'AITA doesn't make it easy…' Somdev Devvarman on top Indian players skipping Davis Cup and more

Somdev Devvarman praised Sumit Nagal for his ability to handle pressure.

The first major Grand Slam of the season, the Australian Open 2025, begins on January 12. However, the marquee event will feature only one Indian player in the men’s singles draw and there is no Indian woman tennis player who is even in the qualifying race for the Australian Open. This highlights the seriously falling standards of Indian tennis, which is a matter of grave concern.

The country will see decent representation in the men’s doubles arena, including defending champion Rohan Bopanna, N Sriram Balaji, Yuki Bhambri and Rithvik Choudary Bollipalli who’s making his Grand Slam debut.

The current state of affairs is disappointing, especially when many believe Indian tennis will reach new heights during Sania Mirza’s glorious run. In 2015, the Indian icon was ranked Number One, flaunting her prowess in both singles and doubles, winning six Grand Slam titles apart from 43 doubles titles.

She triumphed at the 2016 Australian Open, winning the women’s doubles and the mixed doubles title in 2009.

Also Read: Top six Indian tennis players with most doubles titles won

Sania Mirza is a source of inspiration for the next generation, but it remains clear that the All India Tennis Association has done little to promote the sport nationwide. The lack of infrastructure and resources has significantly hindered the growth of tennis in India, compromising the nation’s success at the international level.

In an exclusive virtual press conference facilitated by Sony Sports Network, former Indian tennis star and former world No. 62 Somdev Devvarman discussed the shortcomings of the AITA, the current status of Indian Tennis, Sumit Nagal’s rise and shared valuable insights on the Australian Open 2025.

Sania Mirza’s contribution to Indian Tennis

“Sania’s success was massive and India had the momentum in tennis back then. Sania Mirza was a national hero and every little girl probably wanted to pick up a tennis racket because of her. If there had been proper coaching and grassroots level system in place, we could have had more success coming our way,” said the Indian icon.

Future of Indian tennis

“It is no doubt the shortcoming of the Indian tennis administration that we have failed to take advantage of the success of Sania, Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna,” Devvarman added. When asked if he sees an Indian winning a Grand Slam in the future, the 39-year-old remarked that fans should be content if a player can break into the top 100 of the singles category in the distant future.

“I don’t think we should be looking at Grand Slam champions at the moment, quite a far-fetched thought. We must wait for the next few individuals who can join the top 100. Some players are making the moves in doubles but they are still far away from bidding for a Grand Slam title. In women’s tennis, we don’t even have a single participant even for qualifying for Australia Open 2025,” Somdev claimed.

Also Read: Top five Indian tennis players with highest prize money earned in 2024

Nagal missing the Davis Cup for the second consecutive time

Sumit Nagal recently opted out of the Davis Cup for the second consecutive time, stirring huge debate and drawing backlash. While the 39-year-old wasn’t sure about this news, he went on to slam the association and shared his personal experience with the federation.

“As a player, I can tell you, I didn’t like them. AITA doesn’t make it easy for the players. Davis Cup weeks are very hard. Indian tennis has all this unwanted drama and unwanted baggage and bias from the David Cup captain and even the support staff. The takeaway from all this is Indian tennis needs to be in a better place, and there has to be a reason why the top players are constantly ignoring the federation,” Devvarman stated to Khel Now.

Rohan Bopanna’s chances as he defends his title

Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden’s glorious run is now over as the duo will not return to Melbourne to defend their title together. As earlier reported by Khel Now, in a recent interview with PTI, Bopanna made shocking claims regarding the late decision of the Aussie to part ways, which made it difficult for the Banglorean to find a quality doubles partner ahead of his title defence.

About this, Devvarman commented, “Unfortunate from the Indian perspective as obviously, they both (Bopanna and Ebden) have enjoyed massive success but it’s one of those unfortunate moments, but Rohan is experienced enough to deal with such situations has been on the doubles tour for a long time. These things happen, during this time of the year, people make a lot of changes and new partnerships are formed.”

“Some players get the short end of the stick while others get a better deal. But it is not fair to rule them out yet, Rohan Bopanna is a world-class player, he has a fabulous ranking to his name and is super competitive and there is no reason why Rohan Bopanna cannot pull off an upset”, said Devvarman to Khel Now.

Also Read: Top 10 greatest USA tennis players of all-time

Sumit Nagal’s chances in Melbourne

India’s only hope in the singles draw, Sumit Nagal, currently seeded 96 will open his account at the Australian Open 2025 against world No. 26 Tomas Machac. This will mark the first-ever occasion the duo take on each other. The Czech has had fitness concerns recently and Devvarman doesn’t rule out the possibility of an upset.

“In terms of added pressure, I’m sure there’s a little bit, but it’s nothing extraordinary. It’s nothing that, you know, Sania didn’t feel when she was playing or, you know, I didn’t feel when I was playing, or I’m sure Leander and Mahesh felt it as well. It’s just part and parcel of where we are from. You take the good with the bad. I don’t think that added pressure is necessarily a bad thing, and I do think that Sumit has been handling most of it pretty well,” Somdev Devvarman said.

“Sumit Nagal has got a tough draw but he has had a good start to the year with a win over Adrian Mannarino some time back, who is a top 100 player (ranked no. 66). The First round can be a tricky one for everyone but if Nagal plays to his potential he can cause an upset,” added the former Indian tennis player, backing Nagal to get the job done.

Men’s and Women’s singles favourites for the 2025 AO

Somdev Devvarman backed the defending champions from both categories to be top title contenders but admitted that we could be in for some surprises. “I believe Coco Gauff has a chance although Aryna Sabalenka will be the favourite. It will certainly not be easy to win her third title in a row while Elena Rybakina has the game to succeed on the hard court,” Devvarman said.

“In the men’s draw, Sinner will be the favourite, and Daniil Medvedev could push him. On the other side of the draw, Carlos Alcaraz will be the favourite while Novak Djokovic will be gunning for a historic 25th title with Andy Murray in his corner as a coach,” he added.

[Starting 12th January 2025, watch the first Grand Slam of the year, Australian Open 2025 on Sony Sports Ten 5 SD & HD, Sony Sports Ten 2 SD & HD, Sony Sports Ten 3 SD & HD (Hindi), Sony Sports Ten 4 SD & HD (English) as well as live-stream it on Sony LIV, 5:30 AM onwards.]

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For more updates, follow Khel Now on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram; download the Khel Now Android App or IOS App and join our community on Whatsapp & Telegram