CHENNAI, NOVEMBER 7: Commitment and single minded devotion was the key for tennis aspirants to reach the top in singles events, former Indian Davis Cup captain Vijay Amritraj said here on Tuesday.``At present, these players are are satisfied in winning tournaments in India only. They are happy in making money to the tune of about Rs 3 lakh per year.''To a question, he said tennis and golf were next only to cricket in popularity.``Cricket will continue to be a religion amongst Indian sports lovers, despite problems the game is now facing due to match fixing scandals. New heroes will surface and once India starts winning matches, the stigma will be wiped out,'' Amritraj said.On the ATP tour and other international events held in India, he said ``Chennai will be the permanent venue for the ATP tour. The world doubles in Bangalore is for two years.''Stating that IMG had the rights to the ATP tour in India, he said ``other events are leased out to be held in India''. He lauded the number of tournaments like WTA events and Futures for youngsters being held in the country. Regarding the Legends tournament, Amritraj said singles events would be held among six players in two groups. Group A would comprise Bjorn Borg, Mansour Baharami and Henri Leconte, while Vijay Amrithrj, Pat Cash and Guillermo Vilas would be in Group B.The four team doubles matches would feature Cash/Anand Amritraj against Borg/Baharami on Nov 9, while Leconte/Vijay would play Vilas/Cash on Nov 10. The playoff for third place would be on Nov 11 and the finals would be on Nov 12, he said.All the players, who were present at the press meet, spoke of the extremely tough competitions on view these days.Asked about Sweden's hold on the game, Borg said his country had put in place a perfect system to achieve such good results. Borg runs a tennis academy there.Both Borg and Amritraj said it was unfair to compare the game of the present generation to their heydays.However, Amritraj hailed Borg's five Wimbledon five wins and six victories at the French Open. ``Pete (Sampras) had won six Wimbledon titles but I wonder if he could win a French open. Rod Laver and Borg are the top two in my top-ten tennis, players' Amritraj said.On the present ATP RACE ranking system, the veterans felt it was confusing. Amritraj, a former ATP President, said ``it requires changes in the system and as always, ATP will perfect the system sooner or later.''
