Winning in Davis Cup tough without playing together on Tour:Amritraj

Tennis great Vijay Amritraj says there should be least controversy with regards to India's doubles combination in Davis Cup since the doubles match matters only when there are "even singles matches".

AITA has teamed up Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna for the next month's tie against China despite latter's reservations about being paired with the veteran legend.

Asked if it was a good idea to pair the players, who do not share chemistry, Amritraj said "I dont know" but pointed that those players, who play together on the Tour are likely to have a better chance to win in Davis Cup too.

In this case, both Paes and Bopanna play with different partners on the ATP Tour.

"It's a such secondary issue for me. The first issue is always four singles. Our goal is to get into the World Group and play well in the World Group. To get into the World Group, you need to have top-50 players. Every other issue is going to come and go. They are making a mountain out of a molehill, to be honest," Amritraj told PTI during an interaction on the sidelines of Road to Wimbledon (RTW) event.

"Nobody starts playing tennis, thinking of becoming doubles or mixed doubles specialist. Tell a five year old child, he won't say 'I want to be the best mixed doubles player'. It does not work like that. You want to be the next Roger Federer and the next Rafael Nadal. That's the goal."
"(Doubles is still important) when it comes down to very even (on even keel) singles matches. Important aspect is how to get there where the singles matches are even and doubles is going to matter."
"If you want to reduce Davis Cup, because it's too much for top players because they are playing consistently and you are not getting them to play Davis Cup every year, we can look at other options. Maybe we need to make some changes but not these ones."
Asked what's best possible option according to him, Amritraj, who made Wimbledon and US Open singles quarterfinals in 1973 said, "there is one option of playing World Group matches in every two years."