Goodbye Akhtar Ali Saab

Indian tennis lost in Akhtar Ali, 81, a father figure. For a man who was short in height, his achievements were tall, mostly in coaching.

It has taken me more than one day to sit down and write this tribute to Guru Akhtar, whose knowledge, wisdom and sense of humour were unmatched. In an age where people use Google for anything and everything, Akhtar Saab belonged to an era which in tennis is described as the wooden racquet age.

Loquacious by nature, always ready to talk and educate tennis lovers, my relationship with Akhtar Saab dates back to 1988. Those were the days when tennis in India was played predominantly on two surfaces — grass and clay. Hard courts were very few.

Akhtar Saab had that knack of striking a conversation with almost anyone and everyone, though I cannot hide the fact he was the biggest fan of his own son Zeeshan Ali. My first interaction with Akhtar Saab was during my early days as a tennis writer at the DLTA, now known as the RK Khanna Stadium.

In the morning chill, you could not have missed the fatherly figure that Akhtar Ali was. To be a father and coach, he wanted Zeeshan to be the best. Today Zeeshan is the Davis Cup coach and owes ever bit of his tennis career to the father who dreamt of making him a champion. Those were the days when international tennis events in India were far and few.

When Zeeshan had won his record seventh National title on grass in Delhi, Dad Akhtar was happy. But his real dream was of seeing Zeeshu, as he called him, make it big as a player on the ATP Tour. Akhtar Saab would go around telling friends how Zeeshan had started  making big ATP points. Well, those points were the barometer for a player’s progress. Zeeshan had a career high of around 126, which was creditable.

 But then,  Akhtar Ali the legend was not just about producing one champion. He grew up in Calcutta, a city where the famous South Club lawns produced an array of champions. Leander Paes, Naresh Kumar, Premjit Lal, Jaidip Mukherjea, Chiradip, Enrico Piperno, all came from Calcutta.

Piperno, known as Rico to all, was the first to let me know 10 days ago Akhtar Ali was not doing well. It came as a shock because I had known him well and never imagined he would fall ill as he had very clean habits, was devout and never wished anyone bad.

During our journeys in many Davis Cup ties, Akhtar Saab would offer immense insight. That was something he had been doing since the time of Vijay Amritraj, who later hired him as his personal coach. Vijay would jokingly call him Ali Baba and the coach never minded it.

By the time Zeeshan had made a mark in Davis Cup, the next generation of coaches had taken over, where Rico was the man in command under Naresh Kumar. Akhtar would still travel and continue to sing praise about his son. He had made Zeeshan a classic serve-and-volley player on grass.

From ball toss during serve to racquet swing and footwork, Akhtar Saab had his take on every player. He breathed tennis and made it a point whenever Jaipur hosted a Davis Cup tie, he would travel to Ajmer also for offering prayers at the Dargah.

Yes, there were times when Akhtar Ali the father was bitter as Zeeshan was dropped from the Davis Cup squad. It was understandable, but his love for Indian tennis never diminished. He was  a Master Coach, so to say and could guide many players, coaches and conducted several camps. It included Sania Mirza as well.

For each one who thinks tennis is a modern sport and only the coaches from abroad can impart skills and drills, Akhtar Saab was a different man. He continued to stay in touch for as long his health permitted.

He was a man who loved his wife, and three kids. His favourite phrase was “you see” and “I love my wife too much..” He would then go into a different world explaining errors made by players, be it an Indian or someone as huge as Wayne Ferreira, Jim Courier or Haarhuis and Eltingh.

The sad part for me is not having spoken to Akhtar for a long time before his demise. I have been in touch with his daughter Nilofer and can tell you how much his family is going to miss him. He was an educator and a mentor. He was a family man and a terrific human being. RIP Akhtar Saab, you leave behind a very rich tennis legacy.