Sunira Thapa started playing tennis when she was 9. Ever since then, she always felt that the game never really attracted attention in Nepal in the same way other sports such as cricket and football did. This limited the exposure tennis players got. Nepali TV channels regularly broadcasted football and cricket matches but not tennis.

That is now about to change as this year Kantipur Max is broadcasting the Wimbledon, tennis’s oldest tournament and the most prestigious, in a first for a Nepali TV channel.

“It’s a big achievement here because TV mostly shows cricket and we don’t get as much exposure,” Thapa, the Butwal Open Lawn Tennis Tournament champion, told the Post. “I think it’s going to raise awareness about tennis.”

Wimbledon has been held annually since 1877 and is chronologically the third of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments held each year. Kantipur Max, which is owned by Kantipur Media Group, will be broadcasting the two-week Wimbledon tournament held in London from June 30 to July 13, and will hold a pre-match analysis programme before the match’s start.

Chief Operating Officer of Kantipur TV Suraj Singh Thakuri says that bringing a Nepali angle to the tournament will cultivate a more engaged tennis audience in Nepal.

“Watching Wimbledon on Max may not be a big difference for others,” Thakuri told the Post. “But for us Nepalis, that the connectivity is under the Nepali logo means a lot.”

Thakuri noted that tennis’s popularity in Nepal has never been on par with other ball games such as cricket, football and volleyball, because of high costs and limited court availability. “It was supposed to be a gentleman’s game, a very urban game,” he told the Post. “Now, things have changed.”

Things might be changing but tennis has yet to find a widespread audience in Nepal, Thapa said. She was first inspired to play tennis by her mother, who, when Thapa was still a child, played soft tennis—a form of the game with a rubber ball and different scoring rules from lawn tennis.

Thapa hopes that Kantipur Max’s broadcast of Wimbledon will encourage others to pick up a racket. “I think many people are going to start playing the sport because it’s very enjoyable and exciting to watch,” she said.

Thakuri sees the initiative as a key step in Kantipur TV’s goal of promoting both sports that are popular domestically and internationally. Kantipur Max recently broadcast the 2024 Women’s South Asian Football Federation championship and the Indian Premier League’s 2025 season.

“I think this would be a good exposure for a not-so-popular sport,” Thakuri said. “We tend to always work on our strengths and we normally don’t want to disclose our weaknesses, so it's about time.”

Thakuri added the pre-match analysis would feature Nepali tennis players who have not received enough recognition.

“I’m trying to get everyone who has contributed to this game over the years, and who has never had the opportunity to express their love for tennis in public,” Thakuri told the Post. “It’s about time they hit the screen, so that these can be the people who motivate the new generation.”

World tennis is witnessing a generational shift, with the era of the ‘Big Three’ gradually coming to an end and a new generation of stars ascending. Two of the Big Three—Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal—have already hung up their rackets. But Novac Djokovic, the 38-year-old Serbian, is still around and he will mount a challenge to ascendant stars like Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz at this year’s Wimbledon.

Women’s singles tennis player Shivali Gurung said she will be rooting for Djokovic in the men’s competition, as it might be his last Wimbledon. She said she is excited to watch Djokovic play on the grass court.

“It’s good to see Nepal media prioritise tennis,” Gurung said. “I think this could be a stepping stone for Nepali tennis.”