Women's Tennis Sees a Glimmer of Hope

The players still struggle with funding and long-term support. Despite the odds, they impressed at Mumbai Open

- Deepti Patwardhan

Five minutes before she walked onto the court for her first WTA Tour main draw match, Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi learned about the change of opponents. Rather than UK's Yuriko Miyazaki, who pulled out due to illness, she would be playing Iryna Shymanovich of Belarus. It was just one of the surprises thrown at the Indian player this week. And she took it in her stride like she had everything else.

It didn't matter," says the 15-year-old. "I was only focused on my game."

When she entered the WTA 125K L&T Mumbai Open, the biggest women's tennis event in India, Revathi was best known as the player who, in December, was selected to train at the Rafael Nadal Academy in Mallorca for a year. Over the course of the week, she showed why. It's not just how hard she hits the ball, but the intent with which she does it. She's aggressive but not reckless. Her clarity of vision and point construction seem mature beyond her years. Though Revathi predominantly plays on the junior tour and is currently ranked No. 56 in the world, she looked like she belonged on the big stage.

Given a wild card to the qualifiers, the Indian pounced on the opportunity, winning the two matches to advance to the main draw. In the first round, she outplayed 27-year-old Shymanovich 6-1, 6-4 in an hour and 15 minutes to register her first WTA victory. The points she has earned from the Mumbai Open will be enough to get her a ranking on the women's tour.

Revathi's arrival may well shift the focus back on women's tennis in the country. India has some pedigree in men's tennis, with the Krishnans (Ramanathan and son Ramesh), the Amritrajs (brothers Vijay and Anand), Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi dazzling on the international stage. In the last decade, Yuki Bhambri, Prajnesh Gunneswaran and Sumit Nagal have broken into the top 100 and have represented India at the Grand Slams.