ITPA to provide physios, trainers to players

MUMBAI: It started as a rebellion by 11 players against the AITA barely less than a year ago. In the last nine months the ITPA (Indian Tennis Players Association) has taken baby steps and according to the people behind it, it is growing stronger everyday.
"We started in April. We have been very ambitious as to how we want to collaborate and structure the evolution of tennis in India.Obviously Rome wasn’t built in a day. We will take it step by step," said Mehsh Bhupathi at the sidelines of the ITPA Masters tournament at Khar Gymkhana.
"We had a very successful and elaborate camp at Sania (Mirza)’s academy in Hyderabad for the last three weeks. Now we are here playing at the Khar Gymkhana. Today we had the executive meeting and chalked out our agenda for the next 12 months," said Bhupathi, who is the vice president on the ITPA.
Laying out the plan of action for the next year, Bhupathi explained, "First step is to find ways to enhance the players who are playing on tour this year. We are going get them a physiotherapist and fitness trainer to travel with them through the year. The second is mentoring juniors. Third one was having events such as this one. We raise fund which will help ITPA support junior players through the camps twice a year."
Clearing the ITPA stand, Somdev Devvarman, who spearheaded the rebellion against the AITA earlier this year said: "We are completely independent of AITA. This is the players’ association. We are not here to compete with the AITA. We are here to fill in significant gaps that are there in the Indian tennis developmental programs. We are here to support players currently on turn and also to mentor and groom players who are on the verge of coming up."