In two weeks, people from all over the world will watch the best tennis players play their hearts out as the ATP World Tour Finals take centre stage in London.

ATP World Tour Finals tickets still available – click here

In the Philippines, tennis fans will once again stay awake until the wee hours of the morning to watch live telecasts of the matches.

But what strikes me the most about tennis today is the inability of Asians to stamp their class, much less dominate, the sport.

In the latest ATP men’s rankings, there are no Asians in the top 100. In the WTA women’s list, only Li Na of China (16), Zheng Jie (35), Shuai Peng (42), Sania Mirza of India (58), Ayumi Morita (78) and Kimiko Date Krumm of Japan (94) are ranked in the top 100.

Considering that Asians are always highly visible in almost every major sport, it puzzles me why it is not so in tennis.

Could genetics be the reason why they don’t do well in this particular sport? As I look at the top 10 in the men’s game, I see that the average height for these players is 6ft 2in, which is definitely tall by Asian standards.

Juan Martin Del Petro, at 6ft 6in could practically play as power forward in a typical Asian national basketball team. Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray all stand over six feet. Of the ATP top 10, only Nikolay Davydenko, at 5ft 10in, stands below six feet.

The height factor is not so pronounced as far as the women are concerned. World No.1 Serena Williams, at 5ft 9ins, is just an inch taller than Shuai Peng (42) and an inch-and-a-half taller than Li Na (16).

Interestingly, Zheng Jie stands 5ft 4.5in, which is a typical height for an Asian woman but rather short by European and American standards.

I believe that height, as in basketball, is a great advantage in tennis. A taller player will naturally have longer legs and arms. Longer legs means bigger strides which translates to greater and better lateral movement and ultimately mobility.

Longer arms spell greater reach, which enables a taller player to get to the ball with greater ease and efficiency.

Could economics also play a part in the not–so–dominant character of Asians in tennis? In the Philippines, for example, it is cheaper to construct basketball courts than tennis courts. As a result, basketball courts are almost everywhere while tennis courts are hard to find.

Tennis courts remain almost exclusively in sports clubs and clubhouses in the Philippines. Accessibility to tennis courts, to my mind, is an important factor in promoting the sport at grassroots level.

Hopefully, with a greater number of people being able to play the sport because of greater accessibility to facilities, the next Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal might be discovered in an Asian country.

While I will watch the likes of Federer, Nadal, Murray and Roddick display their talent, skills and athleticism, I will keep a close watch on Makesh Bhuphati from India as he plays in the doubles tournament.

With the dearth of Asian players in the ATP World Tour Finals, it is only understandable that I, as an Asian myself, will root for a fellow Asian.

But I look forward to the time when an Asian tennis player will qualify for one of the top eight slots in the singles tournament. In the meantime, this time it is Andy Murray for me for the singles tournament.

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