It's a historical tie, we will benefit from India team's visit: Pakistan tennis fraternity

The arrival of the Indian Davis Cup team in Pakistan after 60 years is expected to boost tennis in the country and generate excitement and interest among fans and sponsors.

Pakistan has paid a huge price in the absence of international sporting events in the last decade, and the tennis fraternity is hoping that the arrival of Indian Davis Cup team for the "historic tie" will inject fresh enthusiasm and provide a big boost to the game in the country.

The last time an Indian Davis Cup team travelled to Pakistan was way back in 1964. The All India Tennis Association (AITA) was not keen on sending its team this year too, but the ITF rejected its appeal and said categorically that there is no reason to believe that Indian players will face any security concerns in Pakistan.

International sporting events in Pakistan came to a halt after the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team bus in March 2009 in Lahore. Consequently, the country was barred from hosting world-level tournaments across sports.

The Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) could not host either junior ITF events nor senior men's Future tournaments. There were no women's events and no Davis Cup team travelled to Pakistan till 2017.

It badly hit Pakistan tennis which was nowhere near cricket in terms of popularity in the country as many promising players were forced to quit the game for lack of growth opportunities and exposure.

The ones who were playing at U-14 level did not graduate to the men's level and competing abroad for ITF events is not easy either for Pakistani or Indian players considering the huge cost involved.

Things began to change in 2017 when Iran sent its teams to Islamabad. The arrival of Asian powerhouse Japan in 2021 also had a positive impact.