Players demand new coach, captain for Davis Cup

 The Indian tennis players have put up a united front in placing their concerns regarding the dealings of the All India Tennis Association (AITA) with the Davis Cup team and expect some measures before the forthcoming home tie against South Korea from February 1-3.

The players had a meeting with AITA officials on Sunday evening at Chennai following an emailed letter by India’s former No 1 player Somdev Devvarman.  Somdev has the support of Mahesh Bhupathi, Rohan Bopanna, Vishnu Vardhan, Sanam Singh, Yuki Bhambri, Divij Sharan and Saketh Myneni.

The players want a new captain and coach. SP Misra, 70, and coach Nandan Nal have been holding the reins for a long time. The players feel they need someone who is more in sync with modern game.

Distribution of prize money that AITA gets from the International Tennis Federation is another area of concern. They want it to be used for the development of the team and the players. As of now the players get a share of the money, and the rest goes to AITA.
They also want a say in the venue in the home ties and better support staff. The players feel this is the time for change and are sticking together on their demands.

“We are not revolting. We just had a few demands and we addressed them to the federation. The AITA officials said they will get back to us. There were some issues we all felt that need to be addressed and it will be nice if something can be done before the Korea tie,” one of the players said.

The AITA CEO Hironmoy Chatterjee said he has heard the players and would be speaking to the AITA executive members in Delhi once he returns from Chennai. “I thought it was best to have face to face meetings with the players. They had some issues. I will be holding a meeting with the executive members once I am in Delhi. We will see what we can do,” Chatterjee told Deccan Herald.

The AITA selection committee will be meeting on January 11 here to pick the team for the tie against South Korea.