5 things we learned on Day 3 of the Chennai Open

They say no experience is worth having unless you take something away from it. Alright, I don’t exactly know who said that, or if anyone ever said that at all, but it has a nice ring to it and I’m sticking by it. So without any more beating around the bush, here are the five things I learned from my experience of attending the Chennai Open on Day 3 of the tournament:

1. If youth can’t teach you how to deal with a large crowd, then experience certainly can

Yuki Bhambri and Vijay Amritraj on Kids’ Day at the Chennai Open

It was like watching the two extremes of Benjamin Button’s life cycle converge at the same point. Kids’ Day at the Chennai Open was fun and light-hearted, but it also provided a sharp study of contrasts. On the one hand there was Vijay Amritraj, all confidence and deep baritone as he fielded questions from eager parents about the best ways to turn their kids into tennis superstars. And on the other there was Yuki Bhambri, looking harassed and even a little frightened as scores of kids descended upon him, trying to shake his hand and get a picture clicked with their role model.

The media attention and accolades sometimes make you forget how young some of these tennis stars are. Bhambri is 21 years old, which is not exactly an outrageously young age for tennis, but it is still a lot younger than the age at which most of us learn how to deal with large groups of people. It was hardly a wonder, then, that Bhambri looked completely ill at ease at being the centre of attention of such an enthusiastic crowd. But there’s hope; if he learns the art of social comportment even half as well as Amritraj, he will be in good shape by the time he turns 60.

2. There’s nothing more frustrating than a rain delay…

When you watch a match on television, a rain delay can be infuriating, but you also have plenty of options to calm yourself down: you can switch the channel, or simply turn off the TV and go back to actually living your life. When you’re sitting courtside, however, there is no option but to run for cover and watch as the players walk off; there’s no way to vent your irritation, unless you consider staring at a square of cement and hoping for it to miraculously dry out within seconds to be a method of venting.

The usually severe-but-predictable Chennai weather decided to play tricks today; twice during the Wawrinka-Becker match it started raining hard enough for the players to exit the court and the match to be suspended. Winter rain in Chennai is uncommon to the point of being unheard of, but that meant little when the skies opened and the rain came pouring down. As we waited for the towel-dragging grounds staff to clear up the court, however, it struck me how much worse a rain delay must feel for a player, especially one who has the upper hand in the match.

Wawrinka had just broken and was serving at 4-3, 0-15 when the second, longer rain delay came about, and I can’t imagine the kind of focus it must have required for him to return to the court and immediately win four more points. An unscheduled interruption of match play is just plain bad whichever way you look at it; whether you are a player or a spectator, there is nothing more frustrating than a rain delay…

3. …unless it is a retirement

The biggest news of the day was also the most disappointing. Mikhail Youzhny, the second seed at the tournament and one of the favourites to win the whole thing, retired abruptly in his match against Dudi Sela while trailing 1-3 in the first set. The Russian cited a stomach illness that he supposedly picked up in Thailand last week as the reason for his withdrawal, and to say that it was a total bummer for everyone present at the stadium would be a colossal understatement.

The grim Mikhail Youzhny and the casual Fabio Fognini on the practice courts

From a purely physical standpoint, Youzhny looked perfectly fine during his practice hit a couple of hours before the start of play, and he showed no sign of discomfort in the first four games of the match either. But I remember thinking, while watching Youzhny practise, how unusually serious his facial expression remained throughout the session. His grimness looked even more pronounced when viewed alongside the goofy, casual hitting of Fabio Fognini, who was practising on an adjacent court. Now, of course, I know.

4. Stanislas Wawrinka’s backhand is a beaut, but he still can’t get out of the shadow of Roger Federer

We’ve all read and heard countless paeans to the Wawrinka backhand. But most of those eulogies talk about how beautiful and powerful the shot is. When you watch Wawrinka play live, however, you also come to appreciate the amazing variations that he can employ with the shot. He can roll it crosscourt with an extreme angle, blast it down the line for an outright winner, slice it viciously to leave the opponent scurrying to get in position, loop it softly to dramatically change the tempo of the rally – you name it, he can do it. Wawrinka uses it the way normal players use their forehands, except that he hits it with a lot more panache.

Stanislas Wawrinka acknowledging the applause after his victory over Benjamin Becker

And when you consider that Wawrinka’s forehand – which is not ordinarily a shot you want to get on the wrong side of, either – was firing too, it’s no surprise that Benjamin Becker was reduced to a spectator for much of their match. The final score read 6-3, 6-1 in favour of Wawrinka, and the crowd, which had been in the Swiss’s corner all match, could barely contain its excitement when he started doing the customary act of hitting balls into the stands with a cricket bat. In the post-match on-court interview, however, Charu Sharma couldn’t resist bring up ‘the other Swiss’ after running out of comments about Wawrinka’s play on the night. Did he think he’d overtake his more famous countryman in the rankings soon? Poor Wawrinka, who is probably deathly sick of references to Roger Federer in his media interactions, said the politically correct words and expressed hope that Federer would turn in a strong 2014.

If only Mr. Sharma had stuck to questions about Wawrinka’s magnificent backhand.

5. There’s always time to practise, even after a loss

Somdev Devvarman suffered a crushing loss to young Ramkumar Ramanathan yesterday, and he would have been forgiven for packing his bags and fleeing the scene of his defeat the first chance he got. But today, after the matches on the side courts were done and dusted, Devvarman was back at it, hitting serves and forehands like there was no tomorrow. Was he perhaps preparing for a tilt in the doubles tournament, considering the gap left in the draw by the withdrawal of Fabio Fognini? “No”, Devvarman answered decisively, when confronted with that question.

After finishing with his practice session, Devvarman took time out to pose for pictures with the fans and sign autographs, and he was extremely amiable as he tried to soothe the nerves of star-struck kids who couldn’t stop stammering and stuttering in his presence. It’s hard to think of any reason for Devvarman to do any of this, except that he’s just an incredibly dedicated, all-round nice guy.

Just for that, here’s hoping Devvarman tastes Grand Slam success some day.

This article was originally published here: Aircel Chennai Open official website