Can tennis break through in India?
- Thread starter Russeljones
- Start date
tipsa...don'tlikehim!
Talk Tennis Guru
Is Yuki Bhambri a future top 50 player?
stringertom
Bionic Poster
Only if sureshs returns to his roots.
tipsa...don'tlikehim!
Talk Tennis Guru
Devvarman has not reached his full potential yet.
MatsPhilander
Legend
Great Khali could be the next Karlovic.
tipsa...don'tlikehim!
Talk Tennis Guru
heninfan99
Talk Tennis Guru
Rampras was their best shot the rest seem to be doubles specialists...on the mens side at least. Not sure how many play in India but in the US many, many Indians play. My friend from Bombay played squash over there and uses the squash grip in tennis. He is fantastic at net, even in no-mans-land he can volley with ease.
Last edited:
MatsPhilander
Legend
Not many I would think. Cricket is the sport everybody wants to watch & play there.
Sentinel
Bionic Poster
A big no.
Short reason: cricket.
Other reasons:
Parents (and kids) are interested in a good education, ivy league college, etc, prestigious occupation, settling in a first world country etc.
Parents may not be keen on sending their kid off to a tennis academy. I think i know the kid Rohan they are talking of (12 years old, playing at national level). He used to play in the court next to me a few years back. He had just started way back then. I was told that Mahesh Bhupathi's academy had asked him to come over to B'lore or Madras, and his parents declined.
The level of coaching this kid was getting was pathetic. These coaches were young kids themselves (20 years or so) whose only aim was to make money off rich parents (esp during the summer holidays) and, boy, were they milking the parents while teaching next to nothing.
The ticket sales at the ITPL were IMO a one-off thing. Futures and Challengers (in Delhi) are attended only by tennis players and their families. One should not expect people to shell out that sort of money on a regular basis for tennis.
India can do well in non-physical sports such as chess, golf, snooker, billiards, archery (and cricket, lol).
Edit: i forgot to mention that at the ITPL, they roped in big film stars and even cricket players, and that they will not be able to do so regularly.
I think the photos of the kids playing looks familiar. Looks a lot like the courts near my previous house.
Short reason: cricket.
Other reasons:
Parents (and kids) are interested in a good education, ivy league college, etc, prestigious occupation, settling in a first world country etc.
Parents may not be keen on sending their kid off to a tennis academy. I think i know the kid Rohan they are talking of (12 years old, playing at national level). He used to play in the court next to me a few years back. He had just started way back then. I was told that Mahesh Bhupathi's academy had asked him to come over to B'lore or Madras, and his parents declined.
The level of coaching this kid was getting was pathetic. These coaches were young kids themselves (20 years or so) whose only aim was to make money off rich parents (esp during the summer holidays) and, boy, were they milking the parents while teaching next to nothing.
The ticket sales at the ITPL were IMO a one-off thing. Futures and Challengers (in Delhi) are attended only by tennis players and their families. One should not expect people to shell out that sort of money on a regular basis for tennis.
India can do well in non-physical sports such as chess, golf, snooker, billiards, archery (and cricket, lol).
Edit: i forgot to mention that at the ITPL, they roped in big film stars and even cricket players, and that they will not be able to do so regularly.
I think the photos of the kids playing looks familiar. Looks a lot like the courts near my previous house.
Last edited:
Sentinel
Bionic Poster
I doubt the physical traits are there, esp as the sport becomes more physical today.
MatsPhilander
Legend
Well it hasn't produced much in the Snooker world-Pankaj looked solid but has decided to go back to Billiards & Aditya Mehta also looks good but way out of his depth against the big boys at the moment.
You sure about Cricket being non physical?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIPS8vlNjD4
Tennis is taking off in India. Lots of academies now and people with disposable income. It is a matter of numbers. Even if a small percentage of kids take it up, it is a huge number compared to other countries. And from this pool, a champion will emerge. Tennis is not a physically-demanding sport in the sense of requiring special physical abilities. It has a huge skills component to it. A 6 feet tall guy or a 5'9" woman has more than what it takes to get into the top 100. Heck tennis is not even a fine motor control sport like golf which requires much more precision. I see the women breaking through first, like Sania (and Saina in badminton), followed by the men.
Have you seen the young guys entering Bollywood today? They are hunks.
This is Karan Grover Singh who acted in Alone:
movdqa
Talk Tennis Guru
China has shown that you can often get at least one that can play at a high level out of a billion people.
I have an Indian co-worker with two six-foot tall sons. He's well under five feet tall. His wife is fairly short too. There's also interracial marriage (a lot of that in my area) to mix up the gene pool.
MatsPhilander
Legend
Yeah sadly spending all week in the gym, taking steroids & carrying around that kind of bulk doesn't help you in most sports. Shoaib had lots of muscle & a ludicrous run-up & was blown up easily & always getting injured or refusing to bowl in matches after a few overs.
There is a reason that Tennis is dominated by fit guys like Novak & not by guys like Verdasco. Nadal has dropped a lot of muscle in recent years to improve endurance & save stress on his body.
There is a reason that Tennis is dominated by fit guys like Novak & not by guys like Verdasco. Nadal has dropped a lot of muscle in recent years to improve endurance & save stress on his body.
stringertom
Bionic Poster
Return to your roots...become the Santa Claus of the subcontinent with a bagful of Gamma Razrs and toss them to the youth of India with a copy of your YouTube clip. Teach them the "conscious movement of the right shoulder" and 150mph+ serves will become commonplace, as will the delicate and nimble footwork so apparent in your videos. The greats of the past...Armitraj and Krishnan and the present, Paes and Mirza will be replaced in the Pantheon of Indian tennis by the noble sureshs.
stringertom
Bionic Poster
You have disappointed me...I saw you were the last poster and expected "The GIF" as part of the package!
movdqa
Talk Tennis Guru
Sentinel
Bionic Poster
I am not sure you can compare China's and India's system. From what i hear/read, socialist/communist countries not only scout out talented kids at a young age, but force them to continue in that field, and maybe even force them to take drugs.
Sentinel
Bionic Poster
How many of these kids are going to make it as pros?
The Amritraj kids could not make it, and have (from what i know) moved to business.
You are familiar with the case of Somdev who "lacks weapons". That's what you will likely get from these chaps. I also wont expect them to be great movers on the court.
Sentinel
Bionic Poster
I am a bit cynical here. From what i saw a few years back, the rich parents who bring their kids to these academies are only doing it as a sort of passing phase during their kids summer break. I used to play with some kids who quit the moment they got into college.
I think Sania may have started a bit of a tennis rage about eight to ten years back with the kids.
These parents want their children to become doctors/engineers or "settle abroad" or join their business. At least that was my experience in Delhi about eight years back.
Maybe its more serious in Chennai where the better academies are. I sure hope tennis picks up here at the professional level.
Starbuckingham
Banned
It already broke through. An Indian player has beaten Peak McEnroe, has beaten Connors 5 times and was ranked 16th in the world.
tipsa...don'tlikehim!
Talk Tennis Guru
Rumours say his forehand is a solid shot, is that true?
tipsa...don'tlikehim!
Talk Tennis Guru
Vijay Amritraj, I guess he is the best Indian player ever.
stringertom
Bionic Poster
It is the Forehand Of Evolution. All future great players will model their stroke after the sureshian sublimity!
MatsPhilander
Legend
Look at the little master-he's hit that one just like a tracer bullet.
chrischris
G.O.A.T.
He was an awesome grass Court player. very very fluid and had great touch..
some nice volleys against Bjorn Borg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDFd4q3CycU
Ramesh Krishnan that came along bit later was of a similar mould .. Superb on his day.
Last edited:
tipsa...don'tlikehim!
Talk Tennis Guru
He was an awesome grass Court player. very very fluid and had great touch..
some nice volleys against Bjorn Borg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDFd4q3CycU
Ramesh Krishnan that came along bit later was of a similar mould .. Superb on his day.
Nice video
tipsa...don'tlikehim!
Talk Tennis Guru
Do you have a video?
movdqa
Talk Tennis Guru
Is that what happened with Michael Chang? Or Li Na? Or Jeremy Lin? Or Yao Min? There are a lot of successful Indian parents in my part of the country though they push academics and art a lot harder than sports. Some of those kids are drawn to sports anyways.
He definitely did not Arm the ball
There were the 3 brothers, but before that was Ramanathan Krishnan, Premjit Lal and Joydeep Mukherjee, known as the 3 musketeers. After them was Ramesh Krishnan and Zeeshan Ali. Then came Paes and Bhupathi, and Bopanna, followed by Sania and the Bhambri sisters, Somdev, and now a Bhambri brother. There is also Ramanathan and other players who are coming up the ranks who are seen playing in Asian tournaments.
Among the new juniors playing at my club, there has been an exponential rise of children of Indian parents. One of the guys who used to play with me has become a coach and is popular with these kids. Another "American" coach at the club told me most of his newer students are Indian and he is trying to learn their names because he has never heard those before. Maybe it is time to adapt like the Chinese-Americans and everybody becomes a Matt or Tiffany?
They may be in business, but Prakash is still playing where he can and Stephen is a high-performance coach for the USTA.
chrischris
G.O.A.T.
Nice video
Yeah huh ? they played well on grass in the past despite the clumsy Wood racket and the small head area of the steel racket Amritraj used.
Borg was only 18 here and Vijay only 20 .. ...
In terms of Open Era results, yes (I think 15th in the world in singles). But Ramanathan Krishnan was ranked #3 unofficially before the Open Era and lost in the semifinals of Wimbledon to Rod Laver.
maggmaster
Hall of Fame
I have played with some excellent products of the Indian junior development academies and we have some great juniors of Indian descent coming through now. I don't know if it will "break through" I don't even know if it has done that in the US but they are surely producing some good players.
stringertom
Bionic Poster
Sentinel
Bionic Poster
Maybe he has moved back to tennis. My source was some wiki entry a couple years back, when we last discussed this is some thread.
But still ... hardly breaking through. He must be in late 20's or even 30 by now ???
Sentinel
Bionic Poster
iirc, Paes almost did go into politics or movies. He had some offers (at least that is what was reported in a thread here).
Thankfully, better sense prevailed
heninfan99
Talk Tennis Guru
Is Matt fluent in Mandarin or Cantonese? I always go by if a person can speak the language of their forebears rather than their name to see if they are truly connected to their parents' background.
I really like some Indian names. Sateesh for one.
I really like some Indian names. Sateesh for one.
tipsa...don'tlikehim!
Talk Tennis Guru
nice, cheers!
movdqa
Talk Tennis Guru
My son speaks, hears, reads and writes Mandarin fairly well. He had about 9 years of Chinese language school training. There are a bunch of Chinese language schools in the suburbs of Boston and I imagine that you have these kinds of schools around major Chinese population centers.
I've talked about this with a few Indian co-workers and there's apparently nothing similar for Indians in the US.
Similar threads
