Tennis: our lost glory

Pakistan has a glorious tennis past and sporting legacy that like all sports is on the decline. Out of the hoary mists of the past glory, sometimes, the shining visage of stars like Haroon Rahim pop out to remind us of what has been lost and what could be achieved. Undivided India before 1947 boasted a healthy racket ball sports tradition where the Muslim sportsmen played a very important role. In 1910 the British officers of the Raj introduced the All India Lawn Tennis Championship at Allahabad which was held annually, starting with grass courts and then graduating onto hard and clay courts. Muslim champions like Muhammad Saleem, Ghaus Khan and Khawaja Iftikhar held aloft the tennis tradition with wins at All India level.

Pakistan played its first Davis Cup Europe Zone Match against Switzerland at Montreux in 1948. Its first Davis Cup win in Eastern Zone of Asia was against Sri Lanka, with a score of 4-0 featuring Munir Peerzada, Qutubudin Ahmed, Iftikhar Ahmed and Zulfiqar Rahim as players. Pakistan qualified for the Final of the Eastern Zone in 1984 by beating some of the strongest teams of the Asian Group i.e. Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. Pakistan however missed the chance of qualifying for the World Group by losing the Eastern Zone final to Japan in the same year.

Due to the change in format of the Davis Cup from Eastern Zone to Asia Oceania, Pakistan secured a place in Group-II in 1988 and lost the final tie to Hong Kong. The Pakistan Team qualified for the World Group playoffs by beating strong teams like New Zealand in 2018 and Thailand in 2019 for the first time in the history of Pakistani Tennis but lost in the finals. Recently a lot of interest has been generated due to Indian team’s visit to play Pakistan at Islamabad from 3^rd to 4^th February 2024 after 60 years to play the World Group I playoffs. Though India is without its top player Rohan Bopanna, it is fielding a strong team compared to the ageing Pakistani duo of Aisam and Aqeel.

Pakistan has had a stellar cast of tennis prodigies like Haroon Rahim who was the youngest Davis Cup player to play for Pakistan at the age of 15. In seventies he emerged as the highest-ever ranked player in international rankings for Pakistan with an international singles ranking of 34. He is the only Pakistani other than Khawaja Saeed Hai to qualify for the main draw of prestigious Wimbledon Championship advancing to the second round. He was the winner of two ATP singles titles and kept the Pakistan’s tennis flag aloft till late seventies. He led the UCLA team to victory with Jeff Borowiak and Jimmy Connors in 1970-71 and was 1971 NCAA doubles champion with Jeff Borowiak. Such prodigious was his talent that in one of the tournaments in USA in 1974 he beat newly crowned Wimbledon Champion Jimmy Connors.

The treatment Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) meted out to such a prodigy was callous and demeaning when he was not selected for a tie against Indonesia and fobbed off by a promise of playing against Australia. He left in disgust for USA never to return to Pakistan. The baton of tennis glory was then picked up by a talented crop of players like Haq brothers, Nadir Ali Khan, Saeed Mir, Jamil Ahmed, Altaf Ahmed Haseeb Aslam, Rasheed Malik, Mushaf Zia, Aisam and Aqeel. The tennis federation led by Colonel Munir did a great job in Zia era to promote tennis through infrastructure development, training of players and holding of tournaments on all surfaces. Senator Dilawer Abbas under the patronage of Chaudry Shujaat as caretaker PM contributed a lot towards the infrastructure development but fell short of developing an eco-system of competitive tennis based on identification and grooming of young talent at grassroots level.

The present tennis landscape in Pakistan presents a dismal picture with a tennis federation in limbo that has been extending its tenure hiding behind the court orders and other excuses to postpone elections. It is hoped that the elections called on the 10^th February throw up an elected set-up well versed in best practices in management and imbued with a passion to promote the sports.

Several regional federations are rendering a yeoman’s job despite parsimonious contributions from the government out of their own resources. Punjab Tennis Association under Iftikhar Rao and Rasheed Malik has done a lot by way of infrastructural development, holding of tournaments and grooming of young talent. However the same needs to be emulated by federations that are not so active. In Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, for instance, no national level tournaments are organised, depriving the local talent of the desired competitive exposure.

The failure to create a younger crop of world class players is a result of less than ideal management of PTF affairs. The manifestation of above is the fielding of two over 40 players who in their heyday have rendered sterling services making their country proud but by all standards would be an anachronism while competing against younger and fitter Indian opponents in the latest Davis Cup tie. The new PTF set-up requires a leadership with strong management experience, goal-oriented vision, an ability to develop infrastructure and an eye for the young talent. The nations that produce world class players start training the kids at age five with small rackets and soft balls honing and sharpening their skills at that malleable age when body and mind are best poised to absorb instructions.

Pakistan needs a PTF set-up fired up with the passion to usher in an sports renaissance staying well clear of player politics, favouritism and lethargy, the three cardinal sins of sports management. It is time to recreate the Haroon Rahim magic. The silver bullet is the resource generation and allocation towards young talent starting with schools and colleges and moving onto Nick Bolletieri like academies with munificent private and public sector support. Departments like WAPDA and defence services are still sponsoring and promoting tennis players but more needs to be done in an institutionalised manner with jobs reserved for talented players to help them concentrate on sports untrammeled by financial worries. PTF also needs to afford more international exposure to our players through tours and holding of international tournaments in the countries.

Above is a tall order but doable provided the new PTF set-up is elected on merit.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 5^th, 2024.

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