India’s former Davis Cup and Fed Cup coach Enrico Piperno said on Sunday that the possibility of ever having the country’s tennis players ranked among the world’s top-50 was slim, owing to the lack of funding and poor infrastructure prevalent in the nation, PTI reported.
“It is almost impossible now, the closest being Somdev (Devvarman) who was ranked 62nd,” Piperno said. “The reason is, where is the support, where is the funding? Where is the infrastructure in place? Where are the kids to bank on?”
“I am based in Kolkata. Imagine, in the month of April. How much can I make it, my training and practice? There is no indoor facility. There is no weather control facility. Everything is done outdoors. How much can you do?” he asked.
“Just compare the way it is taken in Australia and see what we have in Patiala, the 1960s kind of systems. You can’t blame the athletes. We perform less in the competitions,” he added.
“The government is still in the belief that the travel ticket in Air India means everything that is required to promote sports.”
“See, Leander (Paes) came into the picture. Then came Mahesh (Bhupathi), and then Rohan (Bopanna). Once Rohan goes, we have few youngsters, hanging around the top-100. To break into the top is really tough. I don’t see anyone at present,” he added.
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