Making waves in singles again
SUCCESS Yuki Bhambri is ranked 86th and Ramkumar 115th in men’s singles as they turn the focus back to singles after two decades of doubles rule MUMBAI:
Ramkumar Ramanathan’s run to the final of the Hall of Fame Championship in Newport (USA) has brought into focus the recent resurgence of Indians in men’s singles tennis after a slump, and revived memories of the golden era when players from the country would not only figure in the top-100 but also win singles titles on the ATP World Tour.
En route to the final in Newport, Ramkumar defeated two top-100 players — 86th-ranked Denis Kudla of the United States and the 98-ranked Vasek Pospisil of Canada. He came close to becoming the first Indian to win a singles title on the ATP Tour since Leander Paes won it 20 years ago in 1998. However, Ramkumar lost to World No 48 Steve Johnson of the United States, 5-7, 6-3, 2-6 after putting up a tough fight. It was a great result for the 23-year-old as not many Indians can claim to have played in a ATP finals — the last was Somdev Devvarman who lost to South Africa’s Kevin Anderson in the Johannesburg Open final in 2011.
BREAKTHROUGH YEARS Ramkumar’s runners-up finish in Newport was the best result for India in singles play at the senior level in recent times --- a welcome relief considering the country’s top stars have ruled the doubles circuit with Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi winning multiple doubles titles – in Grand Slams and ATP Tour.
With there being no proper system in the country that could present talented players a path towards the top 100 in the rankings, Indian players have found it difficult to make waves in singles. There have been very few occasions when two Indians have been ranked in the top hundred — Vijay and Ashok Amritraj doing it regularly in the 70s and Jasjit Singh joining them in a top-100 for some time. Sashi Menon and Ramesh Krishnan too joined Vijay for some time in the elite list.
Ramanathan Krishnan achieved the best singles record for Indians, winning 55 titles and rising to No 6 in the unofficial rankings. Vijay Amritraj bagged 16 singles titles and during his prime, was called along with Bjorn Borg and Jimmy Connors as the ABC of tennis. Ramesh Krishnan kept the flag flying, winning eight singles titles and Paes took on the mantle, adding an Olympic bronze (Atlanta 1996) to his lone singles title.
SUCCESS IN DOUBLES
However, the tide turned from 1998-99 onwards with Paes, along with Bhupathi, charting a path in doubles. Though most Indian players from the time of Ramanathan Krishnan dabbled in doubles play, Paes and Bhupathi took it to the next level, winning multiple Grand Slam titles and reaching the top in doubles rankings. Paes has so far won eight doubles and 10 mixed doubles titles while Bhupathi has three doubles and 11 mixed doubles titles.
The focus in the last couple of years has shifted to singles with players like Yuki Bhambri, Ramkumar and Prajnesh Gunneswaran doing well. All three have defeated players in the top-50 with Ramkumar’s upset of Dominic Thiem, ranked eighth at that time, at the Antalya Open in July 2017, the biggest singles win for an Indian male player in the last decade.
India has three singles players in top200 in the latest list — Yuki Bhambri is 86th, Ramkumar at 115 and Gunneswaran at 186, his cause no doubt helped by a stunning win against Denis Shapovalov in the Mercedes Cup last month.
Their resurgence has raised hopes of two Indians making it to the top 100 in singles rankings once again. But can more Indians join them at the top level? The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) introduced the rankings in 1973 and since then these have developed into a benchmark for players. Since then only eight Indian male players have made it to the top 100 in the ATP rankings. Ramanathan Krishnan had a career-high ranking (ATP) of 136 on December 31, 1978 though he was ranked No 6 in unofficial rankings maintained by journalist and tennis historian Lance Tingay: – Best ranking of 16 on July 7, 1980. – Best of 76 on November 6, 1974
– Achieved a top ranking of 89 on June 3, 1974 –Hada career-high ranking of 87 on March 18, 1976
– Reached a career-high ranking of 23 on January 28, 1985
– Had a best ranking of 73 on August 24, 1998
– Achieved a career-high ranking of 62 on July 25, 2011
– His best ranking so far is 83 achieved on April 16, 2018 Three players: Vijay, Anand Amritraj and Jasjit Singh have been ranked in top 100 in the world on a few occasions in 1973 and ‘74.
LATE BLOOMERS
Vijay Amritraj made it to the top 100 when he was 19 and his brother Anand was just touching 21. But the other Indians that have made that grade have done that later in their career. Due to lack of proper system, Indian players usually mature late and get to their peak when they in their late 20s. Many of them have also been halted by injuries as they find the rigours of top level singles circuit too hard to handle, since they usually don’t get trained to take such hardship.
WHY INDIANS STRUGGLE
There are various reasons why Indian players find it difficult to make it to the top 100 in singles:
NO PROPER SYSTEM
Players can earn points and get into ranking list through the various levels of ITF Futures competition, the Challenger circuit and the ATP Tour. Though India has a number of tournaments at the national level and some at the ITF Futures level, there are not enough of Challenger tournaments and there is only one ATP 250 Series event, the Maharashtra Open. Players don’t earn enough points at the ITF level and the only option left for them is to go abroad and play, which is a costly proposition and not everyone can afford that. TENNIS IS LOT HARDER NOW
The sport has sea-change after the 90s — it has become more power oriented, more technical and there are lot more players on the circuit. The first ATP list of August 1973 had a total of 185 players — whereas the one issued this Monday has nearly 2000. The competition is tougher and gaining points is very difficult.
- total number of players ranked in the ATP rankings list
HUGE FINANCIAL BURDEN
Playing tennis is both physically and financial tough nowadays, though it was not that easy in the golden era. As per a rough estimate, a player needs to plough in nearly ͈50 lakh in a season to travel, play enough tournaments and train and prepare for the entire season. There is no guarantee that he would earn even half of it unless he regularly makes it to the final rounds ATP World Tour events, to which he can make it only if he is ranked above 200. It is difficult for anyone to spend so much money annually for the first few years.
͈50 lakh - a rough estimate of money a singles player has to spend annually to travel, play in tournaments and on training
WHAT IS NEEDED? NOT ENOUGH SPONSOR SUPPORT
A player starts earning from commercial endorsements only once he reaches the top 50 and has won some titles. In India, tennis players don’t get enough money from government and private sponsors, though the situation has improved in recent times thanks to schemes like Target Olympic Podium (TOP). But that is not enough.
A proper system of tournaments, more Challenger Series events, good academies to nurture young talent, proper financial backing from government and private parties.