Karnataka, also like Odisha is on a mission to establish its identity with tennis in the future. The process has already been on despite a stiff competition from Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. 

The reflection of taking tennis to the next level by the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association (KSLTA) was recently-held India's biggest international tennis event, Bengaluru Open. 

The tournament has been a familiar fixture on the ATP Challenger tour for the past decade, but in 2025, it earned a promotion. Having started as a 50,000 US Dollars tournament back in 2015, the tournament grew into a Challenger 125 event, handing out 200,000 US Dollars to the winner. 

Additionally Bengaluru Open also witnessed an increase in support from the corporate, with the line-up featuring 22 sponsors and 12 partners.

Sunil Yajaman, tournament director and joint-secretary of KSLTA speaking to Hindustan Times, revealed KSLTA's groundwork and the possibility of India witnessing the return of the ATP 250 event with Bengaluru as the host! 

Yajaman stated, "We started off as a 50,000 US Dollars Tournament 10 years ago. We have been working on trying to upgrade this event and our key motive is to create opportunities for Indian players. Today, we have been engaging with the corporate houses for partnerships and slowly we have grown to a 200,000 US Dollars tournament." 

When asked about the groundwork KSLTA has been constantly doing, Yajaman explained saying, “KSLTA is probably the only state association that has 12 district headquarters with a tennis complex which is good enough to hold even a challenger-level tournament. We have been consciously taking tennis to tier two and tier three cities because you don't know where a champion could emerge."

"We need to go there, inspire and motivate the children to play tennis. There is a lot of talent and hunger in these smaller places. We have been endeavoring constantly and consciously to bring up potential young kids into mainstream tennis by nurturing them." 

All the district associations have a coaching scheme with the players and coaches. The coaches are also qualified and licensed KSLTA’s next plans are to conduct regional camps. In a bid to bring up tennis players from the backward places of the state, KSLTA wants to launch a regional center somewhere north of Karnataka, in one of the backward districts, so that the kids from that region can come under one umbrella and train in that regional center.

KSLTA also is on a mission to transform the Challenger 125 event into the ATP 250. Yajaman said, “It is not easily available. India had it in Chennai for 21 years, then Maharashtra had it for about 3-4 years, but ultimately it moved out because these are owned and there's a limited number of tournaments and they're all owned by private promoters who keep moving to wherever they get a better deal. But yes, if there's an opportunity, why not? Bengaluru deserves to have an annual ATP tour event.”