When Chintan Parikh, the All India Tennis Association (AITA) interim president, and Rohit Rajpal, a candidate for AITA presidency, called Mahesh Bhupathi and conveyed their mutual feeling about him signing up for AITA’s Sportsperson of Outstanding Merit (SOM) elections, Bhupathi thought, “Maybe it's time to see if I can get in and make a difference".

Excerpts:

What factors convinced you to take the plunge?

The only factor is that I have done it. And the others haven't. I know how hard it is, I know the challenges, and I know how difficult it is for a 10-year-old, a 14-year-old, an 18-year-old, and I know what needs to be done. That's what somebody has to inculcate in the structure of Indian tennis. And that's why we don't have tennis players.

You've been associated with Indian tennis for years in various roles – player, mentor, Davis Cup captain. What do you hope to achieve with this?

I've been clear to everyone who has called me, from both Rohit and Chintan bhai, that my only agenda or role that I would like is the player development piece. I have no interest in the politics of the federation. The player development piece must have a structure. And it needs to be not in one state, it needs to be in 10 to 15 states. It needs to filter from the grassroots to elite academies. It's something that if we do put together properly, eventually there will be a churn of tennis players from India.

What's the biggest thing lacking in Indian tennis’s structure currently?

There is no structure. Is there a structure? I would like to come in and put a structure in place.

So are you talking about a national centre, or centres across states?

It's a very, very complex structure, which I will put in after I win. I have it. I also spoke to the Sports Minister about it a few days ago. But, let me win first.

For the first time in 40 years, India didn't win an Asian Games medal in tennis. There is rare Indian representation in Grand Slams now, even in qualifiers. Where do you think Indian tennis is at?

Look, if there's no structure in the country, you can't expect miracles, right? Like Sania (Mirza) said recently, it (no Asian Games medals) is not a surprise. If we put a structure in, 10 years later, let's discuss the same question, and let's see how many players are playing in Grand Slams and how many are coming back with medals from the Asian Games. But as of today if there is no structure, why are we complaining?

So you don't think it's a talent problem?

I mean, you want a structure to have many players. In America, you have multiple players in the world’s top 10. It's not about one Mahesh Bhupathi or one Leander Paes or one Sania Mirza going and coming back with three medals. You want five of them to go and come back with a bag of medals. And that’s across sports. That's what you want in our country, eventually. If you're hosting the Olympics in 2036, we should be able to compete in every sport and not just participate.

What are the key areas that could get Indian tennis back up again?

It's not complicated at all. There are two parts – someone who understands the structure and can put it together, and someone who can back it with funds. Our Sports Ministry has an amazing amount of funds now which they can deploy. So my goal is to present the structure, get the funding, and roll it out.

It’s not complicated, but it hasn't been done yet…

It hasn't been done because it couldn't be done. If there was SOM 10 years ago, maybe it would have happened 10 years ago. I spoke to someone a few days ago, and they said the ministry is giving so much money to each (national) federation. But nobody credible from the tennis federation has come and asked for money. So that is the fault of the current administration, right? They haven't gone and asked for it, with a proper structure.

Earlier there was talk about the need for former players to come into the system. With the likes of you and Sania contesting these elections, is it a good sign for Indian tennis?

Yes. And everyone needs to get involved if we need to make a change. It's not just the two of us. We'll need to get everyone to be a part of the movement in some way or form.

There’s also a thought that good athletes don't always make good administrators.

I'm not sure. I'm not getting into administration. I'm getting into player development.

On that player development, what's your vision for Indian tennis in the short term and long term?

There is no short-term vision. Because it cannot be. You cannot give me a bucket of money tomorrow, give me an 18-year-old, and ask me to do miracles. It doesn't work like that in sport. It is going to be a minimum of 10 years, could be 15 years. But if we put a structure in place, everybody is a winner.

And that structure would have players consistently coming into the system?

Not into the system, out of the system, and into the top 100 of the world.