BENGALURU: Apart from a few sparks here and there, Indian tennis hasn’t had much success when it comes to men’s singles in recent times. In fact, the last Indian to break into the top-50 of the ATP rankings was back in 1985 when Ramesh Krishnan achieved the feat. Since then, only Somdev Devvarman (No 62) is one to have come closest. In recent times, only Prajnesh Gunneswaran (75) and Yuki Bhambri (83) have been able to break into the top 100.
At the ongoing Bengaluru Open, none of the 11 players who managed to get into main draw qualified for the last eight stage.
So, what is the problem? The common answer from all the players including juniors and seniors are funding and lack of a system in place. For a player like Niki Poonacha, who mostly plays on the World Tennis Tour, it costs approximately Rs 40-50 lakh a year.
With that level of expenses, even breaking even is hard. For a senior player like Gunneswaran, who is a regular on the Challenger Tour, the amount doubles to Rs 80 lakh to Rs 1 crore a year. It includes training, coaches and travelling to play for 20-25 weeks. The problem is that players bear 90-100 per cent of the cost and that becomes unsustainable.
“We don’t have a system in place to nurture players. So, expecting them to consistently do well and reach the top 20 or so is futile,” said Gunneswaran.
“If you are the best in the country, you get some support but otherwise, it’s zero. Getting to the level where you could be India’s best is where you need the support most and we don’t have that. A lot of potentials are lost due to financial constraints.”
Apart from the Asian Games and Olympics, hardly anyone receives funding. At present, only two doubles players — Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan — are part of the Target Olympic Podium Scheme.
“There have been talks about funding since the time I started. I haven’t seen anything change in that direction,” said Saketh Myneni.
“It’s on the individual to do well and keep fighting.” The next problem is the lack of ATP and ITF tournaments in the country. In the current calendar year, India has only one ATP 250 tournament apart from one Challenger event.
The International Tennis Federation’s decision to restructure the lowest level of the game has meant many of the upcoming players have to travel abroad to play in World Tennis Tour events — it was previously known as Futures. If it’s not happening in the country, players need to look abroad and that increases the financial burden. In addition, all upcoming players need access to good coaching — something India doesn’t have in abundance.
Paes-Ebden in final
Meanwhile, Leander Paes continued his good run at the Bengaluru Open, which could potentially be his last tournament in India before calling it quits. In the semifinals, Paes, partnering Australian Matthew Ebden beat second-seeded pair of Jonathan Erlich of Israel and Andrei Vasilevski of Belarus 6-4, 3-6, 10-7.
Results: Singles (quarterfinals): Julian Ocleppo (ITA) bt Ilya Ivashka (BLR) 7-6 (4), 6-7 (3), 6-4; James Duckworth (AUS) bt Thomas Fabbiano (ITA) 6-7 (5), 6-0, 6-2; Stefano Travaglia (ITA) bt Blaz Rola (SLO) 6-4, 4-6, 6-2; Benjamin Bonzi (FRA) bt Yuichi Sugita (JPN) 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-4. Doubles (semifinals): Matthew Ebden (AUS)/Leander Paes (IND) bt Jonathan Erlich (ISR)/Andrei Vasilevski (BLR) 6-4, 3-6, 10-7. 4-Purav Raja (IND)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) bt Saketh Myneni (IND) / Matt Reid (AUS) 7-5 ret.