Tennis was introduced to India by the British as a pastime. Now, the country has become a “hub” for producing generations of world-class players and anchoring top international games.
After Maharashtra and Haryana, Chennai (Tamil Nadu) has contributed to this glory for a century now. To celebrate this milestone, on Tuesday evening, as the Tamil Nadu Tennis Association (TNTA) stepped into its centenary year, the air inside the hall of ITC Grand Chola was thick with memory, pride, promise, new programmes, and unexplored passages.
In 1926, Madras United Club, South Indian Athletic Association, and Madras Cricket Club together formed the Madras Provincial Lawn Tennis Association, which was renamed TNTA. Four years later, former player Ramanathan Krishnan’s father, TK Ramanathan, made a generous donation. “Those days, practice sessions happened in the daylight, and we couldn’t practice once the natural light faded out because there was no provision to set up tube lights at these courts. It was my father who gave up his land, and we lived in a rented apartment, with a tennis court with tube lights,” says Ramanathan Krishnan.
Then, in 1946, came the first stadium in the city, the Egmore Tennis Stadium. With efforts by the then corporation commissioner of Madras, JPL Shenoy, the Egmore playground was converted into a stadium with three tennis courts and concrete galleries that could seat around a thousand people.
Another milestone in the tennis history from the state was Ramanathan playing the Davis Cup in 1962, inspiring many youngsters and players, including Vijay Amritraj, a retired tennis player and commentator, who reached the tournament’s finals in 1974 and 1987.
At the event, Vijay, the president of the association, addressed the audience with words that resonate with both history and hope. “There’s a long history of tennis in the state...Each of the administrators who have come in has tried to increase and conduct more tournaments...we arguably run the most number of tournaments in any state in the country,” he says of the growth of the sports in the districts.
The centenary evening opened with a specially curated video chronicling TNTA’s journey — from its early tournaments like the Water Memorial and South India Championships to the international spotlight of the ATP and WTA events. The montage was a reminder that the city’s well-kept fields were the start of what has become one of India’s most reliable and trustworthy tennis ecosystems. This was followed by the launch of a coffee table book, ‘A Century of Championing Tennis in Tamil Nadu’. The evening drew to a close with a fashion show featuring players of the Chennai Open.
TNTA’s legacy cannot be summed up in a commemorative evening. From the days of the iconic Davis Cup runs to the return of international tournaments on home soil, TNTA has been built on a strong community of past players paving way for the upcoming ones. Former tennis player, Somdev Devvarman, says, “There are many people who’ve contributed, and a lot of the former players have remained in the system. The community has been incredibly active for a very long time. An active community and an active federation are generally a good combination.”
Somdev, who grew up on Chennai’s courts, describes the city as the cradle of Indian tennis. “There’s a lot of history and heritage, and I’ve lived it. There’s a reason that the best players in India have always come out of Chennai.” Despite not having played with the association, he shares how the federation helped him. After watching late night matches at the Gold Flake Open (renamed as Tata Open in 2002 and again as Chennai open in 2005), conducted by TNTA, he practiced what he saw. “It was just plenty of learning right in front of our eyes,” he says.
The association also shaped former national champion and member of the national selection committee, Sai Jayalakshmy Jayaram’s game. She recalls, “TNTA brought a huge improvement in my game...I won the junior nationals in 1995. That was definitely a big change, a step up in my game, that set the stage for the future.”
For the next generation, the association’s centenary isn’t just a marker of the past, but a signpost for the future. “It’s quite amazing that one association has been working tirelessly for improving tennis in the state as well as helping out grassroot-level players to come up from nothing,” she says, adding that TNTA’s programme called ‘Next Level’ helps the juniors in the state, with travel and training expenses besides coaching.
The way ahead is most important. Vijay says they aim to “give them (local talent) more opportunities, create more tournaments, and create a better environment for them to play.” The focus now lies as much on coaching and mentorship as on competitions.
Vijay reflects, “The competition is an inherent part of any sport, and therefore, it is the conduct of tournaments that brings people together, and gives the exposure to the player, the sponsor, the organiser, to excel, and provide enjoyment and thrill to the spectator.”
Even after a hundred years, Tamil Nadu’s tryst with tennis continues to stay rooted in the same passion.
