TNTA has high hopes for tennis in the city
Chennai : TNTA, which is celebrating its centenary this year, is expecting to make Chennai a hub for the sport
There is something about the Chennai Open ATP Challenger tournament. Even though it is a Challenger 100 competition, there is a certain degree of competition and there is some romance around the one of most loved sports in the city.
Right from the Krishnans (senior and junior), the Amritraj brothers, Leander Paes, Somdev Devvarman, the city has a different kind of aura when it comes to the sport. Like always, tennis brings joy.
It is a platform to launch one’s career as well. This year is special, too. The Tamil Nadu Tennis Association (TNTA) is celebrating its centenary year.
In the last ATP Challenger here, Sumit Nagal, India’s top player, won the event and went on to crack into the top hundred in world ranking, eventually reaching a career-high ranking of 68 later in the year.
TNTA, once again, hosted the Chennai Open with the professionalism they are known for. But they are yearning for bigger events as well. A top TNTA official said its chief Vijay Amritraj is working with the Tamil Nadu government to bring the ATP 250 event back to the city.
One of the positives this season was the run of Indian duo Ramkumar Ramanathan and Saketh Myneni. They finished runners-up in the doubles after losing to Japan’s Shintaro Mochizuki and Kaito Uesugi.
Players from 14 countries participated. With a sprinkling of young talent, the draw was pretty tough. The top seed was Billy Harris of Great Britain, who ranked 127 in the world and is now among the top 8 in Great Britain.
He was followed at No 2 by Lloyd Harris of the Republic of South Africa ranked 135. The others were Duje Ajdukovic (CRO-138), Shintaro Mochizuki (JPN-169), Sho Shimabukuro (JPN-191), Timofey Skatov (KAZ-194), Alexis Galarneau (CAN-198), Khumoyun Sultanov (UZB - 216), and Aslan Karatsev (222). Frenchman Kyrian Jacquet put his experience to good use — to beat Sweden’s Elias Ymer and bag the singles title.
“The tournament went about smoothly manner and all the players from the world were happy. Since the Tamil Nadu Tennis Association has been organising the Davis Cup and the ATP events for several decades now, we have the experience to conduct professionally,” said Hiten Joshi, CEO of TNTA.
So this year, too, tennis aficionados were expecting an Indian would win the singles event. “We would have been happy had an Indian won. But that is the beauty of the tour. In tennis, you never know who will beat you on a given day.
The tour is very tough. One needs patience and a ‘never say die’ attitude to play constantly and improve the skill sets. Tennis is an individual sport and very tough one, not that easy as some may think,” opined Hiten Joshi who is also a noted coach, who once used to travel with Ramkumar.
Still some followers of the game question whether these tournaments benefit the Indian players. “It is up to the players to make use of the opportunity. Our (TNTA’s) duty is to provide a platform for players to showcase their skills on a big stage. These tournaments will certainly inspire players.
On our part, the TNTA has an ambitious Player Development programme called The Next Level. We provide financial and technical support to top Tamil Nadu juniors to enable them to play to their potential and achieve tennis excellence. Rethin Pranav, a 17-year-old boy from Karur, has been part of the programme.
He became the National Men’s Singles Champion and was one of two Indians to participate in the Australian Open Junior Singles in 2025,” said Joshi. Rethin missed the event due to injury.
Every year since 1996, barring the COVID years, a major international event is conducted at the SDAT Tennis Stadium. Over the last three decades, the eventual winners as well as a host of Indian players who participated in the Chennai event, have gone on to perform exceptionally well during the year, achieving their respective career milestones for the first time ever.
Leander reached the finals in the Challenger event in 1996. Later, Leander and Mahesh Bhupathi won the first-ever ATP 250 doubles title in 1997. Rohan, Somdev, and Ramkumar, too, played exceptionally in the ATP 250 events in Chennai.
