KSLTA's walls of fame

It was something seen frequently during the recent telecast of the Australian Open: players walking down the tunnel lined with photographs of past champions and legendary names.

Though the KSLTA doesn't have that leeway with the limited space, almost all the walls in the tennis complex flaunt one famous name after the other. There are some collector items like a rare picture of the 11-time Grand Slam champion Rod Laver holding on to one of his Wimbledon trophies and autographed pictures of Bjorn Borg and Henri Leconte.

The golden 70s and 80s is also well represented by Borg, Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe and Guillermo Vilas and India's very own Vijay Amritraj.

But Goran Ivanisevic is as far as they've got by now. And the only two ladies who have found a place of honour are Lindsay Davenport and Mary Pierce.

Players party

It was an evening when girls got a chance to be girls.

Relieved of a Monday start due to the state-wide bandh in Karnataka, the players for the WTA Bangalore Open let their hair down at an official party at the Chancery Pavilion on Sunday evening.

When the party began, with some classical dance performances, the girls walked around carefully in their diamond-crusted chiffon sarees, pointed heels, dangling jewellry and stylish hairdos, obviously feeling good about themselves. They then walked on to the ramp with beaming smiles, taking in all the applause from the small gathering.

The host for the evening then pulled up players and few members from the audience for some trivia.

Ukraine's Olga Savchuk [Sania Mirza's first-round victim at the Australian Open this year] was posed with this riddle: There's a round table with four apples placed. There are two fathers and two sons at the table, if each one of them had an apple, how is there still one remaining?

Ummm. The youngster looked around for help. She heard someone say "grandfather", so

she repeated it.

"Ok, said the host. One of them was a grandfather. Who ate the second apple?"

"The second grandfather," replied Savchuk, who, unfortunately, had managed to catch only the word 'grandfather'.

After dinner and a few fun-n-games, the real party took off on the dance floor. The girls made a brave attempt to dance in the sarees, but the apparel was apparently too restrictive. Before one realized it, off went the shoes, the players hopped into their tee-shirts and jeans to get grooving under the disco lights.

On Tuesday they will be back in tennis gear, sweating it out on the courts. A little fun and frolic before didn't hurt.

Sania's late arrival

India's very own Sania Mirza was missing for most part of the evening. Having reached the Pattaya Open semi-finals, she arrived in Bangalore only at night.

The party, in full swing, seemed to stop just that micro-second when one of the organisers announced the her arrival. The Indian ace, tired from the flight from Bangkok, didn't pay much heed to the song and dance. She stuck to a selective group and signed a few autographs in the room before leaving for dinner.

We don't know if it was mere co-incidence or the players were getting real late, but 10 minutes after Sania's arrival, the dance floor was empty; the girls, who were having a great time only a few minutes earlier, all disappeared in different directions.

Purple and green

They were supposed to be bright, but painted in deep purple and dark green, the rebound courts at the KSLTA tennis stadium are repelling to the eyes. When you emerge from the staircase leading to the stands, the striking colours fill in the entire space, which is not altogether a welcome feeling.

The balloons by the stands, a tricolour hanging down, and the many-hued seats could send a person grabbing for monotone eye glasses!