Mumbai: Stating that India had three great doubles players in Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna, tennis great Vijay Amritraj on Friday said that the challenge for the country was to find another good doubles player to complement the trio.
He said that India's top singles player Somdev Devvarman, who has pulled out of the Australian Open due to an injury, would have to get rid of the niggles once and for all if he has to live up to his potential.
"We have got three great players and only two chairs.
Rohan suggested that they (Paes-Bhupathi) had together played four Olympics together and had not won a medal and so it was time for change. Lee felt it was important for him to win Grand Slams and he wanted a partner with whom he could win Grand Slams with. Perhaps the time for him and Mahesh to win Grand Slams had passed. Perhaps he was right too. He probably suggested that he wanted a change," Amritraj said.
"It's hard to say which two of the three are the best.
Lee and Mahesh have showed that they are a great pair, Lee and Rohan could have a good pair as are Mahesh and Rohan. The key now is to find a fourth good player to complement the other three," Amritraj said at a promotional event for the ninth edition of the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon of which he is the brand ambassador.
The former India Davis Cup captain, who was also the number one player in Asia for 14 years, felt that Devvarman, who is out of action due to a shoulder problem, should analyze his injuries and get rid of them once and for all.
"Unfortunately Somdev is a little injured. So he's pulled out from the Australian Open. These nagging injuries, you must get rid of it at a young age. Kind of doing a bandage fix, see what kind of injury it is, if surgery is needed get it done.
Take 2-3 months off, come back stronger like Rohan did," he said.
Commenting on the newly formed partnership between Bopanna and Bhupathi, Amritraj said he was of the view that Bhupathi should play at the 'ad-court' and Bopanna at the 'deuce court'. .
"When I see them I have told them that Mahesh should play in the ad-court. But they have decided otherwise. If they sort of feel uncomfortable in the next 15 days they can go back with Mahesh at the ad-court and Rohan in the deuce court," Amritraj said.
"We all saw the start in Chennai Open. Unfortunately we have got three great doubles players and only two chairs to put them on. So we can't pinpoint as to which two are better than the other. Rohan had a wonderful last year. To being where he was last year to being the top 10-11 (doubles player) in world is a wonderful achievement," he said.
Amritraj, who had beaten players like John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors during his peak days and was world number 16 at one stage, said despite their recent split Paes and Bhupathi could do well with different partners given that they played on the right side of the court.
"I think Leander and Mahesh have proven that they can do well with other partners. I think its important to understand that they can play with good players, irrespective of the country, as long as they are playing in the right side of the court. If Lee plays in the deuce court he will do well with most of the players as will Mahesh if he will play in the ad court," he said.
"It will be interesting to see with whom Mahesh plays regularly Radek Stepanek or Janko Tisparevic. The problem is if they (Stepanek and Tisparevic) play singles as well it puts pressure on the doubles partner," he added.
Amritraj said all the men's top four singles players - Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray - were capable of winning the Australian Open.
"Federer is back. He played amazingly in the last five weeks of 2011. Djokovic started to fade a little bit towards the end of year but he had an amazing 2011. A lot depends on how fit Rafa is. The moment you begin to write Rafa off, he does what Federer does, makes a great comeback. Let's not forget Andy, he has played some amazing tennis too. It's interesting to see all the four together. We have four players who head the pack. It'll be interesting to see who will make the semi-finals."
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