Captures Delhi Open title
New Delhi : For Stephane Roberts, the newly- crowned Delhi Open champion, tennis is not the most important thing in life but ‘inner peace’ is. The Frenchman defeated fourth seed Saketh Myneni faded 6-3, 6-0 in the summit clash, which was over in under an hour at the DLTA Complex.
Bowled over by the ‘love and kindness’ displayed by the Indians in his short sojourn here, Robert said he wants to come back to the country, which is different from ‘selfish’ Europe.
“It’s a bit messy out there on streets but there is kindness in people. I saw one guy selling something and one guy arriving and talking to him before buying. There is a link in people. It’s not there in Europe, it’s selfish. I like to see this love for each other,” Robert said sharing his experience of being out on Delhi streets.
“You can feel that. In Europe you have it (love) for family but not for others. It’s the same in Thailand,” he added. His life does not revolve around just tennis courts, rather, experiencing new cultures and meeting new people is what excites Roberts more.
Perhaps he was the only player competing in Delhi Open, who had interest in life outside tennis courts and took time to see Lodhi Garden, Qutub Minar and the Humayun’s Tomb.
“Happy to see all those. It’s an amazing feeling. That is why I like to meet people, see new cultures. I had a great week in Delhi. In Thailand too people were nice,” he said but rued that he could not see Taj Mahal as he chose the wrong day to be in Agra. “They told me it’s Friday and it’s closed.”
But he is determined to come back and see the monument on his next visit to the country.
