Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association to host Indian camp before BJKC play-offs

Bengaluru: The Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association (KSLTA) will be hosting a 10-day national camp here for the Indian women's tennis team ahead of their crucial Billie Jean King Cup Group G play-off matches against the Netherlands and Slovenia at the SM Krishna Tennis Stadium from November 14 to 16.

The Indian team --  consisting of Sahaja Yamalapalli (world No. 344), Shrivalli Bhamidipaty (434), Ankita Raina (457), Riya Bhatia (460), Prarthana Thombare, Vishal Uppal (captain) and Radhika Kanitkar (coach) -- will arrive in the city in batches from November 4 onwards. The visiting teams will start arriving from November 7 onwards to acclimatise to the high-altitude location. 

The Indian team, which qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 2021, will compete in the new three-team round-robin format for the first time, replacing the older two-team home-and-away face-off format. The group winner will progress to the 2026 BJKC Qualifiers, while the remainder will compete in Group I.

It's going to be a tall ask for India as they take on 2003 quarterfinalists Slovenia (November 15) and two-time finalists Netherlands (November 16). Both matches will have best-of-three formats (two singles and a doubles match if required). While the Netherlands will be led by world No. 85 Suzan Lamens, Slovenia's key player is world No. 102 Kaja Juvan. Most of the players from both sides are ranked higher than India's No. 1.

The KSLTA is spending about Rs 2 crore on the event, which includes relaying work on the courts of both KSLTA and Kanteerava Stadium (practice courts). 

"For the event, the total budget is about Rs 2 crore and we are raising funds through sponsors and the government for it," KSLTA official Sunil Yajaman told DH. "Major chunk comes through both central and state government funding, while the rest of it is coming through sponsors. We are on the verge of finalising a few of them in the next few days."

Tickets for the three-day event (starting November 14) will be available online from Rs 200 onwards for the 7000-capacity tennis arena. 

KSLTA also announced that it will host the 10th edition of Bengaluru Open (which is upgraded from ATP 100 to 125 event) early January, followed by KPB Trust Women’s Open (ITF W100 event) late January or the first week of February.