The lawn tennis tournament is one of the most thrilling and exhilarating events in BOSM. It is a very popular sport and the stands can be seen filled to the brim with fans, excited to witness the two teams in action. Tennis in BOSM is hosted in a shortened Davis Cup schema – a ‘two singles and one doubles’ best-of-3 tie format. Teams announce their singles and doubles players prior to the matches and compete in a predetermined order. The semi-finals and finals, however, are played according to International Tennis Federation rules.

As said by Roshan Roy, the captain of the Lawn Tennis team, the team has been hard at work in the days leading up to BOSM. The team has a coach who trains them specifically during the pre-BOSM period and has been practicing regularly from 6 to 8 in the morning and 5-7:30 in the evening. These timings are more relaxed after BOSM, with players not being driven by their coach to practice. The team will be back to their rigorous training regime in the next semester to prepare for the outstation tournament. Training includes basic fitness drills and exercises to ensure that the team is in perfect condition and gives their best for the tournament.

Their major rival is IIT Delhi, but they will not be competing this year. A relatively new competitor is Venkateshwara, who managed to defeat the team in the finals last year.

Some problems faced by the team include the delayed arrival of the inventory, and also with internship season going on right now, there are a few time constraints. The team, however, has still managed to successfully put in the required number of hours before BOSM. Another challenge faced are the exceptionally talented students in the DU colleges who’ve gotten in under the sports quota, and who the team will have to watch out for this BOSM.

He also added that there was hardly any problem faced by the team resource-wise and that the facilities provided by the college are quite sufficient.

The team managed to make it to the semi-finals the year before last, and to the finals in last year’s edition. The captain is optimistic and hopes to take it to the next level this year and “bring it home”.

The captain believes that the turnout this year for recruitments was good, being significantly more than last year. Around 25 people showed up, who the team then narrowed down to 5 or 6 people. They were then grilled and made to play against each other. Out of them, the three who performed the best were taken into the team.

The captain, Roshan Roy, feels that tennis is not just a physical game, but is also half mental, which is what intrigues him and draws him to the sport. On asking if he intends to continue with the sport professionally, he said that he does intend to keep playing, however, any plans to continue with the sport as a career died after the 10^th grade. He has been playing since the 5^th grade, and realised he was good while playing for his society. He has also played in the Mahesh Bhupati Tennis Academy in Bangalore. The tennis player he looks up to the most is Roger Federer. He feels that the leader in any sport plays a very essential role, not only while practicing, but also in setting the pace in training, in helping juniors out and aiding new players in their transition from school tournaments to college sports, which are on an entirely different level. He feels that his captain played a major role in his first and second years and that he can do the same for the new players. In his own words, ‘Balancing studies and tennis does get difficult at times, especially during the BOSM season, but playing the sport does have its own advantages, of course; as long as one isn’t involved in too many things, it is quite manageable.’

Lastly, he encouraged the students and others to come out and attend the matches and support the college as, ‘It’s always nice to see people excited and it goes a long way in boosting the morale of the team.’