The one good thing AITA did in the last few years was shut down: Zeeshan Ali

Zeeshan Ali.
| Photo Credit: File photo: PTI

For more than a decade, Zeeshan Ali was omnipresent in Indian tennis. He was the Davis Cup coach starting 2013 and was the head of the National Tennis Centre (NTC) from December, 2020. But, across a few manic months in late 2024, Zeeshan resigned as coach, and the NTC closed down, as reported in these pages recently. In an interview with The Hindu, the 55-year-old addressed both issues. Excerpts:

Was any reason provided for NTC’s closure?

No. But something I heard was that the programme was not successful. But a failed programme wouldn’t have produced 10 National champions [across age-groups]. And never did the All India Tennis Association (AITA) ask me to present my point of view. If you are saying ‘we’ve not produced anybody who’s playing a Grand Slam, Olympics or Asian Games’, well, it’s not possible in three years.

How could have the NTC helped Indian tennis?

Look at someone like Karan Singh… he was working with me for three years, won the junior Nationals, reached the finals of senior Nationals and made it to the Davis cup team. He is a prime example of what the NTC could do. When you’re running a private academy, you can give the students free coaching, fitness training and accommodation. You cannot pay ₹25,000 or ₹30,000 a week for travel, and those amounts double abroad. Only the federation can help. NTC should have been scaled up, with a group of players travelling with a coach, a fitness trainer and a physio. Unfortunately, none of that happened as planned.

You resigned as Davis Cup coach and it seemed you would be solely focusing on the NTC…

That could be said, but one reason was that I didn’t get paid. When I went as Davis Cup Captain to Pakistan (February,2024), I just got half the money I was supposed to get. I was told, ‘you should be happy you were made captain. Why are you asking for money?’ But I was only asking what was due to me. The last straw was when they refused to acknowledge me as the captain when we came back after winning. I was still acknowledged as the coach, which is an honour. But I should have gotten my due.

What’s the most unfortunate fallout of NTC’s closure?

Anybody who talks about Indian tennis now has only got negative things to say. That’s not helping. It’s come at a time when pickleball is gaining popularity. It is more organised and there is a lot more money. About two months ago in Delhi, there were so many tennis players at a pickleball tournament. Mihika Yadav, No. 1 woman in India in pickleball, was always a tennis player. The federation should be saying, ‘okay, these players should be incorporated back’. But instead, the one good thing the AITA did for the players in the last few years was shut down.