Chennai: You can take Vijay Amritraj out of Chennai Open, but you simply cannot take India ’s only ATP tournament out of the Indian tennis icon. Even as there were angry whispers at the manner in which the present lot of organisers kept Vijay away from Saturday’s draw ceremony for the first time in the tournament’s 14-year-old history, Vijay was very much around at the courts on Sunday.

First he sat through a tense two-hour drama as son Prakash Amritaraj almost messed up his second qualifier against Canada ’s Peter Polansky, scraping through in a third set tie-breaker. Later, he spent time with kids knocking around tennis balls with them as part of the promotions.

Vijay admitted that having attended every draw ceremony of the tournament, he expected to be invited for Saturday’s draw as well, especially when he was around in the SDAT tennis court complex.

“I was disappointed that my name was not on the list, but these are minor scratches and blimps that we need to overlook. What is important is the event which has benefited India, Chennai and the tennis players who come here to play,” Vijay told with typical good-natured equanimity during a brief talk with the media.

“Let us not make a mountain out of a molehill. People come and go. Things will happen. There may be disagreements but at the end of the day it is the people of Chennai who stand to gain.

“The tickets have sold out not only because of the names of players in it, but also because it has become an event. I do take pride that I was able to initiate this event 15 years ago and keep it in India as a very successful event,” he said.

Vijay refuted that he was cut up with the present organising committee chairman Karti Chidambaram (son of union home minister P. Chidambaram) because his son Prakash was not given a wild card entry into the singles.

“My strong recommendation to the TNTA was that preference must go to Davis Cuppers. Since Carlos Moya was given a wild card, Yuki Bhambri would be the next option for a wild card if Somdev Dev Varman got in on the basis of his rankings.

“When Prakash knew he would not get a wild card he declared that he would qualify for the tournament. That is where you show character and guts,” Vijay explained.

Asked if he had personal differences with Karti, Vijay said: “Absolutely not. Let us not pick out individuals. My commitment is to the tennis in the city of Chennai and the TNTA, irrespective of who is running it.”