Tata Open Maharashtra: Former Indian tennis players plead for more ATP 250 events after poor show by singles specialists in Pune Open – An ATP World Tour event at home is the best opportunity the Indian singles players could have, to earn points, move up the ranking ladderapart from filling their pockets with decent prize money to survive on the Pro circuit.
However, the heavy investment which is no less than Rs 15 crore each year, has not been utilised by the current generation of India players as none of them has managed to cross even the second round in four editions of the Tata Open Maharashtra.
The lanky and fit Ramkumar Ramanathan has made the second round twice (2018, 2019) while Prajnesh Gunneswaran (2020) and Yuki Bhambri (2018) cleared the first round once each.
Out-of-action Sumit Nagal, Arjun Kadhe and Sasi Kumar Mukund could not even win one round.
Tata Open Maharashtra: Former Indian tennis players plead for more ATP 250 events after poor show by singles specialists in Pune Open
When the tournament was in Chennai before it moved to Pune after 20 years, Somdev Devvarman’s inspirational run to the final in the 2009 edition remains the best performance by an Indian singles player.
And if at all, India’s current singles players, save Yuki, are getting to compete at this level is because of wild cards being offered to them.
On the contrary, the country’s doubles players have won the home event multiple times. Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan won the trophy in 2019 while the former also won it in 2017 in Chennai with Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan. And there were deeper runs by the doubles players even if they fell short of the title clash.
At the ongoing edition in Pune, except Yuki, no one has advanced to the second round with Ramkumar, Prajnesh and Kadhe making first-round exits.
Disappointment has definitely crept in and the relevance of the tournament for India is being discussed at many levels. It is being thought about if India needs a big-ticket event like an ATP 250 since hosting multiple Challengers with the same money could be of more help to the players.
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Tata Open Maharashtra: Former Indian tennis players plead for more ATP 250 events after poor show by singles specialists in Pune Open
Despite the frustration, the organisers won’t back off and will continue to keep the tournament on the calendar.Even the former players feel that India does need a tournament like this even if the singles players don’t do well.
“Sure we do,” legendary Mahesh Bhupathi told PTI when asked if India needs such an event. “Yuki made more points and money, and confidence this week than he would in two rounds of a Challenger. Winning at the highest level be it singles or doubles instils a lot of confidence.
“And the points and money help too so the Indian boys get this opportunity once a year and I think it’s great to have it,” Bhupathi said further. It is true. Yuki earned USD 9,235 (approximately Rs 7 lakh) and 20 points for his second round appearance. While at the nex
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