Tennis and unable countries
Tennis is over hundred and fifty years old. Only a small number of countries have the full spectrum of Tennis players in their population. While the attraction is great as a sport, facilities, promotion, at times cost keeps many away from Tennis. An open-sport like Tennis cannot survive and will not produce good enjoyable quality of Tennis players to play with in ‘narrowly focused’ situations.
More and more countries are finding it difficult to keep the game attractive to all. With two hundred countries in the nation’s roll call, Tennis has become lable of prosperity in nations. Only the ‘able’ countries are doing well but unfortunate there is no room for the players from ‘unable-countries’ to prosper. New thinking has to emerge soon to sustain Tennis in many countries.
Tennis a European game gained immense popularity from the late 19th century spread like wild fire into all the European colonised continents. It was phenomenal growth of a sport which no other sport ever registered. [Cricket even today is present in about 30 countries] Tennis became a symbol of prosperity and elitism.
The appeal
The appeal of Tennis is in its format of play being a close interactive skill with single opponent and in partnership in doubles. Most of the court/racquet sport has this appeal. The convenience of the possibility to play with just one other is a great convenience in today’s busy world. Being mostly an open-air sport, court size, possibility to play at lowest intensity to high intensity, the social aura in its identity and the chess like possibility in tactics appeals to anyone who takes to it. Often it is the doctor’s portion for a healthy life.
Often outcome of Tennis match can surprise all. For sure we have all witnessed player with full array of Tennis weaponry destroy lesser player but what fascinates all is possibility and the ability of players with almost nothing destroy good players.
Some of the world class players like the Indian Ramanathan Krishnan, Philippines’ Ampong, Germany’s Steffi Graff, Sweden’s Bjorn Borg with restricted weaponry entered and prospered in the world arenas. It showed the game of Tennis is ‘Open without limits’ and having good strokes is not the only way to win. Labour, matured tactics and mental toughness are as effective as good strokes. Players can induce tactical value into their limited strokes with innovative imagination and perseverance. This makes the game of Tennis absolutely open and fascinating.
Local spectrum that was
British colonial administration made Tennis as the sport of the public servants and of their thriving plantation sector in Sri Lanka. This triggered schools to foster the game. In this manner like the prominence and attraction of a Totem-pole, sector by sector and players by player Tennis totem pole grew to full height.
Sri Lanka became one of the best Tennis playing countries of Asia. The organization that showed strength, innovation and perseverance to this growth was the National Association in those times. In many countries it was the association and still is the association that is holding the appeal of the Tennis high. Our Tennis has waned and we are holding on to the last thread ‘School Tennis’ as the sign of existence of the game in the island. Juvenile and age group Tennis is no match to the open standards of international Tennis competition or an appeal for the general public spectatorship. In local matches all we see are the spectatorship of school going players’ parents.
‘New-Generation’ approach
Sustaining the momentum in development places an immense challenge on individuals, clubs, districts, countries, world bodies and the professional associations alike. I was always curious how the professional bodies will cope with their loss of big names when they retire. Their loss is extremely sensitive in exhibiting entertaining and vibrant Tennis to the world. If an icon drops off the world tour appeal could crumble down. Right now both WTA and ATP are facing replacement issues for their elites who are in their last leg of effective sporting life.
Their answer is an experimental program named New-Generation Player approach. Here too they have problems. In last few years many such names came up and were unable to sustain their performances. Unfortunately that is not enough when global tournaments are in total offering over 250 million dollars a year in prize money. I can mention two promising names that appeared and now virtually not there. Among men it is Poland’s Jerzy Janowicz and from Canada women’s player Eugenie Bouchard. They are still there but not enough to deliver goods as attraction. Often mental toughness is cited for such rise and fall. This make the challenge of player development always walking on thin ice to any organization.
It is said talent is not rare but smart, hardworking, artistic sustainable talent is extremely rare. One way to make this talent surface is to have a large spectrum of people playing Tennis in recreation and in open competition. Numbers matures thinking and the national fire for the game gets kindled.
George Paldano, Former int. player; Accredited Coach of Germany; National, Davis-Cup, Federation Cup coach–. georgepaldano@yahoo.com