Tennis is an expensive sport. It is sadly not as accessible as cricket or football or badminton. You cannot play it in a park with your friends like any normal game. It requires proper equipment: a tennis racket, tennis balls, tennis shoes and a proper and well maintained tennis court. All of these things are very expensive and hard to maintain. That is why it does not produce a large number of elite players in our country. But it does host some famous tournaments that attract crowds, fans and foreign players to play in India.
Some of the most famous tennis tournaments in India are:
1. ATP Chennai Open:
The only ATP event in India, it has been host to a number of tennis players; Stanislas Wawrinka, Carlos Moya, Marcos Baghdatis, Rafael Nadal. It is also, curiously, a men’s tournament only. Started in 1996 in Chennai, it remained there till 2017. In 2017, due to disagreements, the venue of the tournament was shifted to Pune, where the tournament will stay for the near future. One of the things which news dispatches keep repeating is that the tournament is owned by IMG, and the organizer is IMG-Reliance. It was due to disagreements between IMG Reliance & Tamil Nadu Tennis Association, followed by a new deal with Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association, that the venue was shifted. The tournament is also part of the ATP World Tour 250 Series; in simple words, the ATP classifies men’s global tournaments, on the basis of their importance (ranking points and/or prize money). The Grand Slams are at the top, followed by four tiers of tournaments in the ATP World Tour, the last of which is the ATP World Tour 250 Series.
2. ATP Delhi Open:
Started out in 2014, the Delhi Open (or Delhi ATP Challenger) has been held 3 times since its inception; the 2017 edition was not held. There was also a predecessor called the New Delhi Challenger, held from 1999 to 2008. The tournament is part of the ATP Challenger Tour. In the above mentioned importance scale, the ATP Challenger Tour comes right below the ATP World Tour 250 Series.
Recommended Read | Greatest tennis coaches of all time
3. International Premier Tennis League:
The tournament was first held in 2014; like its namesake – the IPL – the International Premier Tennis League had a shorter format, cheerleaders and franchises. An added extra was that the matches were played across countries; the venues included stadiums in India, Japan, Singapore, and Manilla. The franchises were the Indian Aces, Japan Warriors, Manilla Mavericks (played only in 2014 & 2015), UAE Royals & Singapore Slammers.
The star-studded second edition saw Roger Federer & Rafael Nadal go head-to-head in Delhi, a sight for which Indians from all corners of the country flocked to the capital. Former World No. 1 Ana Ivanovic & former World No. 5 Eugenie Bouchard also played in front of Indian audiences. The finances issue has always dogged the tournament, one of which was the question of who was to pay the wages of the players. This culminated in the league organizers announcing there would be no edition of the competition in 2017. There has been no update on the 2018 edition yet, though rumour is that it may be held in just one country instead of continuing the present format. The league’s founder and managing director is Mahesh Bhupathi.
4. Champions Tennis League:
For 2 years (2014 & 2015), the Champions Tennis League – a brainchild of another former Indian great Vijay Amritraj – was also held in India. 6 city based franchises competed in the league, all the cities being from India. After being unable to conduct the league in 2016 and also being unable to pay the annual fee of Rs. 30 lakhs, AITA terminated its contract with Mr. Amritraj; however, the organisers have expressed hope about being back in 2018. Players such as Kevin Anderson, Garbine Muruguza & Jelena Jankovic were among the ones brought to India by this league.
Recommended Read | Roger Federer v Pete Sampras
