The technical director of the French Tennis Federation, Arnaud di Pasquale has spoken out regarding the lack of success for Indian players in the week of the International Premier Tennis League, an event that takes in many venues in Asia and was started by successful Indian doubles player Mahesh Bhupathi.
Di Pasquale, speaking to IANS, said “What India needs to do is to host several small or middle level ITF tournaments which will generate a large pool of players and improve the quality as well. From there India can take it forward and host bigger tournaments. India had a Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) tournament in Hyderabad too. Unfortunately, it was closed down,”. India currently hosts just one ATP tournament, the Chennai Open, a 250-event that is a precursor to the Australian Open.
India only has one player ranked inside the Top 100, Yuki Bhambri at No. 93, and just five inside the top 300. Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes have both forged long and successful doubles careers, both are doubles grand slam winners.
China, a neighbour that has seen tennis gain much popularity in recent years due to success of high profile tournaments such as the Shanghai Masters, has endured mixed success in improving the depth of their tennis players. On the WTA tour, LI Na won the 2011 French Open and the 2014 Australian Open, the first player from China to win any Grand Slam title. Yet in the current rankings, China has only one player in the Top 100, Saisai Zheng. The ATP is even more devoid of Chinese players. Ze Zhang, Yan Bai, and Di Wu have all benefited from wildcards into their home events, yet not one of them is ranked inside the Top 150.
Di Pasquale may well be right that tennis events in India need to start from the bottom-up. As China’s struggles to produce talent has evidenced, hosting the biggest tier events does not necessarily open many doors for local talent. The only issue with building up is that it could still be a long time before any Indian players have a chance to make their career in tennis. It all starts with initiatives like Bhupathi’s International Premier Tennis League to raise awareness and interest. The next step, though, is an awful lot harder.
