We need to host more international tournaments to produce quality tennis players: Vishal Uppal

Gurgaon: Former Davis Cupper and Asian Games bronze medallist Vishal Uppal feels the need of hour for India is to host more international tennis tournaments to produce top-100 players from the country.

"If we look at other countries, they host 45-50 international tournaments a year to support their players. We do what, 10-12 maybe? So, the players are asking, where's the support? Why do we not have enough opportunities in this country," Uppal told PTI at his academy here on Friday.

"Again, please understand, the majority of players currently pursuing professional tennis are not from wealthy families. They lack the means to travel for 25-30 tournaments abroad. Now, unless we bring those opportunities to a wider pool of players, how will we help the raw talent to emerge? The people with the means don't have the hunger and the people with the hunger don't have the means," he lamented.


Also Read: Serena Williams loses in opening round at Wimbledon in her 1st singles match in nearly 4 years

He urged former players to help in bringing more international tournaments to India.

"What is stopping all the former players from getting together. If somebody hosts two international tournaments in their city, someone else does two in theirs, you can do 10 or 15 tournaments like that. So you just take AITA's help to get those tournaments sanctioned, then you do it. I've hosted 10 women's world ranking events at this venue where we're sitting," Uppal said.

"We need a lot of support. We all need to come together. We all need to sit together, brainstorm, and figure out how we can act collectively as a community to grow the sport in this country."

Uppal said talent identification and corporate support are must to grow the sport in the country.

Also Read: Wimbledon 2026: Japan's Naomi Osaka aces it in a kimono

"We've got to identify better talent for tennis. Tennis is a game of speed. Somdev (Devvarman) got to top 75 in the world. Speed was his biggest factor. If you look at Leander (Paes), incredible speed. So, we need to identify talent. We need to educate the people of this country on how they can support tennis as a sport.

"Everybody wants to blame either the federation or the government for lack of support. Why can't more corporates come together and support Indian tennis? It is an Olympic sport. It's a sport that has traditionally done well for India," he said.

He said the domestic circuit must be revamped.

"We have to revamp our domestic circuit. We have to look at giving more players opportunities where they can earn a livelihood while playing in India and then use that money to go abroad to play international competitions.

"Majority of our juniors fall by the wayside after junior tennis because they lack the money to play professional tennis. Unless we show the people of the country that playing tennis is a viable profession for your child, we will not attract the best talent. To succeed on the international stage, we need to attract better talent," he noted.

Uppal pointed out that the situation in men's and women's tennis in India is not bleak.

"Last year there were five women ranked in the top 500 of the world. Never happened in women's tennis in India. Is that not an achievement? Again, everybody wants to live in a penthouse but nobody wants to build 25 floors before you reach the penthouse.

"How do we get players into Grand Slams? That must be our focus. Our focus right now cannot be, why do we not have a Grand Slam champion? I would rather focus on getting people to Grand Slams right now, than sit on the sidelines and say, we don't have a Grand Slam champion," he said.

He also emphasised on the need to give more importance to Indian tennis coaches.

"We have an obsession toward foreign coaches, and the funny part is, nobody criticises them, but everybody criticises Indian coaches. We need to start giving more respect and support to Indian coaches," Uppal said.