Australian tennis has new CEO, but the search for its next grand slam champion continues
Tennis Australia’s performance boss Tim Jolley is confident the country’s future in the sport is bright, but admits there is a “gap” between the aging crop of men and the next generation.
As the Craig Tiley era comes to an end and TA’s new chief executive Andrew Abdo prepares to start on August 3, the entire operation, from the Australian Open to the development pathway, is under the spotlight, particularly whether it can produce our next grand slam champion.
“We want as many Australians as possible to compete in the top 10 on the men’s and women’s tours, so thinking about talent development is critical,” Abdo said last week.
Nearly 1.4 million fans walked through the gates of Melbourne Park in January, but 1987 Wimbledon champion Pat Cash wants more attention to be paid to folk dance, private coaches and youth development.
At this year’s Australian Open, no Australian junior advanced past the second round; There are only three Australian men under 25 in the top 500, and both the Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup teams suffered disappointing first-round defeats.
Top 10 star and seven-time major quarter-finalist Alex de Minaur continues to do the heavy lifting, four years after triple grand slam champion Ash Barty retired.
Much depends on whether Lleyton Hewitt’s 17-year-old son Cruz realizes his potential, at least among this new wave of men.
Women’s shares are healthier. Maya Joint, Talia Gibson, Emerson Jones and Taylah Preston are all 21 or younger and performing well.
However, Jolley said a closer look at this tagline, in his opinion, revealed a more positive picture, including 14 different players in the top 100 in the ATP and WTA rankings last year.
“This figure was the highest figure we have achieved since 1989,” said Jolley, who has been in this position since 2020.
“There has been a fairly linear progression towards this peak since 2005, when the most transformative change in player development in Australia was made when Craig Tiley came on board, where player development coordination was centralized.
“Our youth squad is also strong. I think we have 30 players in the top 15 of the young players’ rankings in the year they were born. [on Universal Tennis Rating].”
The UTR system in which TA has invested provides each player with a rating regardless of age, gender or nationality, using an algorithm based on head-to-head results.
A beginner usually sits between one and four, while a professional player usually sits at 12 or higher; The world’s No. 1 Jannik Sinner is also 16.4.
How does TA’s way work?
Jolley describes the Tennis Australia national academy, headed by Brent Larkham and Nicole Kriz, as the pinnacle of the talent development pathway.
18 of Australia’s top prospects are at the academy; among them is former world junior No.1 Jones; There are more than 100 other players training in state-based programs.
Performance benchmarks are used at all ages with discretion and the aim is to develop players who are in the world’s top 100 by the age of 23.
TA also has a United States varsity program overseen by Joint coach Chris Mahony, who pursues 16 other athletes. Jones’ older brother HaydenOne of the young people in the former top 10 is among them.
Each year, the national organization sends 50 young players as young as 11 years old abroad for competitions.
Other initiatives include the Super 10s benefits program designed to develop the skills of top players aged 10 and under. TA has selected 10 private coaching businesses across the country as “talent centres” with a track record of producing strong performing players aged seven to 12.
Skill center coaches receive funding to help develop players and provide access to tailored workshops and networking opportunities.
Criticisms of TA’s transition program include not identifying enough players, more Australian Open wealth should have been used, late developers falling through the cracks, prospects having to leave private coaches to get funding, and funding for players born outside Australia.
The latest example is Mustafa Ege Şık, who changed his allegiance from Türkiye to Australia in April.
It was part of Adelaide coach Todd Langman’s frustration that former top 100 junior player Sarah Mildren, 18, had to pay to use the secret pitch.
Langman, who acknowledged Cash’s concerns about Australian tennis, coached Thanasi Kokkinakis from youth to the professional tour and three other young players will also embark on a European tour with TA this month.
“Not everyone can use secret courts, but in my opinion there had to be someone who definitely ticked the boxes. [with her achievements]Langman said this to this imprint.
“I want as many Australians as we can to get into the top 100 and top 10, but I’d like it to be homegrown talent. I believe we have the coaches and obviously the funds to support these athletes, but we’ve got too many handcuffs on our hands. We don’t need to make it any harder than it is.”
Jolley was unaware of Mildren’s situation but said he was trying to use TA’s funding to positively impact as many players as possible. He said TA did not pursue overseas players to represent Australia.
What is Italy doing?
The modern gold standard in producing tennis stars is Italy, which has four players ranked in the top 20, especially on the men’s side, led by world No. 1 Jannik Sinner.
The country’s top-ranked woman, Jasmine Paolini, has also spent most of the last two years in the top 10 and reached two grand slam finals, continuing a proud tradition that includes greats such as Francesca Schiavone, Flavia Pennetta, Roberta Vinci and Sara Errani.
Three Italian men (world No. 14 Flavio Cobolli, Matteo Arnaldi and 2021 Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini) have reached the quarter-finals or better at Roland-Garros.
World No. 11 Lorenzo Musetti and No. 17 Luciano Darderi are the other top-ranked Italians.
Apart from De Minaur, Nick Kyrgios (2022 Wimbledon and US Open) and John Millman (2018 US Open) are the only Australian men to reach at least the last eight of a slam in the last decade.
De Minaur, Kyrgios and Alexei Popyrin were the country’s top 20 men’s players at the time.
The Italian Tennis Federation’s strategy focused on coach development, early talent identification with a long-term perspective, data-driven planning and more domestic tournaments. Australian coach Craig O’Shannessy has been advising them since 2016.
Melbourne-based coach Michael Logarzo, whose business is one of TA’s talent hubs, said prioritizing upskilling coaches was something Australian tennis could learn from the Italian system.
He would like to see experienced coaches work more closely with their younger counterparts.
“When you talk about player development, it should be about how we develop better coaches to develop better players,” Logarzo told this imprint.
“The best coaches are constantly learning, thinking and adapting. The broader question is: Do we have adequate quality control as an industry? I would also question how many coaches in this country want to produce top-level players rather than just run great businesses.”
Logarzo and Langman agreed that having private coaches work together with TA, rather than splintering or competing with each other, is the best way to develop future stars.
The Italians have also opted for a decentralized model rather than bringing the best young players to a national training centre, such as Tennis Australia’s national academy in Brisbane, as they have done before.
They also supported private coaches who developed players from childhood with resources and expertise, rather than requiring them to work with federation employees.
The Italian federation hosted a group of Tennis Australia staff last year.
Jolley said Italy’s proximity to multiple tournaments compared to Australia was a key reason for the differences in how each organization operates, largely due to the financial demands that come with an elite youth player starting to travel.
“Our private coaches are trying to run a business in their hometown, and with the exception of one or two, it is almost impossible for them to maintain that level of support and commitment to a player,” he said.
“Unfortunately, that’s why players feel like they have to come into Australian Tennis programs at a slightly younger age than some of the players in Europe because of the travel burden.”
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