ATP World Tour, quite literally for this Frenchman
At the beginning of the year, Stephane Robert had set himself two targets. First was to play a Grand Slam match against a top player on a show court – something he hadn’t managed before in his long, unfulfilled career. The 35-year-old ticked that box when he played fellow Frenchman Gael Monfils in the third round of the Australian Open at the Hisense Arena (where he also won a point magnifique in the second set, which has generated nearly 100,000 YouTube hits).
The second was to win a Challenger tournament on a hard court. Robert has half-a-dozen Challenger titles to his name but all have been on clay. Having toiled all his career on the circuit, this was something he was desperately hoping for. On Sunday, he checked that box as well, sweeping aside home favourite Saketh Myneni 6-3 6-0 to win the Delhi Open.
Having achieved what he set out to, the world number 161 knows exactly what to look forward to for rest of the year. And it’s not the wins on court or ranking points to move up the ladder. “No targets now. I’ll just go and enjoy, see new cities, meet new people. For me, tennis is not most important,” says Robert, who plays the sport at a competitive level for more than 30 weeks a year. “There is life beyond the sport as well,” he goes on.
Robert has been on the road for nearly 15 years, spending nights on the airport and waking up in a new city almost every week. He comes across as a quintessential journeyman – struggling in the lower rungs of international tennis, trying to make a living by slugging it out in the second tier of the sport. He has also managed an odd big scalp – Tomas Berdych in the 2011 French Open.
Not the typical journeyman
But he is different from your typical journeyman. Unlike most players, he doesn’t plan his calendar according to ranking points on offer or its history, except of course the Grand Slams. Instead, he chooses where to play depending on surrounding attractions. His diary resembles a travel guide, having judiciously noted all the places he has to visit this year. “I try to travel and play at places which are pleasant and friendly. In Europe, it’s selfish. In India, Vietnam, Thailand…people are friendly. It’s a bit messy on the streets but people are friendly,” he says, adding that there are several destinations still on his bucket list to complete his world tour.
He loves his globetrotting life and does not miss home for the simple reason that he does not have one. His mailing address, according to French website, is his parents’ house. And instead of paying rent, he chooses to reinvest all of his his earnings in tennis and travelling the world.
While most players prefer spending time at the hotel trying to preserve energy, Robert is quite the opposite. In the last one week in Delhi, he ventured out every evening after his matches along with his physio. In his earlier trip to India, he ‘hired a tuk-tuk’ and roamed around Bangalore and did the same when he was in Pune.
“Players generally like to stay in their hotels either sleeping, reading or watching movies. But I like to be in the middle of people, experience the city as much as he could,” he says, adding that he visited Delhi’s most famous tourist spots – Qutab Minar, Humayun’s Tomb and Lodhi Gardens – after his matches while rueing that he couldn’t visit the Taj Mahal after being informed that it’s closed on Fridays. “That was one of the reasons I came here so it’s a pity I couldn’t see Taj. But it will also be an excuse for me to return to Delhi again,” he says.
That’s still a year away though. Next week, he is looking forward to exploring another new country. “I have never been to China before. Always wanted to see that place, experience the food and the people. So that’s another one off my list,” he smiles.
