TPL Race to Gold 2026: 36 junior players to get scholarships, two U-14 champs earn Australian Open 2027 trip
Synopsis
Tennis Premier League is raising the stakes for Indian grassroots tennis: 36 junior players across six states will receive ₹75,000 scholarships, and two U-14 champions will earn a fully sponsored trip to the Australian Open 2027 — the first time the programme has offered an international prize of this scale, backed by Kia India.
Key Takeaways
Tennis Premier League (TPL) will award 36 junior players across six states Race to Gold scholarships worth ₹75,000 each .
Three tournament legs will be held across November 2026 in Delhi (14–15 Nov), Ahmedabad (21–22 Nov), and Mumbai (28–29 Nov).
Two U-14 champions — one boy, one girl — will earn a fully sponsored trip to Australian Open 2027 in Melbourne, courtesy of Kia India .
Scholarship winners will be felicitated at TPL Season 8 in Hyderabad in December , live on JioHotstar .
Since launch, the Race to Gold programme has supported 80 young players in total.
TPL also ran eight free tennis camps across eight states covering nutrition, fitness and mental training.
Tennis Premier League (TPL) has announced dates for the 2026 Race to Gold (RTG) Masters, a grassroots initiative that will award 36 junior tennis players across six states with scholarships worth ₹75,000 each, and give two U-14 champions the chance to travel to the Australian Open 2027 under the newly launched TPL Road to the Australian Open initiative, backed by Kia India.
Tournament Schedule and Categories
The Race to Gold Masters will be held across three weekends in November 2026. The TPL North Zone Masters is scheduled for 14–15 November at DLTA, Delhi, followed by the TPL Gujarat Masters on 21–22 November at SRT10 Altevol Centre of Excellence, Ahmedabad, and the TPL Maharashtra Masters on 28–29 November at Goregaon Sports Club, Mumbai. All three events will feature U-10, U-12 and U-14 boys' and girls' categories.
What the Scholarships Cover
The ₹75,000 scholarships go beyond financial support — each recipient receives tennis equipment, personalised apparel, professional guidance, and access to leading Indian tennis icons including Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna, as well as top international players. The 36 scholarship winners will be felicitated during Tennis Premier League Season 8 in Hyderabad in December, with the ceremony integrated into the live broadcast on JioHotstar. Since the programme's launch, the Race to Gold scholarship initiative has supported 80 young players in total.
Road to the Australian Open 2027
The most coveted prize this season is the newly introduced TPL Road to the Australian Open 2027, a joint initiative by Kia India and TPL. The six U-14 boys' and six U-14 girls' scholarship winners from the six regions will compete in a final round-robin tournament in Mumbai on 29 November. The top-ranked boy and girl from this event will each earn a fully sponsored trip to Melbourne for the Australian Open 2027, with Kia India covering all expenses for each player and one parent. This marks a significant escalation in the programme's ambition, taking grassroots Indian junior tennis onto one of the world's largest sporting stages.
Free Tennis Camps Across Eight States
Alongside the scholarship drive, TPL and its franchise teams conducted eight free tennis camps across eight states, educating children and parents on nutrition, fitness and mental training — a holistic approach designed to lay the foundations for India's next generation of tennis champions.
What the Organisers Said
Kunal Thakkur, Co-founder of TPL, said, 'With 36 scholarships and the Road to the Australian Open, we are creating opportunities for young talent to dream bigger. We're happy to have Kia India supporting this vision and helping us take it further.' Mrunal Jain, co-founder of TPL, added that the focus is 'to support young athletes beyond the court,' noting that the scholarships and the Australian Open opportunity 'will provide aspiring players with the resources, exposure and inspiration to take their game to the next level.' Atul Sood, Senior Vice President – Sales and Marketing at Kia India, called the Road to the Australian Open 2027 'a step further,' adding that Kia is 'delighted to be part of this journey.'
With the felicitation ceremony set for the TPL Season 8 broadcast in December, the programme is poised to give India's most promising junior tennis talent their biggest platform yet.
Point of View
Not just participation. What the programme still needs to demonstrate is continuity of support after the cameras leave: of the 80 past scholarship recipients, there is no published data on how many have progressed to competitive national circuits. Without that accountability loop, the initiative risks becoming a marketing exercise for both TPL and Kia rather than a structural pipeline for Indian tennis.
NationPress
9 Nov 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the TPL Race to Gold Masters 2026?
The TPL Race to Gold Masters 2026 is a grassroots junior tennis initiative by Tennis Premier League that will award 36 players across six states scholarships worth ₹75,000 each. It features three tournament legs in Delhi, Ahmedabad, and Mumbai across three weekends in November 2026.
Who can win the trip to Australian Open 2027?
The top U-14 boy and top U-14 girl from a final round-robin tournament in Mumbai on 29 November 2026 will each earn a fully sponsored trip to the Australian Open 2027 in Melbourne. Kia India will cover all travel and accommodation expenses for each player and one parent.
What do the Race to Gold scholarships include?
Each of the 36 scholarships is worth ₹75,000 and includes tennis equipment, personalised apparel, professional guidance, and access to Indian tennis icons such as Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna, as well as international players.
Where and when will the 2026 Race to Gold Masters be held?
The three legs are: TPL North Zone Masters on 14–15 November at DLTA, Delhi; TPL Gujarat Masters on 21–22 November at SRT10 Altevol Centre of Excellence, Ahmedabad; and TPL Maharashtra Masters on 28–29 November at Goregaon Sports Club, Mumbai.
How many players has the Race to Gold programme supported so far?
Since its launch, the Race to Gold scholarship programme has supported 80 young tennis players across India. The 2026 edition adds 36 more recipients, to be felicitated during TPL Season 8 in Hyderabad in December.
