EVERY sport needs heroes to grow and get popular among masses. When India’s tennis diva Sania Mirza was at her peak, women’s tennis in India was at its best ... the nation had got a hero to look up to. Many young girls took to the racquet sport then but somehow India did not get another Sania. In her twenty years of professional tennis, the Hyderabadi won six Grand Slam titles (three each in women’s and mixed doubles). She became the first Indian woman to reach the World No 1 ranking in doubles. Since her retirement in 2023, there is a big vacuum left in women’s tennis in the country. But things are changing for the better, if we believe current India Number 2 Vaishnavi Adkar, who is all set to become numero uno once the ITF15 underway at Ramnagar courts in the city gets over. “I think it’s definitely getting better if you compare the last, I mean, like how it was four-five years back to now. We have a lot of girls doing well. A lot of them are in the top 500, 600. So, I think it’s definitely getting better also infrastructure-wise. Even the sponsors are recognising the sport better now. It’s definitely at a better place now. The sport is on the upper side now, going up,” asserted Vaishnavi on the status of women’s tennis in India while interacting with ‘The Hitavada’ on Thursday afternoon.

 

The Pune girl, who hones her skills at Rohan Bopanna Tennis Academy (RBTA) in Bengaluru, is of the opinion that players need support from the grassroot level and not when they achieve something. “I think in our country one of the biggest issues is the players don’t get attention unless they do something big at the higher level. Whereas, I think it’s very important to support them from the grassroots level. Tennis is a very expensive sport and to have that support, to have that infrastructure and the facilities from the grassroots levels, it’s very important for the players to be able to do well at the higher level. It’s like a very long journey ... players need the support from the very beginning itself,” said Vaishnavi after moving into the quarter-finals of the singles event. Taking the sport to small centres create more awareness, feels Vaishnavi. “A city like Nagpur where I think tennis is not that big yet, getting players here from all over the world, like we have a lot of foreigners here this week, is a good thing. It is really helpful to helping other people recognise the sport more and create more awareness about how good this sport really is.

 

I think it’s a really wonderful thing that they’re (MSLTA and NDHTA) doing here,” she said complimenting the hosts. From a wildcard entrant to a finalist at the ITF Women’s Open W100 Bengaluru held in February has been the most cherished moment for the 21-year-old player. “I had wildcard in the main draw and I played the final ... so that was a big moment. I moved up like 250 spots in the ranking and it helped me. And then, I also got selected into the Fed Cup team because of that tournament,” said Vaishnavi with a ring in her tone. Vaishnavi wants the budding players to enjoy the process. “The most important thing is to keep enjoying the process because as I said, tennis is a very long journey and then there’ll be more losses than wins. You need to have the support of your parents and just everyone around you. It’s very important to be with good people. The biggest thing would be to not put a lot of pressure on the kids (by parents and players alike). At the end of the day it is something you’re doing it because you love it, not because someone else is telling you to do it. So it’s very important to keep enjoying,” Vaishnavi signed off.