India needs a supportive tennis ecosystem, provide exposure to produce a Carols

People ask me when India will be able to produce a player in the league of Carlos Alcraz Garfia. (Carlos is a Spanish professional tennis player ranked world number 16 by the Association of Tennis Professionals. He achieved this earlier this month.)

Carlos is not an overnight success.  He is a product of the tennis infrastructure, which Spain has built over the years. Before we
think about producing a player of such a calibre, we have to look internally and get our house in order first. If we are serious about tennis, then we have to set ourselves a realistic long term goal. This is not something that we are going to achieve in the next five years or so.

Five years is way too short for that. First we have to put in a proper system. That system has to develop players at a young age, so that by the time they reach 19, 20 they start taking the right step.

India needs to build a tennis infrastructure wherein aspirants can dedicate their time and energy for the sport, even if they have to miss college. And once we have eight to 10 players breaking into the top 300, we can think about taking things to the next level.

As of now, most of the players who come out of India like Sumit Nagal (the sixth Indian player to win a junior Grand Slam title) and Yuki Bhambri (winner of the 2009 Australian Open Junior Championship) do well because of their own individual efforts.

We must follow strategies adopted by countries like Serbia, Slovakia, Russia or even China when it comes to developing the sport. These countries provide a lot of exposure to their youngsters in playing the game at a competitive level. The tennis federations of these countries have been very supportive and give the players everything they need to find optimal success. Unfortunately, India is very far from that.

So even before we can dream of Carlos, there are many things we have to put in place to get there.

(Concludes)