Tennis legends hold forth

''Oh, what a line-up! It's simply superb,'' was the instant reaction of tennis buffs on seeing legends Bjorn Borg, Pat Cash, Henri Leconte, Ross Case, Vijay Amritraj, Mansoor Behrami and Guillermo Vilas share the the dais.

The occasion was the World Legends press meet, at which these big names, admired across the world, spoke freely and fairly, recalling some nostalgic moments of their playing days.

What added more fun to the get-together was cryptic remarks laced with good humour from Vilas and Leconte, who virtually had the gathering spellbound.

'It's a very special day for me. It's a dream to get these legends here. I am absolutely thrilled.

''It's a special privilege to bring them to my home town where myself and my brother Anand grew up and played tennis for so many years,'' Vijay Amritraj said while introducing the aces.

After listing the schedule of the World Legends' tournament, to be held in Bangalore from November 9 to 12, the ever-smiling Vijay, answering a volley of questions, said he would rank late Rod Laver of Australia and Borg as his all-time greats.

He, however, did not discount American Pete Sampras's achievements. ''Pete's achievement are incredible. It's unfair to compare a generation of players in the last 25 years.''

Vijay fondly recalled the days when there were lot of good players on grass and one had to push hard to win. Borg and Laver managed to win Wimbledon titles after winning the French Open on clay, he said. ''It's difficult to win back to back titles on two different surfaces.''

Now barring a few like Agassi, Mark Philloppousis, Pat Rafter and Tim Henmann there are not many to challenge Pete. ''But Pete's achievement is tremendous.''

But the unique achievement of Borg -- five Wimbledon titles and six French Open titles, Vijay felt, could not be repeated.

The former Indian Davis Cup captain also recalled his first stint as commentator during the 1975 French Open final, in which Vilas and Borg played the longest first point.

''After putting down my ear phones and finishing the Herald Tribune paper I went out for a stroll. When I came back after some time and asked about the score --- the first point is still in progress. It was an amazing match,'' he said.

Vilas said we had played nearly nine to ten finals. ''He (Borg) was a long man. If there was any error... it would be a tough error.''

Borg, the legendary Swede, who is contemplating retiring from the senior tournaments, said he might play two tournaments next year. ''After that I have eight to ten players under me in the age group of 8 to 14 back home at Stockholm. It's a five-year project and we have two full-time coaches. I want to be involved in tennis,'' Borg said.

On the secret behind producing great players after him like Stefan Edberg, Mats Wilander, in a small country like Sweden which has about just nine million people -- nearly the population of Madras, Borg said: ''Basically we have a very good programme. There are a lot of coaches. We get together four to five times every year. Besides, there are tournaments for kids all over.''

Pat Cash, the man who was known more for his injuries and the youngest of the lot in the fray, said the standard in Legends' tournament is very good. ''I am the youngest and had suffered more injuries put together, than those suffered by all the legends gathered here,'' he said jocularly.

''Being the youngest I think I can beat the guys,'' the former Wimbledon champion from Australia opined.

He, however, parried a question relating to the Davis Cup back home. ''I have no clue.''

However, both Borg and Vijay echoed similar views on the new system to identify the world No. 1, when they said it is ''confusing". ''There are different seeds for different tournaments.. people did not really know about it,'' Borg averred.

Vijay too said that the original system was the safest one and it covered every aspect.

Doubles specialist in the mid-1970s, Ross felt that top players should play in the doubles too where at least 20 to 30 per cent of the total money goes. ''But it's quite difficult for players like Pete Sampras,'' he averred.