India’s lone ATP 250 event, the Tata Open Maharashtra, is set to move out of the country.
After having found a near-permanent home for 27 years – first in Delhi (one edition), then Chennai (21 times) and eventually in Pune (five), the premier tennis tournament will most likely not usher in the season ahead of the Australian Open from 2024.
The five-year contract organisers Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association (MSLTA) had inked with owners IMG and RISE Worldwide to conduct the competition in India ended with the 2023 edition.
Though negotiations were underway for a renewal and Tata Open found a mention in the ATP 2024 calendar, financial expenditure, significantly more than the average of ₹15 crore per year, reportedly proved the undoing.
Unconfirmed reports suggested that the tournament will now be staged in Hong Kong, another city considered a good pit-stop on the way to Australia.
“We are happy with what we achieved,” Sunder Iyer, Secretary, MSLTA told The Hindu. “We are not parting on a bad note. May be the owners have better prospects elsewhere.”
“It will be a loss for Indian tennis, but we will look at other events like Challengers. The ATP 250 helped the sport indirectly, but a Challenger can have more of a direct impact because more Indians can enter it.
“We have a commitment from both the Government of Maharashtra and sponsor Tata for promoting tennis, and if any opportunity comes up for an ATP or WTA event, we will certainly be interested,” Sunder added.
However, in recent years, the very conduct of such competitions has been called into question, with doubts being raised whether they help Indian tennis players, especially those in singles.
The tournament has no doubt seen participation from high-profile stars such as Pat Rafter, Boris Becker, Carlos Moya, Rafael Nadal, Stan Wawrinka and Marin Cilic, and been a great hit with fans. But Somdev Devvarman, who peaked at No. 62 in the world, remains the last Indian to have reached a singles Tour-level final at home – Chennai, 2009.
In recent years, players have either got in because the field has been weak (like in 2020) or because of wild cards. Right now, India doesn’t have a player in the ATP top-250, making it difficult to justify the massive outlay – around ₹75 crores over five editions in Pune.
Chennai blues
Chennai, which had reappeared on the international tennis map for the first time since 2017 with a WTA 250 event, is back off it. The Tamil Nadu Tennis Association, led by Vijay Amritraj, had leased it from the Hong Kong-based APG group which couldn’t hold the competition in China because of COVID-19. The WTA Tour is set to return to China later this year.
