To host large occasions or not?: Indian tennis’ everlasting dilemma

Against this backdrop of continued underachievement, India’s premier tennis match, the ATP Maharashtra Open, begins in Pune on Monday. The WTA Chennai Open was additionally launched in August final yr, giving the nation a 250-point occasion on each the skilled excursions.

The significance of internet hosting these occasions, nevertheless, has come into query with just about no native attendance within the later levels of the draw. Most Indians depend on wildcards – given direct entry by the organizers of a tennis match – to compete and often bow out within the early levels.

In the previous, India has proven large curiosity within the ATP occasion, particularly when it was first held in Chennai. Rafael Nadal performed for Chennai in 2004 on the age of 17 and returned twice, starting his historic 2008 season the place he reached the ultimate.

With the tennis calendar extra crowded than ever and look charges for marquee gamers rising, large names have not been coming to India to play for a couple of years. And with out an Indian efficiency, the stands on the Balewadi Tennis Complex weren’t packed for the Pune occasion.

Sundar Iyer, secretary of the Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association (MSLTA), answerable for internet hosting the occasion, insists that its presence on the tennis calendar is crucial, despite the fact that there aren’t any Indians on present.

Leander Paes in motion. (file)

“Branding is important. Without such events, India will fail to become a global tennis destination,” he mentioned. Additionally, by means of the wild card, we’re offering Indians with a chance to play at the next stage that they might not get wherever else.”

As is customary, India’s No. 1 Mukund Sasikumar has been given a wildcard into the primary draw together with Sumit Nagal, the final Indian to function in the primary draw of a Major. Prajnesh Gunneswaran, Ramkumar Ramanathan and Yuki Bhambri are additionally participating within the qualifying.

no native star

Countries comparable to defending Davis Cup champions Canada and Italy have confirmed that internet hosting high-profile tournaments is usually a good technique to develop the game inside the area, by reinvesting large-scale revenues. But with out at the very least one thrilling Indian participant, ticket gross sales, monetization of TV rights, and sponsorships depart little for the MSLTA to have the ability to reinvest the cash into grassroots improvement.

Iyer admitted that with out the highest Indian participant within the occasion it will be tough to make it sustainable. “We need to produce our own heroes like India has in other sports. There is no denying it,” he mentioned.

The course of of manufacturing these heroes lies on the different finish of the argument – ​​that the sources that go into internet hosting ATP and WTA occasions ought to go into internet hosting many lower-level occasions – on the Challenger and ITF ranges.

There isn’t any dearth of expertise in Indian singles tennis, however lack of aggressive alternatives has prevented expertise from being nurtured, says Vishal Uppal, non-playing captain of India’s Billie Jean King Cup group (previously Fed Cup). again residence. He believes that the emphasis on 2-3 budding skills as an alternative of constructing a wider expertise pool might be one of many causes.

“While ATP Tour events attract some people in India, the need of the hour is to focus on hosting more Challenger and ITF tournaments in India. We need our talent pool to play at least 20 international tournaments each for men and women in India,” mentioned Uppal, who runs the Tennis Project Academy in Gurugram, a spot the place he received two ITF $25,000 tournaments this yr. Hosted the match.

The gamers, to their credit score, take the chance. India had seven males’s ITF tournaments, and 4 had been received by Indians, whereas there have been 9 girls’s ITF tournaments with three Indian champions. Several others went deeper into the draw to marginally enhance their rankings for different tournaments on the calendar.

Perhaps highlighting the gulf with the worldwide normal, the 2 Challengers – one stage above the ITF however one rung beneath the ATP – held in Bengaluru, noticed not a single Indian attain the quarterfinals.

street forward

The risks of India’s underachievement in tennis might imply promising junior gamers do not see the form of coaching and improvement wanted to transition easily into the skilled tour and ultimately take them into the primary draw of Grand Slams Is.

When gamers present promise, it appears more likely to get to elite academies abroad, both by means of scholarships or by means of big prices. Four Indians are within the high 100 of the junior ITF rankings, and three of them practice overseas.

Both Shruti Ahlawat and Yuvan Nandal practice on the Impact Tennis Academy in Thailand beneath the steerage of coach Stephen Koon.

Manas Dhamane does a few of his coaching in Italy beneath the tutelage of Riccardo Piatti, who has labored with Novak Djokovic and Maria Sharapova and extra just lately Jannik Sinner. The 15-year-old Dhamane has additionally received a foremost draw wildcard to play in Pune subsequent week.

Committing to coaching overseas, runs the chance of uprooting not solely the financials but in addition the lifetime of a teen. And based on Uppal, the teaching expertise in India is of an excellent normal however wants assist and encouragement by way of cash and amenities.

“There is no need to blindly follow European or American academies,” he insisted. “There are 1000’s of Indian kids who’ve gone overseas for coaching and have misplaced their means. We want to make sure that when our youngsters go overseas for coaching, their coaches are held accountable.”

borrowed from badminton

Unlike tennis, the nation has seen important development in different Olympic sports activities, and particular person athletes are actually bringing residence worldwide medals.

For instance, India’s latest badminton growth may be attributed to Pullela Gopichand and his academy, which opened its doorways in 2008 by entrepreneur Nimmagadda Prasad. Once the academy began producing high gamers – PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal, Kidambi Srikanth, amongst others – numerous company companions received concerned, and the academy is now a world-class facility.

PV Sindhu in motion. (file)

Although no two sports activities may be equated, parallels may be simply drawn between badminton and tennis. These are each standard leisure sports activities in India, each had historic instances of particular person success, and each noticed trailblazing girls main the way in which within the twenty first century. Badminton has overtaken tennis within the nation as a result of emergence of Gopichand’s academy as an ecosystem for honing and constructing a provide chain of expertise.

It could be a mistake to outline an academy merely as infrastructure – a big coaching corridor outfitted with a gentle provide of shuttles and a fitness center, though all of those are vital.

What Gopichand achieved was resulting from way more than simply actual property. It was full profession planning – health and conditioning work, sports activities science, match and journey planning, selecting the best time to maneuver into the seniors, selecting the coaching interval in camps and matching it with match play, damage administration and aim setting To steadiness highest stage. This is along with hours of observe on the observe courtroom beginning at 4 a.m. periods and in-match tactical teaching in large tournaments. He laid all the way in which.

To anticipate an analogous academy for tennis is in fact unrealistic. But as soon as Gopichand’s academy paved the way in which, others throughout the nation adopted swimsuit. World No. 7 Lakshya Sen, for instance, comes from Prakash Padukone’s academy in Bengaluru, who rose to prominence later regardless of coming a number of years earlier than Gopichand.

Private academies must emerge and a well-defined system of participant improvement is required to make top-level tennis coaching extra accessible and tennis goals extra lifelike.

Also, these academies and promising particular person gamers must be sponsored by folks with large pockets. Until then, barring a couple of exceptions, Indian tennis will be unable to come back out of this part of under-achievement, and can proceed to journey on the coat-tails of its seasoned doubles specialists.