He’s
smart, sexy and talented, with a formidable legacy to boot! Meet Prakash
Amritraj.
What
comes first- sports or sex?
Not
all sports, but tennis definitely comes first!
Did
you always know you would be a tennis champ?
You
could actually count it down to the summer of ’93 when I was just
nine-and-a-half. Every summer, I used to accompany my dad to Wimbledon, and
would go into the locker room with him. I found myself sitting right in between
Pete Sampras and Boris Becker! It was then that I thought to myself, this is
what I want to do.
Do
you live in your father’s shadow?
I
don’t really feel overshadowed by him, but then I think that is a great
testament to him - he’s never really made me feel like that. The press has
a good time trying to put me in his shadow, but he’s always made me feel
good about being who I am, so I’ve never really felt that kind of
pressure.
Your
tennis idols?
I’m
not saying it just because he’s my dad, but my father - on and off the
court, and Boris Becker.
Sports
often work as a magnet for women. How do you handle the attention?
Well
yeah, you do get a bit more attention, but then I love talking to girls! I find
them so much easier to talk to than guys. So it opens a door to have more
conversations, which is great.
What
do you look for in a woman?
I
would go for a girl who is optimistic and sort of on the same wavelength as me.
There’s so much bad stuff going on in the world, and I don’t really
like to get bogged down thinking about it. I like to spend each day being happy.
Eternal
male clichés that aren’t true...
‘All
men are chauvinists!’ While there are a bunch of guys who ruin it for the
rest of us, hey, we’re all not like that. Then there’s the
‘All men don’t listen’. Not true at all. We can be good
listeners if you give us a chance.
Are
women more difficult to figure out?
No
question about it. I’m getting better at it but I’m still way off!
Men are pretty simple. I think women play a lot more games - the younger ones
more than the older ones.
Turn-ons...
A
woman’s smile!
Turn-offs...
I
think women harp on about really small and insignificant things that don’t
really matter in the long run. They make mountains out of
molehills.
What’s a man’s job?
For
this generation, it really depends on the relationship. One of my friends (a
sportsperson) told me he wants to get married young, be at home for his kids and
spend as much time with them as possible. So there are no fixed roles - it
depends on the relationship and the two people involved.
And
a woman’s job?
Again,
it depends. But I have to confess I’d like my wife to be with the kids
most of the time. But that again depends on her, on what she’s doing and
what she wants to do.
Commitment
phobia...
With
men, you can’t really generalise. For instance, one of my friends loves
being in a relationship. He cannot stand being single. But then there are some
guys who can’t seem to think of the word relationship. (Incidentally,
those are the guys all the girls seem to want - the ones their mothers warn them
about!) It’s something that happens in stages. First, you just want to be
single and then as you mature, you tend to settle down.
How
would you describe the male ego?
It
can get out of control sometimes! But I think it makes a guy really small if he
has such a big ego that he can’t share some of his so-called
‘power’ with his woman. As for me, I’m sure I have a slight
ego - but then everyone has that sort of ego! I’d just like to believe
that it isn’t out of control.
Marriage
and the man...
Go
less well together than marriage and the woman!
The
man who cooks (and doesn’t make a mess)...
Is
the man who gets a beautiful wife.
Are
you the David Beckham of Indian Tennis?
Not
really! I don’t really consider myself the David Beckham of Indian tennis,
but if it means being considered a sex symbol then sure, I’m fine with
it!
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