Chennai: Indian Davis Cupper Rohan Bopanna on Thursday threw his weight behind the players in their face off with the tennis association, saying their demands were justified as they want a system in place.
He said the players led by Somdev Devvarman, who shot off a letter to AITA seeking a better distribution of the Davis Cup prize money, a change in the support staff and involvement in the choice of venues for ties, were yet to hear anything from the association. The All-India Tennis Association and the players currently have a 50-50 share of the prize money sent by the world governing body from revenues earned from the tournament. "I think when somebody makes some points it is important. Nobody writes an email without importance attached to it," Bopanna said here speaking in support of the players.
His comments came after a major controversy broke out in Indian tennis over reports that top players may boycott next month's Davis Cup tie against South Korea if a slew of demands were not met. "Last year also there were a lot of controversies. We are hoping for a positive response from AITA. If every one agree we will move forward then," he said.
Asked whether the players would boycott the Davis Cup match against South Korea in February in New Delhi, the doubles grand slam winner said: "We have to wait and see". He also justified the stand taken by the young players, saying they were right and they want a system in place. "We are looking for betterment of tennis. It is not the question you can point out your demands only when you have achieved something. At the end of the day, we are there to make the sport grow and the youngsters benefit from it. We want youngsters doing well and coming up through great system like they have in US or Europe where the Federations supporting all the players and help them in a big way and you have great players coming up.
"You see Czech republic who won Fed cup, Hopmn cup and Davis cup and obviously such things will help the Federation and the players, who are working as a team. Therefore, the youngsters would like to move up in their careers. We are trying to do our best and we can do that and get to the highest levels without worrying about."
Among the demand raised by the players are replacement for non-playing captain Shiv Misra and national coach Nandan Bal and for a full-time physiotherapist be inducted in the squad.
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