India will host its first Women’s Tennis Association tournament in five years when Mumbai stages a $125,000 event in November, giving home players an opportunity to compete with the world’s top-50, according to a PTI report.
Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association, which will host the WTA Challenger, had recently bagged the hosting rights of India’s ATP World Tour event which will be re-branded as Maharashtra Open and will be held in Pune.
“It’s time that our players such as Ankita Raina, Karman Kaur Thandi, Rutuja Bhosale and others get to play at a better level and try to move up the rankings ladder. For the players’ interest we have brought this event to Mumbai,” MSLTA Secretary General Sunder Iyer said.
The last time India hosted a WTA event – the Royal Indian Open – was in 2012 in Pune. Current world No 5 Elina Svitolina won the singles title beating veteran Japanese Kimiko Date-Krumm.
There will be four wild cards each on offer in main draw and the qualifiers of the Mumbai Open.
India’s best singles players, save for Ankita Raina (ranked 262nd), can’t get direct entry into the main draws of WTA $125K level events with their current rankings. Karman Kaur Thandi (ranked 349th) and national champion Riya Bhatia (ranked 519th) follow Raina in the ladder.
“It will be an opportunity for players to get some crucial points ahead of the Australian Open. Also, players who are to return from injuries and niggles, this event will serve their purpose. Players ranked between 11 and 50 will compete and it’s good for our girls to get that exposure,” Iyer added.
“I am very much looking forward to the WTA event at home. It will be a great exposure and experience for all of us since it’s quite tough to enter a WTA event. I would like to request AITA to host more of these tournaments,” Ankita Raina said.
MSLTA has lined up three more $25,000 events which will be held in Pune and Navi Mumbai and one $15,000 tournament in Solapur. With a $50,000 ATP Challenger lined up in November in Pune, MSLTA would spend close to $300,000 in organising these tournaments.
Prashant Sutar, MSLTA Director (Development Committee), said if a proposal is put before corporates and the government with the “right vision”, it’s not difficult to raise money.
“We have KPTI as dedicated sponsors for men’s challenger and a dedicated local mill as sponsors for Solapur. We have understood that proposal should be presented in a particular manner to get sponsorship,” said Sutar, who will be Tournament Director for both WTA and ATP World event in January.
Sutar is hoping that Raina will be able to get a direct entry and Rutuja will be a strong contender for the singles wild card since she is a player from Maharashtra.
“For international players, we will see, during the US Open which players are interested in coming to India. We have the option of offering wild cards to them,” Sutar said.
Thandi said if India can host such tournaments on a regular basis, nothing can be better.
“With a ranking of 349, I would be in the main draw of $60k and qualifying of $100k and $125k. Having a training base in France, I have to spend two weeks at a time for visa to countries like Japan, China, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and most of Asian countries by skipping training,” she noted.
“If India were to host $60k and above tournaments, it will be good financially and I will get time in India for my next tournament visa,” Thandi added.