Mahesh Bhupathi: 'My whole life revolves around tennis'
Tennis - India's doubles tennis ace Mahesh Bhupathi says that tennis has given him everything he has in life and that his life revolves around tennis even though he is now retired and does not play the sport as such. In an interview to The Telegraph, Bhupathi says, "Life is never without tennis for me. Tennis has given me everything I have today. I continue to be the Davis Cup captain, have my tennis academies, attend events like this to support various tennis initiatives. My whole life revolves around tennis. It’s in the blood. I love playing. It’s just that the injuries that come with playing for me every time, it is not worth it. When you are practising and competing, you are obviously training to keep the body in shape. Now, I am not. When I go out and do a good session, it takes me four days to recover. (Laughs) I wish I could play some more. I miss competing. I don’t miss the practice and the recovery. (Laughs) I was a professional tennis player, so playing recreationally doesn’t make sense. If I need to do fitness, I’d go to the gym or play squash or do something I have never done in my life. That’s more fun."
Bhupathi says sports has taught him discipline and hard work. "What would I do if not tennis… I would never know. I have been playing since I was three. Sports has taught me that discipline is required. Even today, I am up at 6.25am every day. Also, hard work. Nothing comes easy in life. These are the two attributes that hopefully I will be able to pass on to my daughter (Saira)."
Talking about the pressures of being one of the top players in Indian tennis, Bhupathi says that he does not see that as pressure, "I don’t think you ever think about it as pressure. While growing up, you always dream of playing these big tournaments and winning them. Pressure comes with anything you do. If you are the CEO of a company, there is the pressure to deliver numbers. If you are running a petrol station, you have to sell a certain amount of gas a day. So the pressure is a part of life. But when you are doing something you love, it is a unique thing and that’s what I was able to do."
Speaking about the current crop of Indian tennis players, Bhupathi says, "In the boys, there are two — Sumit Nagal and Sasi Kumar Mukund. In the girls, Karman Kaur Thandi has broken through. She is 206 in the world now. They would hopefully break through in the top 100 in the next 24 months."
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from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2GM9L3p
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