Players miffed with AITA, call for cultural shift, comprehensive plan | Tennis News
That piece of statistic is abysmal by itself but hold it up against India being the only Asian nation to have made a Davis Cup final, not once, but thrice (1966, 74 and 87) and it’s discomfiting.
This week, Sahaja Yamalapalli cracked the top-300 at No. 298 on the WTA list. She’s the India No.1.
Outside of Nagal, there’s little to inspire hope in singles on the ATP Tour. India has enjoyed success in doubles this year with Rohan Bopanna rising to No.1 in the individual doubles ranking, and with ten Indians logged in the top-150 things are looking good in the two-man act. But doubles is not the power index of the sport. That’s precisely why an Indian side, sans the 27-year-old Nagal, failed to win so much as a set against Sweden in the Davis Cup World Group 1 tie over the weekend in Stockholm.
Playing the singles for the hosts was Elias Ymer ranked 238 and Leo Borg 603. For the visitors it was Ramkumar Ramanathan, ranked 334 in singles and 144 in doubles, and Sriram Balaji, unranked in singles, and No 65 in doubles, playing singles and doubles.
It was not the result so much but some of the choices made by non-playing captain Rohit Rajpal that sent shock waves through the fraternity. Playing 34-year-old Balaji, a doubles specialist, in a live singles rubber when 18-year-old Aryan Shah, the most improved of the Indian players in that bracket, was on the bench. Shah may not even have got the purchase Balaji managed in the match, but it would’ve counted as investment. Experience is real.
Siddharth Vishwakarma, who replaced Balaji for the reverse rubber, turns 30 in a couple of weeks and is ranked just 46 slots higher than the teenager.
The player community is not amused. They are all over social media and podcasts, exercising their vocal chords, taking on the All India Tennis Association.
The timing is particularly sweet given that one of the most poorly performing associations in Indian sport has elections and the AGM scheduled for Sept 28. A 56-member Electoral College will decide on the posts of president, secretary and treasurer while also filling in the Executive Committee for a four-year term.
Nagal, recovering from a back injury, joined Somdev Devvarman and Purav Raja on their podcast. The trio spoke on a range of issues from the anaemic levels of trust between players and officials to coaches dozing off during Davis Cup ties when players are on court and the dismal state of the National Tennis Centre in New Delhi. If it weren’t real, it would make for good comedy.
Over the weekend Bopanna called for a ‘cultural shift in the sport’, former pro Vishnu Vardhan followed up with a ‘comprehensive plan’ on X (formerly Twitter).
Is AITA listening?
When asked to comment on AITA’s dismal track record the IOA and the sports ministry preferred silence.
Does anyone care?
Still should the rumbles from the player community come together in a united voice, it will be hard to muzzle.
AITA will look to divide and rule as it has always done, offer a section of the players sops. It’s up to the players to stand up not just for themselves, but for the generations to come.
Using words is a good beginning, but they will need to do more. Be the change they wish to see. Perhaps.
