Tennis is one of the most popular Sport where players under 50 rankings in Singles and Doubles Category compete against the best in the business to earn substantial amount.
India have certainly seen rich legacy in Tennis when it comes to producing players in singles and doubles domain where singles player including the likes of- Ramnathan Krishnan and Vijay Amritraj dominated Tennis world in 60s and late 70s but things have substantially shifted now where Indian players in Singles category is failing to deliver their best performance in the crunch phase of the game.
What is devastating to witness, recently India organized four ATP tournaments in distinct cities- Pune, Chennai, Delhi and Bengaluru still they have failed to produce quality Singles player and substantially improve their rankings.
Here in this article, we will reveal 10 Reasons behind why India is constantly failing to deliver quality singles players to be shared in the below format:
10. Outdated Coaching Approach:
If you closely observe Coaching methodology and approach adopted by Indian Coaches is certainly outdated.
This thought process was perfectly explained by India’s Top Singles Tennis Player Somdev Devvarman while talking to TOI” The coaches who are part of Indian Tennis Ecosystem are the ones who were working in 90s and they still continue to work now there seems to be no changes in their coaching methodology in this scenario how can we expect Singles players to do wonders, under this outdated coching regime”.
Many Experts have stated “The reason why Countries like China and Japan is doing well in Singles Tennis as they have employed coaches from Europe and they are heavily investing to make sure all these skilled professionals in singles domain learn from the best in the business and substantially increase their rankings”.
Tennis is combination of raw and fast pace sport combined where players are expected to do wonders by showcasing their class, grit and determination to wider extent.
9.Worst Grassroot Programs:
If you look at Worst Grassroot Programs installed in Indian Tennis, it is enough to indicate that why we are struggling in Tennis, as countries like Japan and China have proper Grassroot development programs supported by Private Investors where they can identify talent and provide them all kind of support.
In India if you want to become Tennis player, first of all there is no structured Grassroot program through which they can identify talent at young age, where they can learn skills and participate in tournaments and doing well there they can substantially do wonders for India in the long run.
All these things looks dark reality now considering the funding problems they have already existing in their ecosystem.
The Grassroot development program in India should be backed by Private investors so that they can develop their skills at young age and substantially grow further.
8. Over Reliance on Few Tennis Academies:
If you look at the way, Indian Tennis is operating at the moment the core issue is the basics- which certainly would mean that there is over reliance on Few Tennis Academies including the likes of- Mahesh Bhupathi Tennis Academy, Sania Mirza Tennis Academy & Rohan Bopana Tennis Academy but is it enough for a country which posses more than 1.5 billion population can develop talent.
Also these stalwarts are under the name of Tennis Star where they are hardly receiving funds from government so any academy where you are dwelling income on regular basis is not sustainable at all.
You learn Tennis in academies if the academies are not sustainable financially how do we even expect players to do well in India.
7. Lacking Mental Toughness and Match Temperament:
If you closely observe mental side of game for Tennis Player is not up to the mark where they fail to execute their skills in the crunch phase of the game.
If they are dragging behind points while playing live match, they didn’t understand how they can make comeback in the game.
The Psychological Aspect of the game is the biggest standpoint for any player to do well they need to psychological up their game otherwise they will lack big time to compete against best players in the world.
6. Most Indian Players Training Abroad:
Let me Explain sad state of Affairs in Indian Tennis, where many Singles players – Manas Dhamne, currently ranked 760th in the world trains in Italy.
Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi currently 15 years old trains in Spain and 14 year old Vedant Mohan and 12 year old Srishti Kana are travelling to United States as they have revealed 15th Month Tennis Scholarship.
This sad state of affairs speaks a volume about, what Kind of Indian domestic Tennis Ecosystem we have at the moment, as someone who needs to learn Tennis they need to go outside India.
India certainly doesn’t offer correct coaching standards to flourish as Tennis Player.
5. Talent Negligence in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities:
If you look at Talent Negligence scenarios in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities its worst, the focus is to extract talent from Developed cities instead of Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities where grassroot development programs can be installed where they can compete against each other and prepare for Tennis challenges lying in their front.
Regional Hotspot Tennis Talent lying in the suburbs of Kerala and Maharashtra- are certainly underutilized due to poor scouting and poor performance.
Its all because due to poor infrastructure, lack of coaching and Minimal Visibility issues.
Eventually talent pool through which singles players are emerging is second to none.
4. Illogical Federation Policies:
For any sport to flourish in the country, The Indian Federation belonging to distinct sporting discipline needs to develop a framework where policies should be developed as 360 degree ecosystem where the players belong to these category compete against the best in the business.
Federation responsibility is to organize regular tournaments like ATP events in the country where the players can substantially improve their rankings by playing within country.
The policies implemented by All India Tennis Federation is not up to the mark if things are not taken in hand and improved than Indian tennis will be in doldrums.
3. Lack of Physical Conditioning:
For any player to do well in Tennis Ecosystem- Psychological aspect of the game along with Physical aspect should be taken into consideration.
Tennis as sport runs for long rallies where you need fast speed, reflexes and perfect hand-to-eye coordination where mostly Indian singles players are lacking Physical conditioning so that they can produce in those matches where you need grit, determination and resilience so that they can emerge winners in the marquee events.
Proper Coaches should be installed so that Physical Conditioning aspect should be taught to them where they develop and art of doing well in game physicality.
2. Inconsistent Funding and Financial Support:
If you look at the approach led by Indian Tennis Ecosystem primarily at Grassroot level, there is meager involvement of Private Stakeholders which in itself is the biggest problem for sure.
The other part of this discussion would be in reference to Private Stakeholders as what they will get if they invest big amount heavily for which a special ROI (Return on Investment plan) should be developed so that all these stakeholders can come in huge numbers to support budding players in Tennis.
The Funding approach and methodology needs to be changed otherwise the results would remain the same.
1. Lack of Media and Government Support:
When we witness Tennis under the watchful eyes of World Tennis especially in Media point of view is immense but when the same comes for Indian Point of View, there is immense lack of media exposure the reason being no one wants to cover empty stadiums, losing streaks all they want is to cover the winning scenarios and active fans involvement.
Government Support is another reason is important for any sport to flourish and there should be scheme developed by sport stakeholders where they can implant policies which can directly or indirectly contribute towards the growth of these Indian Sports to massive extent.
Only time will tell, when all these policies will be applied if measures are not taken now trust me Indian Tennis especially in Singles Domain is heading in worst direction for sure.
