#TFGtake: Who cares about glory in doubles tennis? India needs flag bearers in singles

WIMBLEDON, the biggest and arguably the most prestigious tournament in tennis will get underway on Monday. Over the next fortnight, sports fans across the globe will be eagerly tuned into the proceedings at the All England Club, and many countries will be proudly represented at the Championships in the singles event.

While India will have their doubles specialists featuring, the void in the singles draw will once again be felt. Firstly, India’s top singles player Yuki Bhambri withdrew with injury and the inability of Saketh Myneni and Ramkumar Ramanathan to fight past the qualifiers will ensure that our country will once again have no representation in the singles event. Also, it's not to be forgotten that the constant slide down the rankings has further prevented our players from featuring in the upcoming Rio Olympics. 

Post the Vijay Amritraj and Ramesh Krishnan era, India has struggled to produce singles players regularly, playing the top tournaments on the ATP tour.

A few days ago, Champions Tennis League (CTL), director and renowned commentator Amritraj also questioned India's ability to produce quality singles players.

The last Indian player to feature in singles at Wimbledon was Somdev Devvarman in 2011. Over the past two years, only Yuki has managed get into the main draw, albeit losing on both occasions to Andy Murray in round one (Australian Open 2015,16).

Year after year, there is excitement over the participation of our specialists in the doubles event, but the ground reality is that regardless of what the doubles players achieve, it will be unimportant and irrelevant to the growth of the sport in our country. Furthermore, it will keep exposing the shallowness of the sport in India. 

Tennis is, and has always been a singles sport and till the time India turn their focus towards producing singles players, consistently at the Grand Slam level, we won’t find a respectable spot on the tennis map. 

While it is not wrong to glorify the feats of Sania Mirza, Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna in the doubles circuit, it is imperative that our administrative system, along with the media backs and supports the existing singles players that the country has to offer. 

Today, tennis is amongst the top most viewed sport in India after cricket. And, it is no secret that fans across the country passionately, idolize icons Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova. In fact, it would be no overstatement to say that over the years, it has always been the singles players who have enticed fans across the globe to the sport. And, India is no different! 

Yes, tennis is a very expensive sport. Players need money for their travel, food, accommodation and accessories and till they find a sponsor, the demands of the sport can be cruel on most occasions. Therefore, given the current state of singles tennis in India, it is understandable that players make a swift transition from singles to doubles for a lucrative career. While there is nothing wrong in this approach, singles tennis takes a hammering. 

Unfortunately, we Indians have found comfort in the success of the doubles players, for the obvious reason, that singles has never been our domain to excel, owing to which we have also failed to recognize that creating a legacy in the singles event is what will serve the country and the upcoming generation better.  

We also understand that the whole process and journey has to start from the grassroots and that is where the Indian tennis authorities need to step up and recognize the urgency. Over the years, several talented boys and girls have been unable to breakthrough to the top level for a variety of reasons. Letting bygones be bygones, we must look ahead to the future and ensure we as a nation don’t repeat the same mistakes. 

There is some serious talent in the both the boys and girls category. Sumit Nagal, Adil Kalyanpur, Pranjala Yadlapalli and Karman Kaur Thandi have been enjoying their time playing in the Grand Slam junior’s category. The All India Tennis Association (AITA) along with other state associations needs to help these budding players in every way possible. Moreover, encouraging and funding them to stay committed to the singles event will further create a perfect launching pad for many more youngsters in our country to wave the flag at the top of men’s and women’s singles tennis.