‘A for Amritraj’: Twitter gives Chetan Bhagat a history lesson on Indian tennis after misinformed tweet on Sumit Nagal
On Tuesday, Chetan Bhagat found out the perils of having airing one's ignorance on social media.
On Tuesday, Chetan Bhagat found out the perils of having airing one's ignorance on social media.
Chetan Bhagat, excited over Sumit Nagal taking a set from GOAT Roger Federer tweeted: “Grew up being told that India has no chance in singles tennis at the global level. Just now @nagalsumit from my country won a set against The Roger Federer at the #USOpen. One day, India will win the Grand Slam too. Go Sumit Go!”Of course, the tweet showed a shocking level of ignorance by one of India’s most-read authors given the nation has produced single legends like Vijay Amritraj (who was part of the infamous ABC trio – Vijay Amritraj, Bjorn Borg and Jimmy Connors).
Along with his brother Anand, Vijay led India to two Davis Cup finals – 1974 and 1987 – and forfeited against South Africa in 1974 due to Apartheid practiced in the African country.
Sadly, the Grand Slam title eluded Vijay, who had beaten Borg, McEnroe and Connors multiple times.
His brother Anand believed that it was because he was ‘unable to put it together for a week’.
Before him, Ramathan Krishnan was also seeded Number 4 in Wimbledon in 1962, and was a force to reckon with.
More recently, Somdev Devvarman, Yuki Bhambri and Prajnesh Gunneswaran have been ranked in the top 100.
In the women’s game, Sania Mirza reached a career-high of 27 before a wrist injury put paid to her singles career.
To claim that Sumit Nagal – who we hope goes from strength to strength after picking one set – set a precedent on the tennis court is displaying a shocking level of ignorance. As the old saying goes: “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt.”