Ahead of Davis Cup tie against Serbia, Paes joins Devvarman in deciding to skip Asian Games; calls it a question of 'bread and butter'
So what's more important: patriotism or survival? That is the big question.
At a time when the tennis fraternity in general and the All India Tennis Association (AITA) in particular ought to throw their weight behind our Davis Cup team, what we have is an interesting conundrum at work.
Believe it or not, no one's talking about the World Group playoff tie between India and Serbia starting here on Friday. So what if Novak Djokovic, Janko Tipsarevic and Viktor Troicki aren't here, the Balkans are still a force to reckon with. But instead of letting the team channel its energy on the impending match-up, what we are dealing with is the same old 'Country vs Self' debate.
The issue at hand is this: AITA wants India's top players to travel to Incheon for the Asian Games where they are expected to win a handful of medals; the players, on the other hand, want to ply their trade on the Tour, where they have points to defend and dollars to pocket.
A few days after Somdev Devvarman, the country's top singles player, made public his displeasure over the attitude of headstrong AITA officials, Leander Paes, one of the greatest Indian to have played the game, lent perspective to the debate.
"This (playing on the Tour) is my bread and butter and, at the end of the day, my ranking has dropped to 35 in the world. Hence, I have to get some job security for next year. I have to play a long fall season through Kuala Lumpur as well as Tokyo. Both tournaments clash with the Asian Games," Paes said on Wednesday.
Apart from Paes and Devvarman, two other stars in Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza have left it to AITA to decide on their participation.
Paes went on, "For me, as far as playing for the country, I have done it for 24-plus years and I will always put my best foot forward just as I am here even though, initially, I was not available to play. I will always do that. Looking at the longevity of my career, playing at Kuala Lumpur and Tokyo has become very important," the multiple Grand Slam winner said.
The players have a point: each of them has won big at the Asiad. In other words, there's nothing much to gain from capturing a medal at the continental extravaganza. Playing on the Tour may not necessarily be a matter of national pride. It's a question of money and food on the table.
The Serbs wouldn't mind this one bit. After all, a distracted opponent would be easier to deal with.
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