Rohan Bopanna has bashed the AITA (All India Tennis Association) for not promoting women’s tennis despite Sania Mirza and her success at the highest level. With the Paris 2024 Olympics coming up and Mirza’s retirement from the sport, the chances of an Indian women’s player participating in the event are virtually impossible.
As of now, no Indian women’s tennis player is in the WTA Top 200 in singles or Top 150 in doubles. In contrast, Sumit Nagal is ranked 98 in singles, while Bopanna is at the apex in men’s doubles.
Due to the poor state of Indian women’s tennis following Mirza’s retirement last year, this will be the first time, since 2004, that no women’s players will represent India at the Olympics. The lack of top-ranked women’s players means that Bopanna, India’s best player by rank, will not play mixed doubles at the event.
“The AITA has done nothing to promote tennis, really. I mean, after Sania Mirza, there is no player of her calibre or ranking. It hurts, really. For me, to have played with any girl from India would have been good in the Paris Olympics. It is a lost opportunity, who to blame,” Bopanna said while talking with RevSportz.
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