‘Doubles can’t be the easy way out for Indian tennis,’ says Gaurav Natekar

The
result
overshadows
the
fact
that
not
one
Indian
player
made
it
to
the
singles
qualifiers
draw
of
the
Grand
Slam
event
while
men’s
tennis
ended
with
not
one
player
inside
the
top
300
of
the
ATP
ranking
(Prajnesh
Gunneswaran
is
highest
ranked
Indian
at
World
No.
339).

Sania
Mirza-Rohan
Bopanna
enters
Australian
Open
mixed
doubles
final

As
far
as
women’s
tennis
is
concerned,
Ankita
Raina
(World
No.
258)
and
Karman
Kaur
Thandi
(270)
are
the
two
Indian
names
inside
the
top
400
while
Sania
prepares
to
bid
adieu
to
competitive
tennis.

This
reflects
poorly
on
All
India
Tennis
Association
(AITA),
who
got
to
be
asked
why
India
failed
to
create
a
pool
of
talent
when
names
like
Leander
Paes,
Mahesh
Bhupathi,
and
Sania
Mirza
became
iconic
names
in
the
nation.

“This
was
always
going
to
happen
(Indian
tennis
downfall),”
said
Gaurav
Natekar,
1993
Davis
Cup
semifinalist
and
1996
Arjuna
awardee.
“Most
tennis
federations
in
India
are
not
up
to
the
mark
as
far
as
the
latest
techniques
are
concerned.

“AITA
had
an
opportunity
with
Leander
and
Mahesh
were
at
the
top,
there
was
a
huge
opportunity
when
Sania
transcended
the
sports
pages
to
make
tennis
popular.
I
think
somewhere,
AITA
has
missed
the
bus
and
that’s
why
we
are
not
seeing
any
Indian
in
the
qualifier
of
a
Grand
Slam
now.”

Sumit
Nagal
remains
the
best
bet
if
he
remains
injury
free

There
is
some
hope
in
Sumit
Nagal,
who
shot
to
the
limelight
at
just
22
by
taking
a
set
off
Roger
Federer
on
his
Grand
Slam
debut
back
in
the
2019
US
Open.
Now
25,
Nagal
is
trying
to
make
a
comeback
after
prolonged
injuries
as
his
ranking
dropped
to
World
No.
503
currently.

Apart
from
him,
Prajnesh
seemed
to
have
primed
in
his
career
at
33
while
the
likes
of
Ramkumar
Ramanathan
(aged
28),
and
Mukund
Sasikumar
(26)
have
their
peak
tennis
yet
to
come
as
Indian
players
often
carry
the
reputation
of
playing
their
best
singles
tennis
when
they
near
the
30s.

Among
youngsters,
names
like
Karan
Singh,
Mann
Maulik
Shah,
and
Manas
Dhamne
are
seen
as
the
future
prospect
of
Indian
tennis.

Among
women’s
names,
Raina
(30)
and
Thandi
(24)
have
failed
to
reach
the
heights
of
Sania
yet.
The
likes
of
Zeel
Desai,
Jennifer
Luikham,
Mahak
Jain,
and
Humera
Sheikh
are
a
few
of
the
prospects
that
excite
Indian
tennis
fans.

However,
the
very
fact
that
none
of
them
are
iconic
names
in
their
early
20s
while
Sania
was
already
among
the
top
30
before
she
turns
20,
itself
says
a
lot.

That’s
not
going
to
impact
India’s
success
in
the
doubles
category,
felt
50-year-old
Natekar,
who
fears
that
players
may
start
taking
the
easy
way
out,
especially
after
Yuki
Bhambri
decided
to
take
retirement
from
singles
owing
to
injuries.

“India
as
a
nation
will
always
do
good
in
doubles
and
mixed
doubles,
simply
because
we
have
to
cover
half
the
court;
we
have
great
hand-eye
coordination,
we
have
a
great
feel
for
the
ball
and
better
understanding
of
doubles,”
said
Natekar
before
the
beginning
of
the
Australian
Open
2023.

“My
only
concern
is
that
people
will
start
quitting
singles
pretty
early
because
it’s
the
easy
way
out
to
play
the
doubles
and
we
only
have
players
who
are
playing
doubles,”
said
Natekar.