In Pune for the CYG, Monika Wejnert and Alex Sanders are the next generation of players from Down Under
In Pune for the CYG, Monika Wejnert and Alex Sanders are the next generation of players from Down Under
PUNE: Rod Laver, Margaret Court, John Newcombe, Tony Roche, Pat Cash, Todd Woodbridge, Mark Woodforde, Mark Phillippoussis and Lleyton Hewitt are famous names associated with Australian tennis over the years. Now, barring Hewitt, who last won a Grand Slam in 2002, the nation that has a proud association with the game, is struggling to make an impact in the tennis world.
However, if Mark Edney, coach of the Australian tennis team at the Commonwealth Youth Games, is to be believed then a recovery of the sport is taking place Down Under. “The revival started three year ago when Australian Sports Commission (ASC) realized that the tennis model in the country needed a revamp. That’s when academies were established in five cities with the aim of producing world class players,” Edney, who also is the conduit between Tennis Australia and the academy coaches, said.
The academies are at Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide. The best of the lot are sent to the Australian Institute of Sports either at Canberra or London.
Now, the academy programme is yielding results. Seven boys and six girls are now in the top-100 in the juniors. Bernard Tomic, who won the junior Australian Open title this year, is ranked third in the world and is touted as the next big thing.
Though the top juniors haven’t made their way to Pune, the next tier of budding Australian players is here. Edney said that those who have come for the CYG are fine players as well.
Monika Wejnert, ranked No.98 in junior girls, Jade Hooper (113) Alex Sanders (88) Josh Nelson (252) are in Pune for the CYG. Edney doesn’t want to dwell too much on why Australia’s tennis system went off the rails. “We can’t pinpoint any one reason why the standard has gone down. What is good to see is that we have recognized that our standard has fallen and put a system in place to help us produce world-class players,” Edney said. From the age of 12, players are groomed towards becoming world beaters at the academies.
Last year was a good year of Australian tennis. The juniors won the Boys Under-14 World Junior title, Junior Davis Cup and the Fed Cup. In the individual events, Brydan Klein won Australian Open and Greg Jones was runner-up at the French Open. But Edney feels it will take some more time before Australia starts dominating world tennis.
“It’s not an easy process There is no instant recipe. If it was as simple as that everyone would be a champ,” Edney said.
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