Sunday, September 25, 2011

A rare instance in Davis Cup history - Vishnu Vardhan



   
Going places: India's Vishnu Vardhan hits a return against Kei Nishikori of Japan during their Davis Cup world group play-off in Tokyo. - AFP PHOTO
Going places: India's Vishnu Vardhan hits a return against Kei Nishikori of Japan during their Davis Cup world group play-off in Tokyo. - AFP PHOTO
It was a unique first for the Hyderabadis in Davis Cup history. For it provided the first instance of a non-playing captain S. P. Misra and the Davis cup debutant Jagadeesan Vishnuvardhan being Hyderabadis. Never did it happen in the past.
And, for Vishnuvardhan, it was not just a dream come true but also a memorable experience when he made his Davis Cup debut against Japan recently. This 25-year-old Hyderabadi, trained by the dedicated coach C. V. Nagaraj at the School of Power Academy at RRC Grounds, caught the imagination of the critics with an impressive performance against World No. 55 Kei Nishikori.
Not very often does a loser get such attention as Vishnuvardhan got. There were huge compliments from the likes of Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi also.
By his own confession, this champion player who has been in the circuit since 2003 played his best tennis for a long time. “I simply want to carry on and try to keep improving,” he says.
But the most important piece of advice comes from captain S. P. Misra. “You cannot be a promising player all your career. You have break away from the rest of the crowd and keep producing results by making most of the chances that come you way,” he says on the fellow Hyderabadi.
Trying to be more specific, Misra, who himself played Davis Cup between 1964 and 70 with distinction, believes that with his very strong first-serve and solid ground-strokes, Vishnu can go a long way.
“I sincerely feel that it is only the question of experience now. The more he plays in big events, the better player he will be,” he analysed.
Misra says that when Vishnu can be so good against such a seasoned campaigner like World No. 55 Nishikori it is a definite sign of great potential. Not many be aware that it was the genial Hyderabadi of yesteryears who made the first big move by giving the young talent a chance to be in the first four.
“The move to bring in Vishnu was inevitable as Somdev Devvarman was down with a shoulder injury and not sure of playing. So, I told him why take a risk and give a chance to this Hyderabad boy,” recalls Misra.
“Well, his first reaction was of immense joy and excitement. The best part was that he rose to the occasion. It was a performance where many forgot the end-result (a defeat) but were more enthused at the way Vishnu played the match,” says Misra.
“Remember that he did not get the Davis Cup chance by default alone. He was in the squad by virtue of his consistency in recent times. We just hope he keeps the Indian flag flying in the days to come,” feels the former Davis Cupper.
For his part, Vishnu has every reason to believe that this can well be the beginning of a new chapter in his career. “Playing Davis cup is the ultimate dream for any tennis player. And, I am aware of the huge expectations now and only hope to keep improving,” he says.
V.V.S.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

The School of Power Tennis Chief Coach Mr. C V Nagraj - FARKUNDA ALI AWARD as Best Coach-- 2009



Chief Coach Mr.Nagraj receiving the award from Justice D.S.R Varma, Chief guest of the occasion in the presence of Life President to APLTA Mr. Raja Narasimha Rao

I pushed Nishikori to step-up his game: Vardhan





TOKYO: Davis Cup debutant Vishnu Vardhan felt he played some of his best tennis against World No. 55 Kei Nishikori and forced the Japan's top player to raise his game in the first reverse singles of the World Group playoff on Sunday.
Though Vardhan could not save the tie for India, they lost 1-4, his approach and the fight he put up against Nishikori came in for praise from his teammates as well Japan's coach Eiji Takeuchi.
The 24-year-old, who had to step in for injured India No.1 Somdev Devvarman, came up with solid serves and stretched Nishikori in the first set before losing 5-7, 3-6, 3-6 in over two hours.
"I thought I played some of the best tennis of my life today," Vardhan said. "It was awesome to be a part of this Davis Cup team."
"I thought I really pushed Nishikori to play better out there."
Doubles exponent Mahesh Bhupathi said Vardhan played a "great" match.
"India threw Vishnu into the deep end today and he played a great match. Made us all on the bench real proud!!," Bhupathi tweeted.
Teammate Rohan Bopanna, who conceded the dead fifth rubber against Go Soeda because of a toe blister, said Vardhan came up with a courageous performance on debut.
"Great effort shown by @vishnu_vardhan9 today in the 4th rubber, I think he played with lot of courage & attitude in his Debut. Well done," Bopanna wrote on his twitter account.
Takeuchi said Vardhan put up a good fight despite being lower-ranked.
"His ranking is much lower than Kei's, but he put up a good fight," Takeuchi said. "He showed some nice skills and a strong serve early in the match."
The loss relegated India to Asia-Oceania Group I while Japan entered the top tier of the tournament for the first time since 1985.
Bhupathi congratulated Japan but said India will be back in the elite Group.
"Well done Japan. World group after 26 years.. Must feel good :)... Well be back!!!" he tweeted.
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The School of Power Tennis: Vishnuvardhan - (the Hindu) Japan back in the elite World Group


Japan back in the elite World Group


The Hindu

PROMISING SIGN: India’s Vishnu Vardhan did not look like a debutant as he made Japan’s Kei Nishikori work hard for his points in the Davis Cup in Tokyo on Sunday.
AFP PROMISING SIGN: India’s Vishnu Vardhan did not look like a debutant as he made Japan’s Kei Nishikori work hard for his points in the Davis Cup in Tokyo on Sunday.
India relegated to the Asia/Oceania Zone; Vishnu Vardhan impresses
Vishnu Vardhan made an impressive Davis Cup debut but failed to win as an injury-hit India was relegated to the Asia/Oceania Zone Group I after losing the World Group play-off tie 1-4 to Japan here on Sunday.
Coming into the must-win first reverse singles, in place of an injured Somdev Devvarman, 456th ranked Vishnu Vardhan lost 5-7, 3-6, 3-6 against World No. 55 Kei Nishikori, handing the host an unassailable 3-1 lead.
Bopanna concedes
Later, Rohan Bopanna conceded the dead fifth rubber against Go Soeda after leading 5-4, due to a foot injury.
Japan was thus promoted to the elite 16-nation World Group after a gap of 26 years.
India, which had triumphed 18 times in the 21 previous ties against Japan, had started favourite against the host but injuries let it down.
India arrived here without top doubles player Leander Paes, who was ruled out due to back spasm he suffered during the U.S. Open, then lost Devvarman because of a shoulder strain and finally Bopanna encountered a toe problem and could not complete his match.
India came to the play-off stage after losing the World Group first round to reigning champion Serbia and will now yet again strive in the Asia-Oceania Group I in the 2012 season.
Thanks to the doubles win of Mahesh Bhupathi and Bopanna, India was afloat in the tie after Devvarman and Bopanna had lost both the singles on Friday.
India needed Devvarman badly on Sunday and his unavailability hit the visitor hard.
It was an enormous responsibility to fill in the shoes of Devvarman but Vishnu Vardhan did show the stomach for fight although he could not maintain the intensity with which he presented his challenge early on.
The 24-year-old Vishnu Vardhan made all the right moves right from the word go. Nervous he might have been but it did not show in his game initially.
Vishnu did not look like a debutant as he made a player of Nishikori's ability to work hard for his points and engaged him in the battle for two hours and 10 minutes.
Vishnu's impressive game, especially the double-handed backhand coupled with good serve and composure, reduced the ranking difference to a mere statistics, at least in the first set.
The first break of serve came as late as in the 11th game of the first set as Vishnu went neck and neck with Nishikori in the first 10 games.
Facing a breakpoint, Vishnu approached the net but Nishikori cashed in on the chance by smashing a forehand past the Indian and then held his own in the next to take the set.
As Nishikori stepped up the pressure, the Indian was again staring a break in the first game of the second set but saved both the chances.
Nishikori kept opening the lead and succeeded in breaking Vishnu in the third game, which eventually put him ahead 5-3 by the eighth game.
The Indian saved first of the three set points before double faulting on the second to hand a 2-0 lead to Nishikori.
Vishnu was still fighting and saved two match points in the eighth game of the third set, having suffered an early break, but that was not good enough and Nishikori had no problem in ensuring Japan's passage to the World Group after 26 years.
Vishnu earns praise
Debutant Vishnu might have lost his match against Nishikori but he earned praise from his teammates and the rival camp for his courageous show in the fourth rubber.
Vishnu, playing in place of injured Devvarman, put up a brave fight before going down in straight sets against Nishikori.
“His ranking is much lower than Kei's, but he put up a good fight. He showed some nice skills and a strong serve early in the match,” Japanese captain Eiji Takeuchi said.
The 24-year-old Vishnu reckons he played his best on Sunday.
“I thought I played some of the best tennis of my life today. It was awesome to be a part of this Davis Cup team. I thought I really pushed Nishikori to play better out there,” Vardhan, ranked 456th, said.
India's multiple Grand Slam winner Mahesh Bhupathi also had words of praise for Vishnu.
“India threw Vishnu into the deep end today and he played a great match. Made us all on the bench real proud!!,” Bhupathi wrote on his twitter page.
Bopanna, who retired in the fifth rubber due to a toe blister, also shared the same sentiment.
“Great effort shown by @vishnu_vardhan9 today in the 4th rubber, I think he played with lot of courage & attitude in his debut. Well done,” he tweeted.
The results:
Japan 4 bt India 1 (Kei Nishikori bt Vishnu Vardhan 7-5, 6-3, 6-3; Go Soeda bt Rohan Bopanna 4-5 (retd.). — Agencies