‘ATP not ensuring level-playing field for Asians’

At 34, Davis Cupper J. Vishnuvardhan believes he still has it in him to make it big in doubles and not surprisingly is training hard with another Hyderabadi and Davis Cupper Saketh Myneni.

The 6’2” tennis player says that the ATP’s fresh guidelines to deduct ranking points from August 9 even if someone has played in any tournament or not in the last one year is not fair.

“This will deny us a huge advantage over players from Europe and the US. Definitely, the ATP is not ensuring a level-playing field for the Asian players and neglecting their interests,” he said in a chat with The Hindu.

Own example

The Asian Games silver medallist in mixed doubles with Sania Mirza cited his own example.

“For instance, I was ranked World No. 180 in doubles before the pandemic broke.

“And not having played any tournaments since then I am now ranked No. 260,” said Vishnu, who regularly trains with Myneni.

“The Asian players will be the worst-hit as neither were there any major events for close to two years now in Asia after the pandemic broke out nor is anything scheduled in the near future, while players from Europe and the USA are already playing in tournaments,” Vishnu said.

“Unfortunately, this move has also resulted in quite a few promising players, who on the verge of making a mark at international level, quitting the sport,” Vishnu said.

“And, it has become too expensive for many of us to even play in Europe or the US. Unless a player has sponsorship to take care of his tour plans, it is almost impossible to play there to improve the rankings,” he said.

“Fortunately, I am grateful to my employer ONGC for extending complete support. Yet I find it difficult to plan any tournament schedule because of the costs,” he said.

“To compound to the misery, we are not paid the cash incentives by the government which were due to us, like after winning the SAF Games gold (he and Saketh Myneni were winners). We can’t run around forever begging for these benefits,” he said.