TENNIS in DEPTH.

Australia’s non participation in the Davis Cup tie against India this month is disappointing to all the Australian players and support staff, however it is completely understandable.
There have been many differing views reported through the media both in Australia and in India, and I would like to explain what has happened from a player’s point of view.
In my opinion there is no higher honour for a male Australian tennis player than to represent his country playing Davis Cup, to be awarded a gold jacket and join the list of many Australian and world champions who have played for our great country.
I have always made myself available to play Davis Cup and have only missed if severe injury has forced my hand.
I have travelled to many parts of the world to play Davis Cup and have had to deal with some interesting and confronting places and crowds. I thrive on the team aspect of the competition, which in an individual sport like tennis is very rare. The weeks of Davis Cup are the first weeks I mark down in my yearly schedule, along with the Grand Slams, and then I plan other tournaments accordingly.
I have always supported the International Tennis Federation (ITF) in their promotion of Davis Cup around the world, and been one of its strongest advocates. However I must say I feel very let down by the ITF with a few decisions lately relating to Davis Cup.
The first has been their awarding of ATP ranking points to the competition to try to attract certain players to take part in the competition. The problem is they have only awarded them to the World Group section. In my opinion a player shouldn’t require the incentive of ranking points to represent their country in a competition that has been running for more than 100 years. But if you are going to award them, then it should be right across the competition! There are only 16 nations in the World Group, yet our sport is truly global therefore leaving a number of top ranked players playing for their country in Zonal Ties for no points. Not to mention the fact that under this new system a player has to play a live singles rubber to receive the points and countries such as Spain and France have a wealth of players to choose from, so even players selected to represent their country may still miss out on points. This is the first instance where the ITF has totally disregarded consistency for the players.
Secondly the fact that the Zonal Ties are scheduled to be held right in the middle of the claycourt season, yet the World Group Ties are played the week following Wimbledon is again creating an uneven playing field for players and is completely lacking in consistency. By creating this new date in May the ITF is forcing players in the Zonal sections to choose between their own personal ranking and representing their country, again for no points. Meanwhile players in World Group countries continue to earn points and gain valuable practice during the claycourt season leading into the French Open. I had made the commitment to forego my French Open preparations to play the Tie in India even though I am trying to re-establish myself in the world rankings following injury.
The latest ITF decision to refuse to shift the May 8 tie to a neutral venue or a date outside the election is possibly the most disappointing of all. The request from Tennis Australia was made very early and yet the ITF took an extraordinary amount of time to investigate, report and make a decision. I would like to point out here that Tennis Australia handled the whole situation very credibly, where they researched the situation in India with help from the Australian Government and independent opinions from at least four different security experts as well as other sports with expertise in this region. The evidence became very clear. Due to the Indian elections, unless a certain level of security was provided, Tennis Australia in its duty of care for the players and team officials should not travel to Chennai. I believe that the level of security requested was very similar to what Cricket Australia would request for their teams when travelling to the sub-continent.
From what I have been told, the ITF downplayed any threat from the election and the security arrangements fell well short of what was requested.
Now one doesn’t need to be Einstein to know that there has been violence and unrest  (land mines, a train hijacking and numerous deaths) where the elections were being held in India and that it is still continuing to this day. And the election campaign will reach its climax in Tamil Nadu (capital Chennai) just three days after the tie was due to be played.
There are reports that the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu has gone on a hunger strike in support of innocent Sri Lankan Tamils caught up in the conflict in neighboring Sri Lanka.
Now the current Indian prime minister is also confirmed to be campaigning in Tamil Nadu next week, whilst we were meant to be there! It’s a bit like a red rag to a bull risk wise, in my opinion, yet the ITF have showed a lack of protection and concern for the safety of the players. They have let down the players again!!!
I have to say also I have been disappointed with the attitude of the Indian Tennis Association, especially where their Secretary General was quoted in their press saying I wasn’t coming to the Tie. Whilst he may have tried to deny it in an email to Tennis Australia, at no time did he do so publicly after being attributed with a direct quote on the matter. As an ITF Board Director and the President of the Asian Tennis Federation I would have thought he would have known better.
This brings me to the next point, with both countries being in the greater Asian area, I would have thought that India may have discussed the matter directly with Tennis Australia and in the interests of both the players and the competition resolved the issue. I can remember when in 1999 for the centenary of the Davis Cup, Australia’s home quarter final Tie against the USA was transferred from here to Boston, as the ITF wanted to celebrate the first match of Davis Cup, which actually didn’t include Australia!!
Australia was promised that the next 2 times it plays the US we get to host them at home, trouble is we haven’t played them since. Why couldn’t an arrangement like that have been made? Then again this wasn’t for the ITF only for the players!!!
Makes you wonder about the purpose of the ITF if it is not conducting its events with the players in mind!!!
As I have mentioned earlier I was committed to play Davis Cup in India. I played in Mumbai a couple of years ago and enjoyed the experience and culture of India, if only for a brief period of time. One of the joys of Davis Cup has been playing in places where the Tour never goes and experiencing different cultures. It is always a challenge to perform no matter what the weather conditions or court surfaces are.
As all players, I am aware of the success of the Chennai tournament in January and that player’s safety has never been in question. However as I point out, the Indian elections have proven to be an extremely volatile period and it has to be noted that the other major sporting event in India during this time, the IPL cricket, was moved to South Africa for safety reasons. Also, even the ITF’s own handbook points out that national teams face a greater risk than individual players. As the recent attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team showed, national sporting teams are no longer immune from such things. It appears to me that common sense didn’t prevail in this matter and it became a political and perhaps a financial consideration.
It needs to be stated that none of us Australian players (to the best of my knowledge) had made a decision as to whether or not we would travel to India to play. We were all waiting for the process that Tennis Australia were undertaking, which we all supported, to find out whether we needed to make such a decision. Sadly, in the end we didn’t need to.
Now once again we are in the hands of the ITF regarding any sanction they may impose on Tennis Australia and the Australian Davis Cup team. That decision could have severe ramifications for me as a player, and could effectively end my Davis Cup career. Whilst I have been a winning team member twice, I would be devastated if this was the way for my career playing for my country ended. As far as I’m concerned I still have unfinished business in Davis Cup, including getting Australia back into the World Group.
The question being asked most is would I have played in India if Tennis Australia sent a team? Incredibly, I was never given the chance. All that was needed was some common sense and flexibility from the ITF.
So would I have played? I still don’t know the answer to that because as a tennis player I am passionate and committed to representing Australia in Davis Cup, and as a husband and father I have responsibilities to my family. It was a no win situation either way!!
Lleyton Hewitt
 
 

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