India will have an outside chance against Serbia: Vijay

New Delhi: Persuming that world No 1 Novak Djokovic won`t be part of the touring party during the Davis Cup tie in Bangalore, Indian tennis legend Vijay Amritraj reckons that India will have an "outside" chance against the formidable Serbian side.

The winner of the September 12-14 tie will qualify for the elite 16-nation World Group. Amritraj said he would like to belive that Djokovic would go deep in the US Open, which would conclude on Septmeber 8 in New York, hence the multiple Grand Slam trophy winner perhaps would prefer rest than travelling to India. "I am sure he (Djokovic) won`t come. India beat Korea in Korea, it`s a good team. Anand (India`s captain and his brother) has done a tremedous job. This team is doing well together. They have nothing to lose and it will be tough for the visitors to play at that altitude. We will have an outside chance," Amritraj said. He was speaking at a Singapore Tourism Board event to promote year-end WTA finals in that country in October. Amritraj also said that there was "no dearth of talent" in India but the need was to nurture it properly and imrpove quality infrastructure in country. The former star was asked that there was a spurt of tennis academies in the country but no singles players were coming up. "It`s not simple answer. Asians are conservatives and Indians are more. There is an incredible amount of desire, passion and interest but the question is of nurturing that talent. The game has changed in the last 20 years. It`s up to youngsters what commitment they have and what sacrifices they can make." Amritraj was of the view that Chennai youngaster Ramkumar Ramanathan had it in him to make it big. "He has great potential but needs to create that all round persona." Asked why India was not able to host big tennis events, Amritraj said, "We don`t have quality infarstructre at all places. Where you do you play tennis in Bombay? What we have today was not there in the past but we have only four cities with proper infratstrucre - Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai." "We need to have spectacluar setting such as Sports Hub in Singapore, we need to have a look and create big infrastructure in other cities," he said. Amritraj said that the competition in women`s tennis has opened up, which makes the game more interesting to watch. "Serena Williams is 32, Maria Sharapova has also come up well after recovering from surgery, then (Simona) Halep and (Eugenie) Bouchard have also played well. There is no clear favourite." He also felt that modern great Roger Fedrer can go on to win one more Grand Slam but doubts that Rafael Nadal would be able to match the Swiss record of 17 Grand Slams.