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‘This event is not about Sania alone’

Raju is also quite emphatic that the attendance will not suffer on account of Mirza’s withdrawal.

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Tournament director Sunder Raju hits back, says one player can’t hold a tournament to ransom

NEW DELHI: Contrary to reports that the Bangalore Open is eager to accommodate Sania Mirza by offering her a wild card, tournament director Sunder Raju clarified to DNA that his tournament is really not too bothered anymore about the Indian playing.
“As far as we are concerned there is no player who can hold the tournament to ransom. No one can presume the tournament revolves around her. This event is not about Sania Mirza,” Raju said.

Clarifying on the wild card issue, he added: “If she changes her mind we will be happy to accommodate her but if a high profile player approaches us before she makes up her mind, then it’s her loss.”

Raju is also quite emphatic that the attendance will not suffer on account of Mirza’s withdrawal. “The quality of tennis will be extremely high regardless of Sania playing. The discerning fan will come for the high-quality field and not for one player alone. We are certain that we will have a packed house as the event unfolds,” he added.

It is apparent that the organisers are quite miffed with the way Mirza and her advisors have handled the issue. It has been further learnt that KSLTA was approached by Mirza’s agent Mahesh Bhupathi before the start of the Australian Open to discuss the issue of appearance money. At that time, since the sponsors had not been sewed up, the organisers were unable to make a commitment high enough to grab the player’s interest. This seems to have been perceived by the Mirza camp as indifference and the next that KSLTA heard about Mirza’s participation was when she announced at a press conference her decision to skip the event.

It is apparent that there has been some lack of communication between the concerned parties as KSLTA insiders say they were willing to negotiate the figure that may have been lesser that the estimated $100,000 she was paid last year.

“Our endeavour is to provide Indian players with a platform to utilise home conditions and crowd support to do well in an event of this stature. It is up to the player to take a call on that. With the likes of Serena and Venus Williams playing, the field is in no way lacking,” Raju asserted.

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