Rohan Bopanna joins the fitness business, launches Cardio Tennis in Bengaluru

Professional tennis player Rohan Bopanna is donning the entrepreneur hat these days. The coffee addict from Coorg first launched his own artisan coffee brand a few months ago. Now Bopanna has hopped onto the business of fitness. He has launched India’s first sports-inspired fitness form called Cardio Tennis (CT) in Bengaluru.

The high-energy fitness regime combines the features of the game of tennis with cardiovascular exercise, curated for a group over music. Currently, CT is one of the top fun fitness trends circuiting US, UK and Australia.

Bopanna chose Bengaluru to launch this first-of-its-kind fitness experience. “Bengaluru ranks higher than other Indian metros on health-consciousness. It is a mature market that is ready for a new fitness form like Cardio Tennis,” said Bopanna, who achieved his career high in 2013 when he was ranked World Number 3 in doubles.

On selecting CT as his new venture, Bopanna added, “With CT, we hope to bring both tennis and fitness to people. It will encourage people to get out and play.”

Harsha Thimmaiah, director of CT (India), said, “A session of CT runs for about 50 minutes where participants can expect to burn 500-600 calories on an average. One also need not be a tennis player to join this workout.”

Bopanna’s venture is the only licensed version of CT available in the country. Classes are being organised at Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association in Cubbon Park under the guidance of a US-certified CT trainer. Each class costs Rs 400. Plan is to soon launch CT at other sports arenas in the city and take it pan-India in the next eight months.