TOPS should also support men's singles players: Bhupathi

Indian Davis Cup captain Mahesh Bhupathi Saturday rued that tennis had never got the kind of support that boxing or wrestling got from the government, urging them to include men's singles players in Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS).

Keeping the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in mind, the sports ministry has included the doubles duo of Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan, who won the Asian Games gold last year, have been kept in TOPS scheme.

"I know Rohan and Divij have been approved by TOPS but the singles boys need to get that support. That's the bottomline," Bhupathi told reporters after India's 1-3 defeat to Italy in the Davis Cup Qualifiers at Calcutta South Club.

"The government needs to step up and support tennis. I know they are supporting a lot of sports. They are supporting hockey, wrestling, boxing but tennis has not got that support yet," Bhupathi lamented.

"It's not easy for AITA to support them as they don't have a revenue source of money. I think the government have a lot of schemes likes TOPS, NSDF..."
"Rome was not built in a day. I think the story for Indian tennis is changing. We have got three boys who can compete at this level, something we never had for a long time. There's still potential especially for the singles boys."
In what could be his last media interaction as the non-playing captain if his contract is not renewed, Bhupathi who took charge in 2017 said: "I took this job because I knew we had a significant depth in our team. I will continue to give my feedback."
Asked if making the World Group was the maximum they could achieve, Bhupathi said: "Everybody needs to live in the real world. It's a sport competed among 190 countries. Are there any team in Madrid without a top-100 singles player? I doubt."
"These boys are working themselves up. Once we have a fully fit team I don't see why we can't make Madrid. We can't expect miracles in sport. That's not the way it works."
"I'm getting older. So for me, I think it's better to play shorter matches. So the format is okay and also in two days may be it gives me more time to go to the next tournament if you wanna play and also after weekend if you don't feel so. Davis cup had a lot of tradition over 100 years and sometimes changes are good and sometimes not."