Bopanna

Chennai: There were three things very visible in Rohan Bopanna’s game when he first hit the headlines at the domestic level: A really powerful serve, a one-dimensional style and a tendency to choke.

That was four years ago.

Just when he seemed to have ironed out the flaws while retaining his major weapon, the curse of injury hit the tall, robust lad from Coorg. He developed a biceps problem on his right arm, tried to come back after resting for four months only to aggravate it, and ultimately, had to undergo surgery.

It’s nine months since Bopanna resumed competitive tennis after being out of it for the same period. And what a second coming it has been!

A string of consistent results in the Challenger and Futures circuits has hauled him from the despairing depths of world No. 600-something to 266. His ranking is sure to improve a few notches next Monday after the dream run he’s going through at the Chennai Open.

“I was a bit disappointed to lose in the national grasscourt final (to Vishal Uppal) and thus miss out on a wild card in Chennai,” Bopanna told The Telegraph the morning after creating a ripple at the Nungambakkam Stadium. “Now, of course, I have no regrets. In fact, I’m glad I had to go through the qualifiers because those three matches sharpened my game and helped give off my best against (Cyril) Saulnier.”

Bopanna cared little for the reputation of the world No. 90, who featured in an ATP event final less than a year ago, and handed the Frenchman a straight-set pasting.

Up next for the daredevil qualifier is Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller, the left-hander who knocked Rafael Nadal out of Wimbledon and dumped Andy Roddick from the US Open last year.

“I haven’t seen him (Muller) in action but it’s obvious from the results that he is a very good player. But I’m not bothering about his game, I just want to continue the way I’ve been playing,” said Bopanna, oozing confidence.

Confidence, that’s the key word. As he showed during his Davis Cup match against former Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson in Delhi last September, Bopanna now has the artillery to fight the best.

“My game was a bit too serve-oriented. I realised just a big serve won’t take me too far. I worked hard on my groundstrokes with (Prahlad) Srinath and the Bhupathis. Now, I can play from the backcourt and not necessarily come up to the net all the time.

I stayed back a lot in the four matches here and it’s yielding results. I know I’m a more mature player now,” Bopanna observed.

He may yet conquer a few more peaks this week, but beyond Chennai, Bopanna is quite looking forward to his first ever Grand Slam.

“I’m really excited about playing in the Australian Open? I’ve got into the qualifying draw,” Bopanna remarked, betraying no disappointment that it’s taken him so long to get a look-in at one of the four majors.

“I started a bit late and didn’t have great success as a junior. Then came the injury at the wrong time, soon after I played a great match against then French Open finalist Martin Verkerk (who managed to win 12-10 in the fifth set) in a Davis Cup tie in The Netherlands.

“But he fact is, there’s nothing I can do about these things. All I can do now is to play to the best of my ability,” said the late bloomer who will be turning 26 in March.

Bopanna realises the importance of a travelling coach, but can’t afford one right now. “I need a sponsor,” lamented Bopanna, who just has a clothing and shoe deal with Nike.

“I sincerely hope that more sponsors will come into tennis after seeing what an Indian can do at the international level. Sania’s success can do wonders for players like us.”

A soft-spoken person by nature (“I talk only when I have to”), Bopanna is comfortable with the media attention he’s been getting since the Davis Cup tie versus Sweden.

“I’m not complaining at all. It’s great to see tennis getting so much media space, it will help us,” Bopanna signed off.

It’s still early days. But there is a faint possibility that 2006 could be Bopanna’s year just as 2005 was Sania Mirza’s.