Raising a racket

Then the junior team of Sanaa Bhambri, Tara Iyer and Kartiki Bhat despite their limited exposure abroad, also delivered. The depth of talent was shown in how the AITA opted for younger players 8212; including Isha Lakhani and Megha Vakhariya 8212; to accompany Sania to the senior Fed Cup in Japan.

As Enrico Piperno, coach of the Fed Cup team, puts it: 8216;8216;These girls were immensely talented and all they needed was a break. When they got it there was no stopping them.8217;8217;

Women8217;s tennis is no longer the preserve of just a couple of stars; though Sania is clearly the leader, the chasing pack includes Sheetal Goutham, Isha Lakhani, Ankita and Sanaa Bhambri, winners all. And the third wave isn8217;t far behind either. Underlying all this is the fact that tennis is becoming an increasingly popular sport among girls in India.

There are good incentives. Sania8217;s status has got her a private sponsor, allowing her to give up the AITA sponsorships. 8216;8216;This has been a very positive move as far as Indian tennis is concerned8217;8217;, said AITA development officer Sunil Yajaman. 8216;8216;As Sania will be travelling more in the women8217;s circuit now it was good that a sponsor came forward.8217;8217;

And travel is high on the agenda. Sania and Sanaa will both be at the Junior French Open and Junior Wimbledon over the next few weeks and will also fea this week. Apart from the Slams they will also be featuring in some other Grade I ITF tournaments at Belgium and Germany,8221; he added.

And the keenness of the competition of the next rung is clear from results this season: Isha Lakhani won the Pune leg of the ITF women8217;s tennis circuit in March and was favourite to win the Delhi leg last week. But she lost to Ankita Bhambri in a thrilling three-setter in the pre-quarters.

Yajaman, who coached the junior Fed Cup team, said: 8216;8216;Talent in Indian tennis was never in doubt. But what was needed was to give these youngsters the right opportunities to excel, the right conditions to practice and proper guidance.8217;8217;

Those conditions exist at the AITA8217;s National Tennis Academy at Gurgaon, and in the plans to hold more 5000 ITF tournaments. Participation in such week-long tournaments give the players more match practice, helping them gain more exposure and experience.

Isha Lakhani8217;s mother Prafulla spells it out: 8216;8216;I was very apprehensive before letting Isha play on the ITF circuit but ever since she8217;s started playing she has made remarkable progress.8217;8217;

Similar facilities, Yajaman says, could have helped the older generation 8212; Nirupama Vaidyanathan, Sai Jayalakshmi or Rushmi Chakravarthi 8212; who made a name but didn8217;t quite go the full distance.

And there8217;s one other vital difference he points out: the present lot have the hunger and the single-minded dedication. It8217;s a point Piperno 8212; who has coached Mahesh and Leander too 8212; agrees with: 8216;8216;None of the youngsters today play tennis just for the sake of it. They all have certain goals in their mind and are striving hard to achieve them.8217;8217;

The focussed approach is clear in 11-year-old Sweta Kumari, who won the under-14 title in the AITA talent search series held at the DLTA courts earlier this month. When her classmates are playing hide-and-seek, sweta says, without a hint of humour: 8216;8216;I want to win Wimbledon one day.8217;8217;

She8217;s aware, she says, of the enormity of the task. And adds: 8216;8216;I am willing to go through the grind.8217;8217; Her parents Tejbir and Kamal believe that she has the talent to make it big and are ready to pay whatever price it takes to see that happen.

There8217;s one thing they are assured of, a factor that8217;s attracting other girls like Sweta: this sport is clean and transparent. 8220;It is all about performing. If you play well you8217;re bound to excel; your seeding and international ranking determine where you can play. There is no close-door selection procedure8217;8217;, says Tejbir.

Ask the Bhambris; this Delhi-based joint family has five children 8212; including three girls 8212; in the business. Indu Bhambri, mother of Ankita and Sanaa, travels everywhere with her daughters and says she8217;s seen the signs of tennis catching up with the masses. Ask her about the family8217;s tennis tradition 8212; others are brothers Yuki and Prateek and younger sister Prerna 8212; and she replies: 8216;8216;This is just the begining. It is nice that they all are playing well but they have a lot to achieve.8217;8217;

Achieving is not something Piperno sees as a problem. But he stresses that there8217;s a long way to go before India can stamp its authority in world tennis. 8216;8216;The level of difference is day and night8217;8217; is his brutal assessment. 8216;8216;But8217;8217;, he adds reassuringly, 8216;8216;the gap is lessening.8217;8217;