Paradorn ready to fire
Hindustan Times — January  4, 2004

It is interesting to see that the Tata Open this year saw most of the players reaching Chennai well in advance, giving themselves enough time to acclimatize to the conditions here. Most of them have come from Europe, where most of the countries are suffering from a harsh winter. Though the weather in Chennai is wonderful by our standards, several players are practicing shirt-less during the day hours, as they can enjoy the sun and get a good tan at the same time.

After talking about the Spanish attack in Sunday's column, I spoke to the two other favourites here. Srichaphan is clearly on a high after a remarkable year in 2003.

He has been training in Thailand for nine weeks and both he and his father/coach Chanachai explained to me how for the first two weeks he did absolutely nothing, giving his mind and body, complete rest. Then he began again with his training, diet and some exhibition tennis.

He is the only player here who comes from a warm climate and without much time difference to get used to. Watching him practice and exercise, especially right before and after a practice session teaches us a lot. I would strongly recommend all our youngsters to watch this man train and warm up. He is determined to get back into the top 10 -- a spot he achieved during the course of the year. He has had tremendous success here in Chennai and there is no reason to think that he might not be able to do it again.

The other man is the tall 27-year-old, unassuming Dutchman Sjeng Schalken, who has had a marvellous 2003. He arrived in Chennai on New Year and has got his timing down to perfection. He is not an overpowering player but meets the ball extremely early, which puts the opponent on the back foot as soon as the point begins.

He is consistent and being very tall, is able to cover the court with great ease. At 27, he has had his share of tragedies; his younger brother died of cancer at 15 in 1999 and his elder brother Pier suffers from Down Syndrome. It is amazing that he has been able to pull himself out of such terrible setbacks to become a force again. Now ranked 18, he is determined to get back into the top 10.

The qualifying event for Tata Open was a great opportunity for Indians. Somdev Varman impressed the most as he fought back after losing the opening set against Jonathan Ehilich of Israel.

These qualifying matches are as tough as anywhere else. For Indians a good mix of Satellite, Futures and Challenger events are vital for improvement as we look to get more players vying for spots on the Davis Cup team and to move up in the world rankings.

The real positive development is that there is a lot of good competition within the Indians and the AITA has provided numerous ITF and ATP events in the country.