India belongs in the World Group but to do that consistently the focus should be on getting singles players in the top 100 and top 50, believes Vijay Amritraj.
The Indian tennis legend, present at the draw for India’s Davis Cup tie against Togo over the weekend, insisted that having enough top-ranked players in the country was the only way out of the constant struggle to stay in the top tier of team tennis.
“We have one guy in the top 100, who’s not here. At the end of the day, to get into the World Group, which is where we belong, we should really focus on the four singles and how do we get into the top 100 or top 50. That should be the only focus for us, nothing else,” Amritraj said.
India’s highest-ranked player for the tie is Sasikumar Mukund, currently ranked 365th in the world. Sumit Nagal, only the 10th Indian to break into the top-100 with a career-high of 68, has been unavailable for India duty since 2023 and Amritraj admitted blaming the system was not an excuse any more.
“The commitment has to come from the players. You see kids working so hard, whether it’s in tech or arts or films or whatever, to just go up one rung in the ladder.
“In our sport, because it’s a high-risk adventure, if you don’t make up your own mind in two-four years and kind of let it go, play some doubles, decide to get a good payout for a year – there’s nothing wrong with it but the thought process doesn’t give us any single players,” he declared.
He also said that the onus was equally on the ATP and the WTA top brass to ensure equal representation to all parts of the world.
Lot of work
“The ATP and WTA have a lot of work to do in our part of the world, no questions about that. We don’t have one Tour event tournament in India, how is that possible?
“After FIFA, we’re the 2nd most global sport in the world, non-seasonal. So why can’t we have a tournament here?… The goal should be to get in the top-50 or 20. That’s it”.
Published – February 01, 2025 10:21 am IST
