I love tennis. It is the one sport I try to play even if only going walling these days (need to lose weight fast). Of all the tennis events, I have to admit it's the Grand Slams that I only follow. For the Australian Open, I got to do an interview with Star Sports' Georgina Chang. But that's not all, I also got one with Vijay Armitaj, the former Indian player who is also in the broadcaster's booth.
Rick: Was it an easy transition from the court to the analysts' booth? Some of your contemporaries later found themselves in the analysts booth same as you. How much fun was that from competing against them? Who was the best one to partner with?
Vijay: For me, it was easy leaving the game. At that time, I felt I was done with the sport and had no regrets on leaving the tour. After that I never missed it, because I gave all I had to it. When I started doing commentary in 1991 with STAR Sports, I tried to bring more than what tennis analysts provide to viewers than what they see on television to get new fans more involved with the sport.
Rick: What I love about doing commentary and meeting former players is that even though I don't see them for 5 years, it feels like we've never missed each other. As friends, we guest on each others shows and talk about the past, present and future of the sport and what's going on in the world today.
Vijay: Commentary looks simple, but it's not quite – especially when you're on live television, and it's easy to see who are good at it. I can think of Brian Langley, and by far the best anchor I've ever worked with in Alan Wilkins, as two of the best on-air commentators I've partnered with.
Rick: Growing up in India, isn't cricket and polo huge there? Why tennis? What was the reception you got from your countrymen when you ranked 16th in the world?
Vijay: When I started being good at the game, I had always hoped cricket was doing well to take pressure off me, and the cricket team would always hope I was doing well to take media pressure off them! We were constantly under the microscope, and expectations were very high. But I was proud to carry that responsibility.
Rick: How much preparation on your part goes into working on a Grand Slam event like the Australian Open? Don't you have that urge to lace up those shoes and pick up a racket to play today's stars?
Vijay: In terms of preparation - yes and no. It's always good to do research on newcomers to the sport. But you should not be too caught up with statistics, which are available during commentary. Personally, I'm not big on stats, and when I do commentary, I take into consideration of viewers new to the sport. I believe you need to add some originality to it and you need to add a human angle.
On playing against today's stars, I'm very grateful I don't have to do that anymore! I've played against the best of my generation, and fortunate to play as I did, and I got more than I expected in my walk in life, and I'm grateful for it.
Rick: Aside from your competitive days, how big a factor is tennis in your life today?
Vijay: Its always been a part of my life, and to this day it's very important for my health. My son is playing professionally and I'm very involved in his tennis. Now that I'm doing TV commentary with STAR Sports, I need to be in the know on what's going on in the world of tennis.
Rick: Who do you like among the up and coming stars?
Vijay: Currently there's a lot of outstanding female players, but a 20-year old Croatian player by the name of Marin Cilic has impressed me.
Rick: Was it an easy transition from the court to the analysts' booth? Some of your contemporaries later found themselves in the analysts booth same as you. How much fun was that from competing against them? Who was the best one to partner with?
Vijay: For me, it was easy leaving the game. At that time, I felt I was done with the sport and had no regrets on leaving the tour. After that I never missed it, because I gave all I had to it. When I started doing commentary in 1991 with STAR Sports, I tried to bring more than what tennis analysts provide to viewers than what they see on television to get new fans more involved with the sport.
Rick: What I love about doing commentary and meeting former players is that even though I don't see them for 5 years, it feels like we've never missed each other. As friends, we guest on each others shows and talk about the past, present and future of the sport and what's going on in the world today.
Vijay: Commentary looks simple, but it's not quite – especially when you're on live television, and it's easy to see who are good at it. I can think of Brian Langley, and by far the best anchor I've ever worked with in Alan Wilkins, as two of the best on-air commentators I've partnered with.
Rick: Growing up in India, isn't cricket and polo huge there? Why tennis? What was the reception you got from your countrymen when you ranked 16th in the world?
Vijay: When I started being good at the game, I had always hoped cricket was doing well to take pressure off me, and the cricket team would always hope I was doing well to take media pressure off them! We were constantly under the microscope, and expectations were very high. But I was proud to carry that responsibility.
Rick: How much preparation on your part goes into working on a Grand Slam event like the Australian Open? Don't you have that urge to lace up those shoes and pick up a racket to play today's stars?
Vijay: In terms of preparation - yes and no. It's always good to do research on newcomers to the sport. But you should not be too caught up with statistics, which are available during commentary. Personally, I'm not big on stats, and when I do commentary, I take into consideration of viewers new to the sport. I believe you need to add some originality to it and you need to add a human angle.
On playing against today's stars, I'm very grateful I don't have to do that anymore! I've played against the best of my generation, and fortunate to play as I did, and I got more than I expected in my walk in life, and I'm grateful for it.
Rick: Aside from your competitive days, how big a factor is tennis in your life today?
Vijay: Its always been a part of my life, and to this day it's very important for my health. My son is playing professionally and I'm very involved in his tennis. Now that I'm doing TV commentary with STAR Sports, I need to be in the know on what's going on in the world of tennis.
Rick: Who do you like among the up and coming stars?
Vijay: Currently there's a lot of outstanding female players, but a 20-year old Croatian player by the name of Marin Cilic has impressed me.
Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDelete