From the turn of the millennium, big-ticket tennis in India during the first week of the year has been a near constant.
But for the Covid-related cancellation in 2021 and the shifting of the dates to early February in 2020 and 2022, either Chennai (18 times) or Pune (five) has ushered in the season ahead of the Australian Open.
The year 2024, however, is the first without the annual dose of top-level tennis in India, with the country’s lone ATP 250 event now replaced by the Bank of China Hong Kong Tennis Open.
The five-year contract the organisers of the Tata Open Maharashtra in Pune had inked with owners IMG and RISE Worldwide ended with the 2023 edition. A significantly bigger financial outlay as a pre-condition for renewal proved the undoing.
Tennis legend Vijay Amritraj, also the president of the Tamil Nadu Tennis Association (TNTA), felt that India’s absence from tennis’ global map will take the sheen out of the sport in the country.
“We need a crown jewel,” the 70-year-old told The Hindu. “Not just one in my opinion. We should be able to do two or three and make it like an Indian swing. Chennai has been the home of tennis. There is Kolkata, Maharashtra and a lot of other places who can do it.”
Crucial role
Though the presence of an ATP 250 event in India hasn’t helped improve the standards of men’s singles tennis — Somdev Devvarman remains the last Indian to have reached a singles Tour-level final at home (2009) — doubles star and World No.3 Rohan Bopanna felt that such tournaments can provide a fillip to many a budding career.
In fact, Bopanna’s first Tour-level final came in Chennai in 2006 alongside Prakash Amritraj, and he has won three of his 24 Tour titles in India, all of them with Indian partners (2017: Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan, 2019: Divij Sharan, 2022: Ramkumar Ramanathan).
“It had a significant role in my journey as a tennis player,” Bopanna said. “I qualified for singles twice there, and making the final with Prakash was a great feeling. And the Indians who won with me benefitted from it.
“When it was in Chennai, people from Coorg could even drive down. For your families and friends to watch you play at the highest level was great. You don’t get that often. We should have kept the tournament.“
The flux
The loss comes at a time when there is a significant churn in tennis. In a calendar that is already bursting at the seams, cash-rich Saudi Arabia, which is hosting the annual Next Gen ATP Finals until 2027, is…
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