Chennai to host ATP Challenger Tour event in 2025, confirms Vijay Amritraj

The 70-year-old Amritraj, currently the president of the Tamil Nadu Tennis Association, also mentioned that the possibility to host an ATP or a WTA or a special event in 2026 is also being looked at.

FILE PHOTO: Former tennis player Vijay Amritraj at an event. | Photo Credit: SUDHAKARA JAIN / THE HINDU

Indian tennis great Vijay Amritraj on Tuesday confirmed that Chennai will host an ATP Challenger Tour event for the third straight year in 2025.

The 70-year-old Amritraj, currently the president of the Tamil Nadu Tennis Association, also mentioned that the possibility to host an ATP or a WTA or a special event in 2026 is also being looked at.

The city last hosted an ATP Tour event in 2017 while a WTA 250 tournament took place in 2022.

In an interview with  Sportstar on the sidelines of an event at the SDAT Stadium in Nungambakkam where the North Stand of the main court was named as ‘Vijay Amritraj Pavilion’ by the State Government to honour him, the 70-year-old fielded questions on a variety of topics:

Q: Is Chennai going to host the ATP Challenger Tour event next year as well?

The calendar is not out. There are four challengers, back-to-back, (in India). So, there was a request to change the dates because we have an ITF tournament before that in Chennai. We are trying to give our boys a chance to play back-to-back. We’re just waiting on that. The ITF is confirmed. The Challenger is confirmed as well. It’s just a question of the change in dates, if at all. It will be held in early February.

Q: What is the window you are looking for to bring Tour-level events? Do you see that happening maybe next year or the year after that?

If the window is only January-February, then obviously 2025 is out. They have to come up with a new schedule for 2026. I am waiting for that to see if I can squeeze in something there, either an ATP or a WTA event. The other alternative is to actually put a special event together with tour players. Depending on windows and depending on everyone’s schedule to pull in some of the top guys to come and play. 

Q: Recently, there has been a lot of controversy in Indian tennis regarding AITA’s administration and the compensation for players to play in the Davis Cup.

It depends on what the remuneration is from the Davis Cup itself. What do we get from the ITF (International Tennis Federation)? What sponsorships have you got? Who’s marketing the team? Playing Wimbledon & Davis Cup was my highest goal. Playing 20 years of Davis Cup and taking India to two Davis Cup finals is by far the greatest thing ever for me in our sport.

We should be able to sell. We should be able to market. We should be able to advertise. We should be able to get sponsorships. We should be able to get ITF prize money. We should get all of that and then, you are able to allocate very easily. Needless to say that the association has to operate as well so they become a partner in your program but so do all the players. The players have to be compensated. There’s no getting away. 

In our times, we didn’t really get much. So, I wouldn’t go that far in time because that’s a long story.

Q: How do you see the latest development in the Jannik Sinner doping case - WADA’s appeal against ITIA’s (International Tennis Integrity Agency) decision of not banning him despite testing positive?

From what I’ve heard, there was no intent. That’s in his favor. The issue is whether the trainer used anything and Jannik is not aware of it. What he used, I have no idea. Whether that particular thing was suddenly added on to the list of prohibited items. I don’t know how long that was in there. I don’t know what difference that makes. But I really don’t know all the gory details.

Q: The main argument is whether the player is responsible for his trainers and whatever they are using.

You can’t just pass the buck. That’s definitely not the situation. But at the same time, we have to be realistic and most importantly, we have to be consistent. That’s the most important thing. You can’t have different time clocks for different players.

Q: Lastly, there have also been complaints from some of the top players about the calendar being packed, leading to burn out and injuries.

The greatest thing about our sport is that you have a choice. You play the nine 1000s (Masters events) and the four Slams. That’s 13. We’ve got 52 weeks in the year. Depending on what your ranking is, you choose to play. Federer ended up playing 12-14 tournaments in a 52-week calendar. We played 35 but it was necessary to play them. We played singles and doubles and we played five sets with no tiebreakers. Carlos Alcaraz and Sinner can play whatever they want and they’re going to make more money than anyone who’s ever made it. 

I want everyone else outside the top 50 to have the opportunity to play as well to give them a chance to make it into the Masters tournaments. Why should the same guys stay in the 1000s? We got to have our guys also be able to move up the ladder.