At 41, Mats Wilander's waistline remains the same it was 23 years ago when he won the French Open to become the youngest Grand Slam champion then.

But if it is his physical fitness that strikes you from a distance, it is the razor sharp brain that dazzles up close. And it doesn't take long to admire the lanky Swede's clarity of thought.

"If I thought bad court with an advantage will suit me, I will put a bad court," said the former world number one with eight Grand Slam crowns on the question of ethics versus home advantage.

"Yes, we have a responsibility to the crowd who come to watch, but we are playing to win the Davis Cup, not for the public."

That ruthless streak might mask the wariness that comes with playing an away game.

Sweden take on India in a qualifier for the Davis Cup World Group at the R K Khanna Stadium in New Delhi [Images], from September 23 to 25. The seven-time champions have a 4-0 record over the hosts, but they have not been able to reproduce the success of their teams of 1990s.

And against Leander Paes [Images] and Co., on a slow, low bouncing grass, it is going to be a tricky tie. Defeat would relegate them to the zonal levels, and Wilander is aware of this danger.

"Once you go to the second division, it is not going to be a walk in the park to get back to the World Group, so definitely we want to win this tie. In a way, this is one of the most important [ties] in the last seven years," Wilander said.

And a lot rides on the success of this team.

Back home, tennis has to fight for its share of popularity with other sports. With Davis Cup being the only tennis event beamed live on television, even during Wimbledon [Images], the fans get to watch only the finals. The financial well-being of the Swedish Tennis Association is directly linked to the success of the team.

So, Wilander and his team would brave the heat -- actually water, since it has been raining heavily for the past four days here, pollution, spicy food and everything else to be successful.

"We all have pollution. It is a worry with the whole world, not just India. But we are here to play tennis. We hope to win and get back to the World Group. We want to spread the word back home that this is a good sport," Wilander said.

"Sweden is a small country, we have lot of good players but we need the Davis Cup ... In Sweden, it is the Davis Cup that is shown on TV.

"And for the unranked player, to have the attention of the whole nation, it feels like playing in a Grand Slam."

Wilander was the first men's player, and the only one before Roger Federer [Images], to win three Grand Slams in a year, which he achieved in 1988.

Wimbledon was not one of them, and his playing career ended without a win at the All England [Images] Club.

Wilander however said that would not affect his performance as captain.

"I am not there to teach the players how to play on grass," he said.

"The coach or the captain has to support the players' idea of how to tackle the situation. Some of what I say they are going to agree, and some not.

"If there is going to be a controversial situation where the coach and the players don't agree on something, we let the player do what they are comfortable with.

"Of course, I would like to take it on me because I am the captain."

Wilander has a 43-18 overall win-loss record in the Davis Cup, third best for a Swedish player -- behind Stefan Edberg [Images] (47-23) and Bjorn Borg (45-11) -- in the Open era.

But it is his defeat to John McEnroe [Images] in a five-set thriller in 1982 that has immortalised him in Cup history.

Lasting six hours and 22 minutes, it remains the longest Cup match ever.

"Hope it doesn't happen here, because then we would have only one match on Friday," Wilander said with a smile, adding that he did not regret his loss.

"It was the deciding match, I was coming from juniors to seniors. Playing McEnroe, I was exposed to all the elements. It was my introduction to top level tennis."

Wilander agreed the game had undergone changes since his heydays but said some fundamentals are constant.

"Guys have become better strikers of the ball. It certainly has a lot to do with the racquets," he pointed out.

"They now start playing early with the big racquets. In our days, we used to start with small wooden racquets and then shift to the metal ones. Once you pick up a swing, it stays.

"It seems hitting is more important. But today's big players are still those who are better movers -- Roger Federer, Lleyton Hewitt [Images], Rafael Nadal [Images], Kim Clijsters [Images]. I think movement is still the key."

The Swedish champion said in his opinion Federer is a better player than Pete Sampras [Images].

"Federer has definitely taken the game forward. You can't the say the same with Pete Sampras. With Pete, if you served well, you had a chance. But not with Federer, given his style of play."

• Complete tennis coverage
• All you want to know about Sania Mirza