For someone like Rohan Bopanna who did not mind altering his own game to be able to play alongside the legendary Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes at Davis Cup, the change in priorities today rankles. (More Tennis News)
What has always been considered a prestigious sporting event has become just another tournament for the current generation of players, he feels.
Bopanna says the love of playing the 'World Cup of Tennis' is nowhere to be seen these days.
The veteran India player made no bones about the fact that the new crop of players is not as passionate about playing the Davis Cup as compared to the ones from the previous generations.
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Ahead of his final Davis Cup tie against Morocco, Bopanna told PTI in an interview: "It has become too mechanical to just come, play and leave."
The 43-year-old, who ended runners-up alongside Matthew Ebden at the US Open men’s doubles final last week, will be bidding adieu to Davis Cup on Sunday.
"There used to be fantastic team atmosphere, which has been kind of lost in the last couple of years. And we need to bring that back," Bopanna said.
"Davis Cup is all about team camaraderie, spending time with the team, being together, everybody coming together. And I think that is a little missing link. We need to bring it back to have a successful team."
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Bopanna, however, said even he does not know how the team has reached this point.
"There's no particular reason why it's happened. I think, in a way, it is just ourselves trying to find each other, you know, understand that the ATP Tour is different, Davis Cup is different."
He added: "I have a feeling tennis has become more like a job, not only in the Davis Cup, but in general everybody comes, plays the matches, goes. 30 weeks they travel, they have their own coach, their own physio and everything.
"When I came into the team, it did not matter which players had what differences. In the locker room, that camaraderie was there, no matter what. That is missing.
"Everybody is just focused on what they need to do (for themselves) and not really figuring out what is (the) best scenario for the team," Bopanna rued.
