Adil Kalyanpur (IND, 349) normally competes on the ATP Challenger tour, but stepped down a tier this month to play ITF Futures tournaments in India starting at the ITF M25 event in Solapur. While he thanked the Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association (MSLTA) for bringing an international tournament to a tier-2 city, he said the on-site facilities left him embarrassed in front of visiting foreign players.

In a candid video filmed at the Solapur venue and shared on Indian Tennis Daily, Kalyanpur walked through the courts and player areas to show what international competitors faced during the week of 12 to 18 October 2026.

The most urgent concern raised by Kalyanpur was player safety on the match and practice courts. Fresh square patches had been laid directly onto the hard-court surface, creating uneven dead spots and unpredictable bounces across the baseline area.

Kalyanpur pointed directly to the patchwork and warned that any player sliding into a shot over that seam risked twisting an ankle. He also noted heavy dust across the courts and a strong unpleasant odor around the venue the previous day.

Just as surprising for an international pro event was the complete absence of drinking water at the courts. Kalyanpur admitted he forgot to buy bottled water before arriving because he assumed an ITF M25 tournament would provide water for competitors, calling it the bare minimum at any international event. Another player in the video shared that he walked at least 1 kilometer outside the venue without finding a single shop selling water, leaving Blinkit app deliveries as the only option.

Beyond the court surface and hydration gaps, visiting players struggled with basic logistics at a venue located far outside the main city. Another player standing beside the temporary cloth tents remarked in the video that the setup felt more like a kabaddi ground than an international tennis center.

The tournament offered no official hotel-to-venue player transport and had no help desk on site to guide competitors. While Indian players were able to get around by booking Ola, Uber, or Rapido rides on their phones, international players arriving without a local Indian SIM card had no easy way to arrange transport or ask for on-site assistance.

Kalyanpur made a clear distinction between domestic stepping-stone events and international professional tournaments. He noted that Indian players grow up competing in tough conditions at domestic AITA 1 lakh or junior tournaments and accept those venues as part of the climb, though drinking water should still be available everywhere.

Hosting an international ITF M25 tournament under those same conditions, however, hurts India’s reputation among travelling professionals. Even as Indian contenders battled into the semifinals at ITF M25 Solapur, the facility gaps echoed broader questions around tournament standards and accountability in Indian tennis.

Kalyanpur closed by giving special credit to MSLTA for bringing international events to tier-2 cities, while urging organizers to match that effort with safe courts and basic player care. He also gave a shoutout to the women who competed at the ITF women’s tournaments held at the same Solapur venue earlier, calling them real troopers for pushing through the week.