‘When Sania Mirza retires, there will be a big void’ for India in Grand Slams: Jeevan Nedunchenzhiyan, Gaurav Natekar

With the US Open having begun on August 22, tennis fans in India have flocked to their television sets and streaming devices to catch all the action at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York. To make it easier and more available for fans in India, the Grand Slam event is also being broadcasted and streamed in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu regional languages, which began from the quarter-final matches of the men’s and women’s singles events. Other than Rafael Nadal’s early exit, Sania Mirza’s absence has been a huge highlight in the US Open. The Indian superstar had to pull out due to a forearm and elbow injury.

With the 35-year-old expected to retire after this season, Indian tennis player Jeevan Nedunchenzhiyan explained how there will be a big void in India’s representation at Grand Slam events. “I mean when Sania Mirza retires, there will be a big void. There is no doubt about it because there is only one Sania, not only in Indian tennis but also international tennis. She has been a trailblazer for the sport. There will be a void but I think it will be really interesting to see what Sania does next with her career to give back to the sport that has given her so much”, he said, while speaking to Hindustan

Meanwhile, Gaurav Natekar, who is a seven-time Indian national tennis champion and also part of the Hindi commentary team for US Open, stated that ‘the writing was on the wall’. “We saw the writing on the wall. We always knew that Sania also, when she became a mother she had said that balancing between family and tour is not easy. So we always knew that this day was coming. Certainly there is going to be a void”, he said during a media interaction with Hindustan Times.

“In my opinion, she is one of the greatest Indian athletes in the last two or three decades”, he further added.

Jeevan also laid down the importance of regional broadcast of the sport and said that it would make it ‘more popular’. He also pointed out that it could make a ‘big difference’ for promoting the sport among children. The 33-year-old will also be providing Tamil commentary for the Grand Slam event through Sony Sports Network, who will be broadcasting it in India.

“It can definitely make the sport more popular because you are reaching out to a bigger audience and it’s fun to listen to tennis in your mother tongue, whether you are from Andhra, Telangana or Tamil Nadu, Hindi-speaking audiences are able to relate to the commentary especially when you have a good presentation team, it can make a big difference to the number of people that are watching this sport and you never know which kid is going to watch this broadcast and say “Hey I am going to watch this sport of tennis one more time. It was fun to watch it””, he said.

“In regional broadcasting, you keep in mind that the audience is new and fresh to the sport, so its a completely different version of how they present the tennis match on broadcast. It could be somebody who is exposed to tennis for the first time in their life”, he further added.

Natekar noted that tennis is being watched a lot by Indian housewives. He said, “I think a lot of housewifes as well have been watching tennis which is great when you have the women of the house watching a sport, you know they are going to get their children to play that particular sport. I think the only way the sport goes in a country is when it reaches the smaller towns.”

“We are not going to get our next set of champions from the urban cities”, he added.