The ball is in others’ court

Sania Mirza breaking into the world top five bracket is a huge inspiration for young Indian women players but the question is: where are the facilities to make their dream come true?

August 01, 2014 08:17 pm | Updated 08:17 pm IST - New Delhi

TRENDSETTER: Sania Mirza Photo: V.V. Subrahmanyam

TRENDSETTER: Sania Mirza Photo: V.V. Subrahmanyam

Lately, tennis has seen a huge transformation in terms of participation of women players. The state and condition under which women play tennis too has improved considerably over the years. Additionally, the media coverage of woman’s tennis is on par now with the men’s category. Having said this, the dream of Indian women making it to the top in the international circuit is still a tough idea to believe for parents though. They still hesitate to invest in a sport-dominated future for their daughters.

After Sania Mirza reached her best world ranking in tennis to become the first ever Indian woman to break into the top five in women’s doubles, a lot of young female tennis players in India were highly inspired by the fact that if a fellow Indian could break into the top league, so could they. After this event, there was no stopping players and their parents from dreaming big.

In my own journey in tennis, I would hear many players boldly stating just after Sania got elevated to top 30 a few years ago that they would do better than her. This can be a huge factor to propel Indian women’s tennis to higher level if only tennis players get the required support from the governing body (Sports Association of India), also sponsorship for training and match play as Sania did during her career. India has a pool of talented female tennis players who do very well at the junior level but fizzle out as they progress towards women’s circuit.

A lot of renowned international coaches who have visited India agree that Indian women’s tennis has a lot of scope if groomed and provided with right training. Our players, according to some, have very strong and technically sound upper body but our lower body and legs do not have the required strength essential to carry us forward in our career. This is the reason why most Indian tennis players, be it a man or woman, do very well at the junior level but fizzle out as they progress towards the senior level. This is not the players’ fault as they make the most out of what training is available to them.

Another reason which is hindering the players’ growth in the sport in India is the commercialisation of tennis in itself. In a capitalist economy such as ours, this has resulted in a steep increase in the fee for training as well as for participation in the game. India doesn’t have the eco/support system which is tennis-friendly. Therefore on the senior level, our system is meant for a player to fail, because we lack the required facilities, trainers and most importantly the environment required for success in the sport. The only option is to train abroad which only a very few can afford to do.

When society reaches a point whereby sports is also used to make only money, it loses its original values. I have also faced this never-ending increase in training fees in the circuit, the coaches seem to be never satisfied. Most no longer teach because of their passion for the sport but because it is now a way of earning more.

Therefore, despite an increase in the number of people joining the sport — and yes many of them are girls, India will be unable to produce greatness in a tennis court unless some necessary measures are taken for the development of the sport in the country.

(The author is a young tennis player.)

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