Pune: The Indian tennis players are a jittery lot these days as the number of tournaments – both Challengers and Futures – has fallen to alarming levels, making their life tougher on an already demanding circuit.
In the 2015 season, India had hosted 19 men’s ITF Futures and 16 women’s ITF events but this year the men have got only six tournaments so far while the ongoing USD 10,000 event in Pune is only the third tournament of the season for women. India hosted four ATP Challengers in 2015, but this season only two have been conducted – Delhi Open and Pune Challenger – in eight months.
“It (home tournaments) played a major role financially. Without any sponsor and coming from a middle class family it was difficult for me. Playing leagues in Germany in the summer helped me a bit as I used it (the money) for travelling,” said N Sriram Balaji.
Newly-crowned national champion Vishnu Vardhan said Tuesday that over the years the country has seen an increase in number of tournaments but the reduction this year has made the job tough.
“To improve my ranking I had to travel to Egypt, Astana, Uzbekistan, Zimbabwe and Thailand this year and I still couldn’t have a full schedule of tournaments this year. It proved a very expensive proposition for me,” informed Vardhan.
Vijay Sundar Prashanth also lamented the ‘bad situation’. “It makes it tougher for Indians to go up the rankings. I am sure state associations and the national body has enough money to conduct tournaments.”
The women players are worried too. The country’s No.1 singles player Ankita Raina said the situation is bad not only in India but all over the world.
“In India the prize money has come down by almost 40 per cent but if you take into consideration the Asian Tennis Tournament (ATT) prize money then it has come down by 25-30 per cent,” stated Ankita.
The ATT has two events in India — USD 5,000 and USD 7,000 – and in both, they have a separate 2,000 dollars allowance for the players, to be distributed equally to all 16 main draw participants.
While playing on the ATT, if a player loses even in the first rounds in the two $ 5,000 events, he/she earns a minimum of USD 650 while a first round loser in a $10,000 ITF Futures gets only USD 146. The title winner the ITF Futures gets $1,224 while the winner at an ATT event gets $2,050.
AITA is equally worried but refuse to be labeled helpless. “The reduction in tournaments is happening worldwide. I understand the players’ concerns. Even the officials are feeling the pinch. There are not enough tournaments. We are trying to work out a long-term solution,” said AITA secretary general Hironmoy Chatterjee.
Press Trust of India
