Special Correspondent

Tennis is demanding for a variety of reasons. There are several inputs which go into making a good player, with blood and sweat the essentials. Sometimes, it can even be heartbreaking if the end results are not as expected. At 21, Kamala Kannan has rich experience of having played competitive tennis at various levels lasting more than a decade. Just that, in the last two years, reality has struck. The tall and dark Chennai lad has laboured hard and reached a stage in the sport against all odds. He does not come from a background where money was in easy supply, and playing each event meant father Vijay Kumar had to chip in. Talk of parents giving encouragement, Vijay Kumar has done a fantastic job rallying behind Kamala Kanann and still not given up hope. And When Kamala Kannan says he played close to 16 weeks of ITF tennis this year with half of it abroad, you wonder how he manages it. Even by a conservative estimate, eight weeks in China and a few more evens in Asia cost close to R 3 lakh, all without a major sponsor to back him. He's been at the DSCL Open quite a few times with two quarter-final results in the men's section in 2001 and 2002 being the best. But how long can he continue like this on the international circuit fuelled by desire to do well, knowing fully well it a tough road ahead. "Well, I am going to finish college soon and am hoping to get into a public sector company like ONGC," says Kannan, whose ATP ranking has been stuck at the 900-region for some time. Having spent close to Rs 3 lakhs and made around Rs 1.1 lakh as prize money, the deficit is still huge. Maybe, when a job in a public sector undertaking comes along, he will be able to support himself. Would Kamala Kannan still continue to play and hope he can make it big? The answer is a yes since all his life he has breathed tennis, been the underdog almost every day and still continued to labour. Where does the motivation come from. You bet, most of it is from within and the fact how his family rallied behind him in this endeavour. There's no way Kannan will give up. He's in the quarrfinal of the men's singles at the DSCL Open and anything can happen from here.