Yuki Bhambri on AITA: I don't know if they have the desire to improve tennis in India

Bhambri and Ramkumar Ramanathan put up a fine show for India in the Asia/Oceania Group I tie. However, after the celebrations had died down, Bhambri and Amritraj, who was at the helm for three years, questioned the AITA’s desire, or the lack of it, in promoting the game in the country.

"We need to pump in more money, more time and more resources," Amritraj told the Times of India. Bhambri nodded in agreement and was quick to add, "If they have the desire. I don't know if they have got the desire.

They are not a product of the system. Because there is no system.

Yuki Bhambri

"Everybody trains by themselves. They are not a product of the system. Because there is no system. Why the questions about developing a strong team for the Davis Cup or creating a strong player base are asked to the players? These should be addressed to the AITA. What are they doing for the players?" This time Amritraj nodded in agreement.

Bhambri is not the first player question the national tennis body. Only recently Rohan Bopanna and Somdev Devvarman were critical of the AITA.

"The US has four guys ranked between 20 and 30 in the world. Still, they say that tennis is on the decline there due to lack of enough events at home. ITF Futures (meets) don't give you enough. Challengers is the way to go. This is the right time to start working on that because we have got the players who are ready to take advantage of these events," Bhambri said.

The 24-year-old pointed out that Asian nations like China, Korea, and Japan have at least five Challengers event in a year.

"In 2013, when we had the Challengers, Saketh Myneni, Prajnesh and me benefitted from them. But where are those events now? We hardly get to play one or two of those in an entire year," he added.