Jalandhar to Bangalore: Inside India's Tennis Geography

A Sport With a Geography Problem

Tennis in India has a geography problem. The sport is disproportionately concentrated in a small number of cities — and that concentration shapes everything from who gets ranked to who gets professional.

The Big Five

Five states account for the majority of India's ranked junior players: Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Delhi. These states have the highest density of tennis academies, the most sanctioned tournaments, and the strongest school tennis programmes.

Karnataka leads, driven largely by Bangalore's exceptional academy infrastructure. The city has produced more professional players in the past decade than any other Indian city, and its Under-14 and Under-16 representation in the national rankings reflects that depth.

Tamil Nadu's strength comes from Chennai's long history with the sport — the city hosted Davis Cup ties and international tournaments for decades, which seeded both infrastructure and cultural engagement with the game.

Gujarat's Rise

Gujarat is the most interesting recent development. The state has moved from being a minor presence in national junior rankings to a top-five state in most categories. Ahmedabad and Surat have seen significant academy growth, and the Gujarat state association has invested in expanding the tournament calendar within the state.

The result is visible in the rankings: Gujarat-based players have moved into the top 100 across multiple categories in the past three years.

The Underrepresented States

The absence of Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal from the upper tiers of the rankings is striking. These are two of India's most populous states, with large urban populations that can support tennis infrastructure — but they are significantly underrepresented relative to their population share.

Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Odisha face similar patterns. The primary barriers are tournament access and coaching quality: fewer sanctioned events within the state means more travel cost to compete, which effectively prices out families below a certain income level.

What It Would Take to Change

The path to a more geographically distributed junior tennis ecosystem runs through two things: local tournaments and school programmes.

Local tournaments reduce the cost barrier to competition. School programmes create exposure at scale. Neither requires the infrastructure investment of a professional academy.

States that have made the most progress — Gujarat being the best example — have typically started with exactly these two things: expanding the local tournament calendar and partnering with schools to introduce the sport.

The national picture will look different in ten years if this model spreads. The talent is there. The infrastructure needs to follow.