By IANS
New Delhi : Former India Davis Cupper Vijay Amritraj says young Somdev Dev Varman is a “great prospect” as the 22-year-old American collegian gears up for his Davis Cup debut match against Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin here Friday.
“He (Varman) grew up in our academy and is a great prospect. It is great to see him playing,” Amritraj said after the draw for Asia- Oceania Zone Group I tie Thursday.
“Somdev is going to be a challenge. He is young, determined and accepts challenges. It remains to be seen how he takes up challenges on grass,” he said.
In a surprise move, non-playing captain Leander Paes picked Varman in preference to Prakash Amritraj, who is recovering from a stomach ailment, to play the singles along with Rohan Bopanna.
However, Amritraj has no regrets over his son’s exclusion.
“At the end of the day it’s the prerogative of the captain. He has made his call after assessing team’s requirements,” he said.
India are ranked 29th in Davis Cup and they are a rung above the Uzbeks, but Amritraj feels that rankings in Davis Cup can’t be used to predict the outcome.
“In my view, rankings do not matter in Davis Cup, the competition is a test of character and belief in yourself. If you don’t have goose bumps seeing the national flag flying, you are not fit for Davis Cup,” he said.
On the coming together of the most successful Indian tennis pair of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi for the Beijing Olympics after such bitter fallout during the Doha Asian Games, Amritraj said he did not see any problem in their playing together.
“They might be a little rusty in the beginning. They might sit in two corners despite being in the same team, but things will get sorted out once they play with each other,” he said.
Amritraj termed Sania’s decision to pull out of the next month’s Bangalore Open in the wake of series of controversies “strange”, adding that it is a different feeling playing in front of the home crowd.
“It is a strange kind of thing. She is a great player. I would like to see her in top 20 but there is nothing like playing in front of the home crowd, though it depends entirely on your schedule,” he said.