![]() ![]() Swissinfo.ch: Turning pro is a big decision for a young person and their family. This content was published on Jul 7, 2016Why do some countries have several male tennis players aged 21 or under in the world’s top 500 and Switzerland doesn’t have one? There is a certain structure, but tennis is an individual sport so we have to be very flexible and provide people with what they need. We have the national centre where the best players practise. Then we have individual projects going on all over Switzerland that we support financially or with know-how. For the under-14 players we are trying to put them into partner academies like little national centres. Swissinfo.ch: Where does this money go? What is Swiss Tennis doing to find and develop young players?Ī.G.: We do a lot. So we just have to remain cool, work hard and believe in our young guys. For example my counterpart at the LTA has up to £80 million (CHF106 million) to spend, whereas I have CHF2.5 million. Other nations are also working very hard and it’s very tough for us. Our good players are young – they are between 17 and 19 years old – so they need a few more years to break into the top 100. The average age is 27-28 so it’s a really long way to go. For male players in particular it is very, very difficult to get into the top 100. ![]() I don’t think we’re doing anything wrong we’re working very hard. Why?Ī.G.: I don’t think there is a reason. Several other countries with populations similar to Switzerland are doing better. Swissinfo.ch: Antoine Bellier, the only Swiss player aged 21 or under in the top 800, is ranked 527. ![]() It’s maybe not the role of the federation to make champions, rather to make very solid top 200 players and then the champion then goes on his own. Of course we have some talented male players – four or five of them are pretty good – but I don’t know if they’re going to be great champions. Alessandro Greco: Well, I’m happy in that Roger and Stan are still motivated and still at the top. ![]()
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