Sports India

Mahesh Bhupathi will tell you that contrary to popular opinion, celebrity representation is not always a case of Jerry Maguire’s “show me the money".

It takes a lot to understand the athletes’ needs and market them properly.

After spending 10 years in the circuit, Mahesh Bhupathi is now combining his business and tennis skills to hunt for India’s future tennis stars.

Tennis academy

Bhupathi has 10 grand slam titles to his credit and he may not have had the best of facilities when he picked up his first tennis racquet, but he is trying to change all that for other kids.

The Mahesh Bhupathi Tennis Academy in Gurgaon’s Palm Greens is the sixth such initiative in the country and the parents don’t mind shelling out a fortune if it means their kids can follow in Mahesh’s footsteps.

“We spend about Rs 6,000-7,000 a month and then there are additional expenses on accessories. If he shows promise, we don’t mind spending more on him,” says a parent.

“Starting academies across the country has been at the back of my mind for a while. May be I could have done it after my retirement, but then I got Gaurav Natekar. A lot of kids are taking to the game, picking up the racquet, but not learning the right way. So I decided to get into it and give them the basics,” says Bhupathi.

Managing careers

This is not Mahesh’s only contribution to Indian sports. Four years back, he started a company called Globosport with the idea of managing the careers of budding sports professionals.

Today his client list includes names like Sania Mirza, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Narain Karthikeyan and Zaheer Khan.

Mahesh has also gone the Amritraj way by venturing into the entertainment business.

Globosport has already signed on stars like Saif Ali Khan, Soha Ali Khan, Kunal Kapoor and is now looking to veer into film production, as Bollywood brings big bucks.

“We are into organising events, celebrity management. Bollywood is a big part of our business. We are also building infrastructure like squash and tennis courts,” says Bhupathi.

Perhaps Bhupathi’s goodwill on court has also led to a business deal off it.

No wonder then that Martina Hingis will be one of the prime attractions for the Globosport organised Sunfeast Open in September this year.

But for all his business acumen, Bhupathi is a tennis player first. And so more than anything else, he wants to give an Olympic gold one last shot in Beijing. That will involve a partnership of a different kind with old pal, Leander Paes.