Ranjona Banerji Column: Dealing with tennis withdrawal

Of all the things that the end of the year means to all of us to the diehard tennis fan it means being bereft and lonely for a month and a half Now you might argue and very aptly and correctly too that that is the stupidest complaint yoursquove ever heard After all the end of the year in India can mean a little bit of lsquocoolrsquo into our hot lives a welcome respite from eternal summer in some places and freezing cold in othersIn the hours between Sunday night and Monday morning the tennis world more or less came to a standstill Novak Djokovic defeated Roger Federer at the ATP World Tour Finals but whether you celebrated or mourned most of us mourned right you also felt a slight sense of loss PicAFPFor those so inclined this time of year means parties and holidays and weddings and celebrating Christmas and welcoming in 2016 In my case it also means my birthday approaches though you may well ask what there is to celebrate about 53But all that is meaningless In the hours between Sunday night and Monday morning the tennis world more or less came to a standstill Novak Djokovic defeated Roger Federer at the ATP World Tour Finals but whether you celebrated or mourned most of us mourned right you also felt a slight sense of lossYes there is the final Davis Cup tie of the year coming up between Britain and Belgium this weekend but thatrsquos like a tiny tennis teaser just to turn the screw a little more The women had their yearending finals just before the menWe all know that tennis players are human and deserve a bit of rest We all know that they fought for a slightly longer holiday so that they could rest and relax before they got back to the grind And what a grind it is mdash nonstop travel and nonstop play But while we sympathise we have been spoilt Therersquos no other way to look at it Because there is play through the year you can go to a television sports channel through the day through the week and find someone playing somewhere The Internet covers up all deficiencies that TV offers Wersquore used to tennis all the timeOn Twitter you I say you but I mean we discuss latest results and forecasts and share pictures You fight over your favourite players you bemoan the bad taste of everyone who is not a Federer fan and you are easily moved to anger by mild censure of your favourites I have seen parents take criticism of their children with more equanimity than some random uncomplimentary remark about a tennis playerIt is an entire global universe of our own that we tennis fans inhabit Our body clocks have to keep to world timings In India the first adjustment is made for Australia and then you move to America both North and South to Europe back to America to Asia and back to Europe We know when different countries shift to daylight savings timings sooner than the people who live there doThere are inevitably WhatsApp and social media groups that share tennis information Late night furtive conversations and messaging as any indulgent spouse soon learns have little to do with an lsquoaffairrsquo and everything to do with when the match is about to begin and lsquodid you see that superb smashrsquoThere are other sports you will say and so they are But almost none of them play through the year all the while Even a cricket Test match mdash surely an extremely long format of a long format game mdash lasts a maximum of only five daysA Grand Slam tournament lasts two weeks Even the shortest tennis tournament lasts a week Itrsquos a commitment like no otherOddly we fly under the radar You wonrsquot see sports channels in India deliberating on the hopes and dreams of the tennis fan filled with fake TV emotion and soulstirring songs All that hoopla is for cricket and football and hockey We donrsquot need all that see Wersquove made the commitment Wersquore there for the long haul night and day Usually of course there is no proper idea of night and day when you have to go to work or have a lifeSo all you wonderful tennis players out there have a lovely funfilled break And remember while the rest of the sensible world is nursing a hangover on the morning of January 1 2016 wersquoll be tracking timings for Chennai Brisbane Auckland andRanjona Banerji is a senior journalist You can follow her on Twitter ranjona