Sun Rises Over Asian Tennis
A recent duel between the Asian Tennis Federation and the ATP Tour has highlighted the frustrations felt by Asian tennis officials regarding the development and success of Asian tennis players, especially male players. The Asian Tennis Federation has demanded that 25 percent of wildcards in ATP events be awarded to Asian players while also seeking to exclude non-Asians from ATP Challenger tournaments held in Asia. On the
women's side, there have been several successful Japanese tennis players over the past couple decades. Other countries such as Thailand have produced women who have reached the top 100 and higher, e.g. Tamarine Tanasugarn. China has several women, e.g. Na Li, who have reached the top 100. Sania Mirza has become a superstar in India by reaching the top 30 in the Sony Ericsson WTA rankings. However, besides a couple Japanese men over the years and current players such as Hyung-Taik Lee from Korea and Paradorn Srichaphan from Thailand, few Asian men have had success on the ATP Tour. The country in Asia which is an exception is India which has a legacy of tennis success with families such as the Armritraj brothers, Ramesh Krishnan and current doubles stars, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi. Regardless, exclusion is not the answer. Players need to develop their games and work through the various tiers of the Tour. To allow only Asian players in ATP Challenger events and/or increase the number of wildcards for local players in Asian events, would only artificially inflate the rankings of a few players rather than generating a group of male players capable of competing on the ATP Tour.
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