Can India produce a Grand Slam Champion within ten years?

[sameerph]

Recently there has been some cxontroversy on this mission 2018 by Applo tyres with AITA questioning thier commitment -

AITA won’t back off, neither will Apollo

[jayakris]

AITA is looking really bad in this. How can they say that a private party should advertise and how much money they should spend?

Heck, if AITA cannot get a private party interested in giving them this kind of money to run academies, it is really their fault. They did hardly anything to earn anybody's respect when they got a ton of Hinduja money in the DHAITA program once.

It looks pretty childish to cry "mommy" when Apollo trust "trusts" Mahesh to do it right.

A ridiculous situation. Having said that, I am still somewhat on the fence about how well the Apollo program will work. I guess I will remain so, till some results start showing, but naturally it is going to take time. The record of private groups also is pretty poor in India.

Jay

[prasen9]

I do not like it that AITA is preventing some kids from moving to the Apollo group. The kids should be free to make their decision. Nobody owns them. The rest of the fight, I don't care about.

[x_y_Z_a]

This behaviour of AITA is nothing new. They even carry the grudge gainst the non-AITA players during selection of various teams.
This behviour will make other corporates to think before putting money in Tennis.

[eastind]

Has anyone seen AITA Ranking rules for 2009? From taking the best 6 results from tournaments now they have jumped to best 16 results from 2009 onwards.
This rule is absolutely ridiculous. To get 6 good results and be in the top 20 in your age group you should be playing about 12-14 tournaments a year. Now taking 16 best results you should be playing about 25-30 tournaments. Just imagine the amount of touring needed, the wear and tear on young bodies and minds and the finance needed,you must be touring the whole year without rest to be in the top 20.
After an away tournament you need to rest and rectify the mistakes and then play the next tournament but this rule will give no time for the children to do that, they will be shuttling from one tournament to another and this will result in burnout.
Not to mention the kids schooling, that will suffer too. Does AITA want uneducated zombies playing tournaments? How will this help India produce a grand slam champion .

[suresh]

Eastind: You make an interesting point. I wonder if someone like Sunil Yajaman can explain the logic behind this change.

[Yajaman]

If there is a rule like that, i would be surprised, maybe AITA have their logic. My personal opinion for ranking purposes, anything more than 6 tournaments would not be healthy for the players.

[suresh]

Thanks Sunil for your comments. Maybe if tennis parents like eastind and coaches like Sunil write/talk to AITA, they may revert back to the old system.

Suresh

[eastind]

Here is the link

As it is I have seen a lot of young kids right from U 12 age keep touring the whole time and playing tournaments instead of honing their skills.
They keep expecting a lucky draw where they can pick up some easy points and go up in the ranking table but as far as their tennis skills is concerned it is quite dismal.
This new AITA rule will encourage more such players and this is not going to improve Indian tennis in any way as far as I can see.
We will see more player burnouts in the near future if AITA persists with this absurd rule.
My child plays about 14 tournaments a year with only 4-5 away tournaments but this will not be enough from 2009 onwards.

[eastind]

Well now AITA seems to be doing a rethink about taking 16 best results for ranking purpose and have reverted back to the old system of considering 6 best results for the time being.
When even ITF takes the best 6 results I do not know the reason for AITA to take such unnecessary steps.
Hope they make up their minds at the earliest.

[suresh]

This is good news.

Suresh

[Atithee]

Some sensible talk from an ex-great on what ails Indian tennis:
India in doldrums seeking next singles saviour

Also, the usual drivel from and about Sania here:
Wimbledon-Cricket-loving Mirza glad to be back