his performance. He did not win the match but gave a tough fight to American veteran Michael Mamoh. Amritraj said that Dhamane’s loss is still acceptable but experienced players like Nagal and Mukund should be able to win. He said, “Not winning the match is worrying. In the case of a 15-year-old player, it is a lack of experience but Sumit Nagal and Mukund have played enough matches on the tour.

Amritraj said that frequent injuries of Indian players is also not a good sign. Nagal underwent hip surgery in November 2021 and was out for nearly four months. When he started competing he lost 11 first round matches and dropped out of the top 500. Mukund has been troubled by back problems in the past as well and had also pulled out of the Davis Cup tie against Pakistan in 2019 due to a foot injury. Yuki Bhambri and Prajnesh Gunneswaran also missed significant time in their respective careers due to injuries.

Amritraj said, “Mukund is 25 years old. Sumit is also of about the same age. The first thing at this age is to stay fit. I am amazed at the number of injuries these young children are getting these days. “He said,” This has rarely happened in our generation. Now you see Yuki, he hasn’t played much, he was lucky to come back from injury and play.” Mukund, India’s top-ranked player today at number 340, says a lot about the current state of Indian tennis. Tells Amritraj is obviously disappointed by this.

He said, “It is very sad for me that some player ranked 340 is our best, ranking wise. Sumit Nagal had a chance to break into top 100 or 150. I always wondered why Ramkumar was not in the top 100. It’s unbelievable to me that they all struggle in singles.” While Amritraj feels Yuki shouldn’t completely ignore singles, he doesn’t want Ramkumar to follow the Delhi player in taking that decision. .

“Ram should stick to Ekal for at least one more year. There is always time to play doubles, Rohan is playing at the age of 42. He is playing well. You have no reason to leave singles and concentrate on doubles at the age of 28, same with Ram.’ Amritraj said, ‘As far as Yuki is concerned, he had to decide. He has a good partner in Saketh Myneni. Even turning 30 is probably a good time to go doubles. Yuki played some incredible singles matches five-six years back. I’m not sure if he should ignore the singles, but he seems to have made up his mind. It is really disappointing because he is still very talented.