India's tennis stars hope for more Challenger events in the country
Indian tennis player Yuki Bhambri
India’s top tennis players are heaving a welcome sigh of relief after the country played host to three back-to-back ATP Challenger events in the country. The players have hailed the efforts of the All India Tennis Association (AITA) in holding the events and hope that such tournaments are held in the country on a regular basis as it would help them accumulate ranking points and move up the ATP rankings ladder.
The ONGC-GAIL Delhi Open, a $100,000 event, got underway today after challenger tournaments in Chennai and Kolkata over the past two weeks.
India has been hosting a number of ITF futures tournaments but the Indian players, most of whom are ranked outside 150 in the world, miss out on taking part in them.
The Delhi Open has a fairly strong field with two players inside the top 100 and six more inside the top 160.
The AITA has paved the way for four Indian players to take part in the tournament by handing them wild cards into the singles main draw as their low ranking meant that they could not have made the main draw directly.
The AITA has awarded singles wild cards to Sanam Singh, Saketh Myneni, Ramkumar Ramanathan and Karunuday Singh.
“After 2008, we are playing (back-to-back) Challengers in India, so it’s nice for all of us. Every single Indian player is committed to play all three. First week, we saw eight players in main draw and four of them made the quarterfinals. Yuki won singles and doubles,” India’s top singles player Somdev Devvarman said.
“Last week, Sanam and Saketh won the doubles. It’s not just the Indian presence but we are trying to do well which does not happen that often abroad. It’s a good step forward,” he added.
India’s rising star Yuki Bhambri (who won the Chennai leg) and Sanam Singh said they need such events on a regular basis.
“It’s so good to see a USD 100,000 in Delhi itself. I would love to play here more and hope this is not just one-off (thing) and (we are) not having Challengers in the next five years. Hopefully, it happens every year,” Yuki said.
Added Sanam, “It’s a great opportunity. Both and Yuki and Somdev are in top-150 but there are six or seven guys who are in 250 and 500, so even for them to have some bigger tournaments here is awesome. Even if they have to go through qualifiers, someone makes a run to the quarters, will make some jump in the rankings. This is great for players.”