I felt proud as an Indian when India thumped Kiwis 4-1 in the Davis Cup Asia/Oceana clash but tennis laurels for our country are reserved in doubles encounters and Davis Cup ties which is a real pity. Most top players of the world don’t really participate in doubles at Grand Slams which is the reason why Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupatti and Sania Mirza have excelled at Grand Slams in doubles. An Indian winning a Grand Slam singles title remains an distant dream.
Tennis is a costly and neglected sport in our country and Paes and their tribe have excelled inspite of no help from the government. We as a nation need to pump in funds to encourage tennis on our shores by hiring the likes of Borris Becker and other tennis greats to our tennis academy for producing champions. Corporates too should chip in with their bits so that we have a Grand Slam singles Champion in future. India possesses the talent but the encouragement and incentives are missing. Modi government too should earmark substantial budget for sport so that we as a nation can feel proud whenever we hear the national anthem at international sporting extravaganzas!
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
