Not even one Indian tennis player is ranked in the top-300 in the singles ATP chart. Not a single Indian player could make it to the Australian Open qualifiers this year.
In comparison, there are 11 Indian doubles players in top-300 and four in top-100. Another two are knocking on the top-100 door. Yuki Bhambri, the singles prodigy who rose to the number one rank in the world in his junior days and also won a junior Slam, has also switched to the doubles to prolong his career. India is now largely a doubles tennis-players nation.
None of the ones who made an impact post the Leander Paes-Mahesh Bhupathi era like Yuki, Sumit Nagal, Prajnesh, Ramkumar honed their skills within the Indian system. Most of them played in different parts of Europe.
India does not have many ATP tournaments either: Only one ATP 250 and a maximum of three-four Challengers and that too confined to only three States. The other States are still in deep slumber or their officials go on foreign trips with the national team for team competitions.
India's next big hope, 15-year-old Manas Dhamne is also not training in the country. For the last two years, he is honing his skills for the rigours of the very physical tennis world in Italy.
There have been private initiatives in the past to help Indian players and the latest one, the doubles dream, is for doubles exponents only. All this paints a very bleak picture of Indian tennis as far as singles game is concerned and somehow indicates that India should give up the singles Grand Slam dream as of today.
There are several reasons for India to be in such a stage. The most basic issue is that not everyone and anyone can pick up a tennis racquet and start playing tennis. Not even for fun. That is why not many play this game even if they want to. It is restricted to a niche class.
Is it a common sight to see someone playing tennis in States like Odisha, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh or Punjab? The answer is 'no'. But you can see youngsters playing cricket even in mountains or on a lonely barren patch of land.
Tennis equipments are not as accessible as other racquet sports like TT and badminton. Not even for recreational purpose. You can play badminton in the lanes of your colony but not tennis.
Everything related to tennis has a cost involved. Coaching too comes at a price. A decent tennis academy will charge a minimum of Rs 5,000 per month and that too in Group session. Individual training will cost more. At a top tennis academy, the monthly training will cost no less than Rs 25,000.
So, even if one wants to play this sport for recreation purpose, one needs to invest at least Rs 10,000 every month. That is high for an Indian middleclass family.
Tennis is not a mass sport; and unless it becomes one, the availability of talent will remain an issue. The bigger the pool, the better it is. Precisely the reason India keeps churning out world-class cricketers. This is a very basic yet significant part of the problem the Indian tennis is facing.
Then comes major issues: Specialised coaching, requirement of physiotherapists and trainers for recovery, availability of right sports medicine experts and availability of enough tournaments within the country are few to be mentioned. The existing coaches are required to be upgraded too.
To address all these issues, the AITA needs to make lawn tennis a mass sport. Kids in schools and colleges need to be encouraged to take up the sport. The States’ associations need to be held accountable for not organising quality events. Finally, the ex-players need to come forward and be involved in the decision-making process.
