In fan Harjyot Singh, Stan Wawrinka finds his man

DUBAI: In a stadium that wasn’t making much noise, one man decided he would. Last week, as Stan Wawrinka battled through his farewell appearance here, Harjyot Singh turned the second-round match into something personal, a tribute, and ultimately, a memory framed for life.Even as the uncertainty over air travel followed the closure of Dubai’s airport, one man could be forgiven for privately sporting a half smile.Every Feb for the last three years, Harjyot and his son Gurshant travel from Delhi to Dubai for their annual pilgrimage to watch the world’s best tennis players. This year, 15-year-old Gurshant had exams, so his father went alone and on Monday, the 45-year-old would return with something special.All of last week, Harjyot, a tennis player and devoted fan, particularly of Stan Wawrinka, Roger Federer and Swiss tennis as a whole, emerged as the loudest voice when the 40-year-old took on Daniil Medvedev in the second round.“Let’s go, Stan, let’s go!” he shouted, even as Wawrinka struggled in what turned out to be his final match at the Dubai Duty Free tennis championships.“I was chanting the whole time,” Harjyot told TOI, “The crowd was not making a lot of noise, not cheering like we cheer in India, so I tried to charge everybody up. This is Stan’s farewell season. This is the last time we will be able to see him in Dubai.”After the 74-minute contest, Harjyot, a garments distributor, hollered to the three-time Major winner. “Can you please give me your racket?” he asked. “It’s for my son, he’s a tennis player, he wants to play ITFs.” Perhaps Wawrinka recognised the voice. Moments later the Yonex VCORE stick was in Harjyot’s hands. “This is the best gift I can give my son,” he gushed.Fans were offering to buy it from him. The bid climbed to $5,000. “It is absolutely priceless,” Harjyot said.