NEW DELHI: India’s headline-makers at Wimbledon have been cricketers Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Deepak Chahar and Ravi Shastri and not the tennis players. Instead of the action on the tennis court, India’s attention has thus been on those occupying the seats at the prestigious Grand Slam.Sumit Nagal lost in the first round of singles qualifying; Yuki Bhambri went the furthest in doubles with a third round foray. Rohan Bopanna bowed out in the first round while N Sriram Balaji and Rithvik Bollipalli only did one better. In mixed doubles, Bhambri suffered a second round exit as well.That has largely been the sorry tale of Indian tennis at major tournaments. Ever since Nagal’s momentous win against Alexander Bublik at the 2024 Australian Open, Indian tennis has had little to celebrate. That, too, was an anomaly.It has now been 10 years since India had something to celebrate at Wimbledon. And there were multiple reasons then. Sania Mirza and Leander Paes won women’s and mixed doubles, respectively, with Martina Hingis. Nagal triumphed in the boys doubles with Vietnam’s Ly Hoang Nam.
In the ensuing 10 years, only three Indians have reached the main draw of Wimbledon singles – Bhambri in 2018, Prajnesh Gunneswaran in 2019 and Nagal in 2024. All three suffered first round losses.“We used to always be the best country in Asia by a long shot, especially in Davis Cup. And today, we are not,” said two-time Wimbledon quarterfinalist Vijay Amritraj on Media Day on JioStar.“Number two is, we do not have any players in top 100. Number three is, till you get a bunch of players in the top 100 and 50s like Italy has done, you’re not going to be able to compete in the World Group of Davis Cup or be a challenger to any of the tournaments. As a matter of fact, we haven’t had anyone actually performing well at the Championships or at the US Open for quite some time.“It’s always about the singles. We’ve always asked the question about (Carlos) Alcaraz, (Jannik) Sinner, (Daniil) Medvedev, (Andrey) Rublev, (Novak) Djokovic, (Aryna) Sablenka. Everything is about the singles. There’s never any question about anything else.“You start the game to play and win a Grand Slam eventually, if you’re good enough, and you work hard enough, and you’re talented enough to be able to exploit your talents and exploit your potential to be able to get there with a work ethic that transcends everything else. And that is the only success in tennis,” he added.Amritraj, now a commentator, stressed on the importance of building their way through the juniors citing examples of Andy Murray, Djokovic, Alcaraz and Sinner.“I posted a picture on Instagram a few days ago, where last Friday was the 40th anniversary of my beating Yannick Noah on the Centre Court at Wimbledon, when he had won the French Championships, a year before we played.“And that was the last time there was an Indian playing singles at Wimbledon on the Centre Court. So I think we have to revamp all of that to see how we can get to having a whole bunch of guys: 5, 6, 8, 10 players eventually get into the top 100,” added Amritraj who reached a career-high 18th in the world.In April, World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka had spoken of the grind in some of the East European countries with some of the top players including Elena Rybakina, Marketa Vondrousova and earlier 18-time Grand Slam champion Martina Navratilova. In the same vein, why don’t the Indian players come through?The 71-year-old conceded there is little the national association – All India Tennis Association (AITA) – can do in such cases.“There is very little associations can do, to be honest. I mean, if you look at a variety of countries, it is a very individualistic access in sport to be able to work like there’s no tomorrow, wherever you’re doing that work.
“And there are two very important aspects here. If you work 110% constantly and protect your body, then there is a 100% chance that you will make it. If you do not work 110%, then there’s absolutely zero chance of making it.“And when I say making it, I’m talking about trying to make it to the top 100 or the top 50. I’m not talking about potentially eventually winning it either. I’m talking about actually being one of the best in the world to be able to have a very strong competitive edge in tournaments.“Maybe not even winning a Grand Slam, but certainly competing at the highest level. That’s the most important thing. Today, we are constantly trying to get to the qualifying. That is the biggest concern. And this was not the case 30-40 years ago. That’s my whole point,” he finished.
