Tennis and Patrick White
McNamee the perfect face – shame about mask
The article above appeared in today’s Australian.Zero comment on politics from me. But certainly did want to comment on some simplistic comments in the article as quoted below.
“Everybody knew Australian tennis was in trouble. A quick survey found only nine Australians who could hit the ball over the net with consecutive shots and none who could serve overhead. Bernard Tomic was hailed the next great hope, but only because he owned three racquets. But a deeper look would have shown a broadening base of talent that was yet to mature. More courts were being upgraded and if Little Lleyton’s best was behind him, Sam Stosur was on a run which took her into the world’s top 10.”
Whilst White does say there is a reasonable base, it still perpetuates the myth that none can play. Reality yes, is we havent got many players in the top echelon. Kids go overseas to academies and to pursue improvement. That has been going on for a while. People have been trying hard for a while. But what has to be remembered is that in my opinion this may be the toughest sport around to succeed in now. I have been in a number of elite sports and now first hand see the tennis industry. Tough.
It is an individual sport where millions of people are trying to squeeze into a few 100. As against the ‘good old days” everyone plays. And clay courts have become an issue added to the decline of grasscourt.
It is an expensive sport where you cant make much money at all unless you are top 100. Chances of that are slim. So how do you support yourself till 22/23 given the average age of grand slams and top 100;s is always 25ish. Well apart from some AIS funding real tough in OZ. No real club structure that supports players and just up to parents and some funding that seems to change all the time.
So in OZ you cant support yourself. And again forget people talking about years ago. Kids cannot afford to continue to gamble into their 20’s now. Forget the 60’s/70’s and 80’s and even 90’s. Added to this is the tyranny of distance. If you live in Europe or the States you can whisk around and pick up points winning a round or two and build your ranking. When your ranking gets to 200 to 500 you can then get into small tournaments and win a game or two. This then ups your ranking and off you go. So one needs to play and rack up points. OR be a superstar and go wham bam kazaam. Will happen once a generation. Hewitt? At least now we have a PRO circuit and Molik was able to rack up points and get going. Thats the system. You just dont play once. There are 10,000/25.000/50,000 etc and soon and they all require points to get in and the better the tournament the more points you make! Gotta get over there to make points!
As stated in the article there is a groundswell of players that constitute a solid base. But lets have a look at Stosur. She was born in 1984. So at approximately 16 she was 600 and only made the top 100 at 20ish. So even though she is a superb talent given she is top 10, it took a while. From what I have seen until 2003 this would have been a costly affair.Why stuff your career to play tennis? Play Netball and have some fun locally and get on ONE HD and work and study. Or play AFL and get delisted and play in the local leagues and make more dollars than a top 200 player can in a year! Amazing eh! Play State League soccer in melbourne and make more money!
YEAR-END WTA RANKING
Singles
Doubles
2009 13 7
2008 52
2007 47
2006 29
2005 46
2004 65
2003 153
2002 265
2001 271
2000 682 –
Not everyone agrees with some of the things that occurred around Tomic. But of course he did win the US Open juniors and lots of people are busting their butt to do this. It means a lot as long as he is developed properly. If he comes good ASAP great but he might take time. But he obviously has talent. Give him time. If it happens early take it!
If an Australian player is ranked 200 can he hit a ball over the net? I would say this guy is a far better sportsman than an AFL player who gets into Mike Sheahan’s AFL TOP 50. A TOP 50 player almost gets legendary status and clubs that do well become sporting centres. Odd! I trained AFL guys for 20 years ( and trained Track and Field & everything else) and there are some amazing guys playing. But there are some real schmucks who prosper within the system and get paid well and thats ok. People love AFL. But if one goes to the OZ Open and watches Qualifying and sees the distraught look on very good players from all over the world that lose narrowly in RD 1 of Quals. They have to pay coaches and bills. It is tough. They are great players. Not Federers but remember a player ranked 200 in the AFL is deemed a valuable commodity. So work that one out. Ranked 200. Knocked out of quals in a big tournament and losing money. Tough gig!
I think we have had a lot of real talent go through to keeper in tennis. Burnout, overtraining, lack of funds or just a bad year or two. Overtraining is a huge one. Too many kids train too much too early. Worldwide problem in the tennis actually in my opinion. Some survive! There is a better system.
A lot of thought has to go into how to 1) Unearth the GRAND SLAM winner in OZ 2) Get the 200 to 600 guys able to to stay in the sport so they form a base in the top 150. These are 2 different aims.
BUT they can play and lots of kids are great. Past eras mean nothing. The skills and athleticism required in tennis now totally eclipse the past. And soon Sports Science and elite coaches will invade the sport and we will see another jump.
Tough gig. Seems to me we have got a real talent base now coming through and lots of players pusihing into 200’s etc. Lets get these very good players up and make them exceptional players. But they can’t do it on a diet of PAL dog food!
loris bertolacci 