By IANS
New Delhi : The Delhi Lawn Tennis Association’s (DLTA) centre court was the talking point during the last Davis Cup tie against Uzbekistan in February. However, this time the surface is well prepared and looks in good shape ahead of the key India-Japan tie, starting here Friday.
Both teams expressed satisfaction with the preparation of the court, which has more grass cover on it than the last time when the Uzbeks complained that it was under-prepared.
“It (the court) is looking in great shape and it has got more grass cover on it than last time,” said Indian skipper Leander Paes.
India’s number one player Prakash Amritraj also feels the same. “The surface is better prepared and has good bounce. It has much better bounce than when we played Uzbekistan.”
Though India coach Nandan BAL was delighted to see the condition of the surface, he was sceptical about its longevity.
“The court looks in great shape and it is playing very true, but it is hard to say whether it will last three days or not. As far as bad bounce is concerned, it will always be there on a natural surface.”
Though the nimble-footed Japanese are delighted to see the pace of the surface, their worry is the uneven bounce.
“The surface looks good and has got pace in it but bad bounce is a matter of concern for us. But at the end of the day, the conditions are the same for both the sides,” said veteran Japanese player Takao Suzuki.
“The court is pretty fast, but it is difficult to play with uneven bounce,” said Japan number one Kei Nishikori.