Tennis: India
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The economics of an Indian tennis player
Ramkumar Ramanathan, for example
akshay sawai, The economics of an Indian tennis player on the rise, Feb 12, 2017: The Times of India
Ramkumar Ramanathan was instrumental in India's Davis Cup win recently. His annual expenses add up to Rs 50 lakh approximately. But finding monetary support is not easy in a sport that depends on government funding, and in a country where corporations are reluctant to spend on non-cricket sport
Ramkumar Ramanathan was tossed in the air by teammates after he won India the Davis Cup tie against New Zealand last weekend in Pune. A few hours later, the 22-year-old was airborne again, this time on a flight to San Francisco for a tournament. “I was to fly out later but got a wild card entry into the tournament. So, I booked a fresh ticket and left,“ Ramkumar says from San Francisco. “There was no celebration as such. We just had a team dinner.“
That is the life of a tennis player, whether you are Ramkumar or Roger. But Roger is rich.Ramkumar, ranked no. 264 in the world, has earned a modest $201,560 (approximately 1.35 crore) after some six years on circuit.That's probably Roger's private jet bi l l for a month. The amount doesn't look too bad, but it is not much once travel costs and coaching fees are factored in.
Ramkumar says, “One of the industry norms for a coach is 1,000 a week as fees, travel and stay expenses and 10-15 per cent of the prize money. But it varies depending upon the scale of the tournament.“
Last year, Ramkumar played over 20 tournaments, from the qualifiers of big shows li ke Wimbledon and F rench Open to small er events i n places like Ho Chi Minh City, Samarkand and podunk towns i n A mer ic a . I f he had a coach w it h h i m , he'd have paid $25,000 in fees. He made nearly $78,000 in prize money last year, of which ab out $ 8 , 0 0 0 wou ld have been the coach's cut. In all, he'd be paying the coach about $33,000 ( 22 lakh plus). Add travel and stay expenses. “ 50 lakh annually would be a good estimate of my expenses,“ Ramkumar says.
Joint effort
So far, Ramkumar has been financed, at various points, by his father, his own earnings, the International Management Group (IMG) and the Tamil Nadu Tennis Association (TNTA).The TNTA's vice-president is Karti Chidambaram, a loquacious tennis buff and the son of P Chidambaram, the former finance minister of India. (Karti once said Ramkumar wasn't easy to get along with. Asked about the comment, he tells , “I said that but that's his personality. We are not looking for a son-inlaw. We are looking for a player.“) K a r t i fe el s pl ayer s l i ke Ramkumar and Yuki Bhambri, who have potential, deserve funding of around $30,000 (about Rs 20 lakh) a year.
“I t hi n k players li ke Ramkumar or Yuki should be given a subsidy of about $30,000,“ he says. “But I don't believe a player must be completely funded. There must be some pain for him as well.If it's all paid, then it may be taken for granted.“
T h e T N TA h a s b a c k e d Ramkumar for nearly eight years, since the time he was about 14. He has been training at the Sanchez-Casal Academy in Barcelona since 2010-11. “One year, he was at the academy for about 11 months,“ Karti says.“TNTA probably spent $ 30,000 on him that time.“
Ramkumar acknowledges the association's support. “I'm grateful to them,“ he says.
Asked how much the TNTA spends on Ramkumar now, Karti says, “It is need based. We also have performance-based incentives for him.“
'Scope for improvement
Karti feels that while Ramkumar's Davis Cup performance was cred itable, it came against soft opposition. At 22, he shou ld have been in the top-150.
“It's a bit disappointing that he's 264,“ Karti says. “He needs to work on his fitness and his backhand. But the good thing about him is that he has a big forehand, serve and is a fighter who thrives on the big stage. He is not afraid of reputations. When India played Spain in the Davis Cup, he played Feliciano Lopez as a peer (he lost in four sets).“
AITA's criticism
In the recent past , Somdev Devvarman a nd Bh a mbr i h ave lambasted the All India Tennis A ssociation (A I TA) .Karti, too, said the federation had failed in supporting players.He says that India can easily afford to back its players, but the AITA hasn't shown the will.
“You need to spend about 3-4 crore a year on about six players. It's doable,“ Karti says. “Yuki was a huge opportunity wasted. He was the world no. 1 junior and junior Australian Open champion. Any country with half a tennis federation would call him and say `Hire whichever coach you want and we will pay for him'.“
AITA responds
To a question on the AITA's contribution to Ramkumar's career, Hironmoy Chatterjee, hon. secretary general, said the federation had recommended him for government funding.
“Ramkumar and some other Indian players received some government funding basis our recommendation,“ Chatterjee says. “And this year we are confident of more funds from the government.“
Another official, requesting anonymity, said the AITA's main job was to create infrastructure and host tournaments. He said, “We had over 20 tournaments in India in 2015, which helped the likes of Ramkumar develop.“
2016
Sikki-Pranaav win Grand Prix title
Foz do Iguacu (Brazil)
Indian mixed doubles pair of Sikki Reddy and Pranaav Jerry Chopra clinched their maiden Grand Prix title, bagging the Brazil Open with a straight game victory over Canadian combo of Toby Ng and Rachel Honderich in the finals, here. The top seeded Indian pair, who are ranked World No. 65, prevailed 21-15, 21-16 over second seeds Toby and Rachel in a 37-minute summit clash at Costa Cavalcante here.
