The entry fee for most tennis tournaments is negligible, around 30 to 50 dollars per event. It varies from tournament to tournament and it’s different for professionals and juniors.

When I was 16, I played only one or two tournaments outside India, mostly in SriLanka, Bangladesh, I was still playing a majority of tournaments in India. But obviously, to build rankings, you have to play a lot of tournaments and succeed. Then only you will be able to play the junior grand slam, which is what kids should be aiming for, if they want to play the game at the highest level.

But this is an investment you have to make if you are serious about pursuing the game. Tennis is one sport where you can make good money compared to other sports, if you are in the top 250 rankings. The top athletes in track and field don’t make that much money. To do that we have to address a lot of other problems with the way tennis is played in India, not just money.

The question is what kind of tournaments our kids have access to, how often do they have access to such tournaments, is it once a month, is it 12 times a year or 40 times a year? Whether it’s feasible for our kids to go out and play that many events and can they find a way to manage those costs?

Not just local, but around the state, around the region, around the country. Ideally to become a professional tennis player, younger players (between the age of 12 to 16) must be playing anywhere between 20 to 25 tournaments in a year at a minimum. The bulk of the expenses happen, when you reach 18, 19 or 20, when you start playing international events.

One of the biggest complaints I get to hear from youngsters in India is that despite having the facilities, many of them are unable to access it. I find this quite strange, then who are they building these facilities for?

( Continues)