BENGALURU: Indian tennis players have a special connection with East Asian countries, including China, Japan and others. Their success at the ATP Challenger circuit in the region makes one sit up and take notice. Here are some numbers to paint a clear picture; Yuki Bhambri has won five Challengers, and all of them have come in India and East Asia. Similarly, Prajnesh Gunneswaran has clinched two, one in India and the other in China. Divij Sharan’s tally of 16 wins comprises nine in India and East Asia alone.
However, strict Covid-19 restrictions and the situation in the region acted as a bummer with ATP withdrawing the then scheduled events. One look at the last five years throws up some interesting stats and the decline of tournaments in East Asia have hit Indians hard. In 2017, out of the 155 Challengers, 24 were in East Asia, 2018 (159, 22) and 2019 (158, 21).
The scenes changed considerably with the coronavirus outbreak two years ago. In 2020, there were two events in Thailand while it came down to zero last year. In contrast, Challengers were a part of the calendar in many European nations and America.
“European countries don’t have these restrictions. China is shut off… Thailand shut down. You do not see the UK, Italy having such lockdowns. Look at how countries have also reacted — that is also one of the main concerns as you cannot travel. Four massive countries in the Asian region are shut. I don’t think sport is a preference there. It is more how to save lives — everybody has had a different approach and for Asia that is the approach,” said Yuki, who will partner Sharan in the men’s doubles at the Bengaluru Open.
As a result, Indian players were forced to look at the competition in other tennis continents. But travelling to a different region, away from your comfort zone, has its own set of challenges, including the finances involved. Lack of competition for such players means their earnings and rankings take some hit as well. The playing conditions also comes into the picture with the majority of the Indians preferring hard surface over clay.
And just when one thought the situation would get better, the new variant — Omicron — has come as a serious blow. Prajnesh wants normalcy to return and play in Asia. “The last two years have been tough. I have been trying to see more openings in Asia, but unfortunately due to Omicron, once again, we have had a setback and maybe lost another three to four months. Hopefully, this is the last wave and we can go back to normalcy. But we have accepted that this is the way things are as of now and play wherever events are and make the most of it,” said Prajnesh. But the ongoing Bengaluru Open and the recently concluded Tata Open Maharashtra acts as a bright light during a difficult period.
Saketh knocked out
Saketh Myneni suffered a first-round exit with the player going down 6-1, 6-1 to Italy’s Gian Marco Moroni on Monday.