When Asia’s tennis is concerned, Suresh Menon is an important figure. Former Davis Cup player for Malaysia, Menon is now one of the ten (10) Development Officers (DOs) attached to the International Tennis Federation (ITF), who are there to advise and assist National Associations of respective regions with their activities, mainly development of tennis.
Menon is presently based in Seremban, Malaysia and covers the whole of Asia, except for the region of West Asia which comes under the purview of another DO (Farah Dayoub of Syria). He visited Sri Lanka last December to conduct an Olympic Solidarity Programme. The Island inquired about Menon’s role with ITF and talked about the changing face of tennis in Asia, his long-running relations with the Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA) and what the future holds for Sri Lanka’s tennis.
Excerpts of the interview:
Q: What is the purpose of your visit to Colombo?
Menon: This visit is under the Olympic Solidarity Programme and I’m here as an expert to advise the SLTA on how to establish a more efficient and result-oriented National coaching structure.
Q: Can you explain more about the ITF development programmes taking place in this region?
Menon: Mainly there is the programme named ‘Tennis Pathway’ for the juniors. For that, the Junior Tennis Initiative (JTI) is there. Christopher (Bharathiraj) Pillai is Sri Lanka’s country coordinator of the JTI. Firstly, the programme named ‘Tennis 10s’ comes under the JTI. Then the kids who are over 10 undergo more intense, specialised training. There, the kids are also exposed to more intense competition. For that the ITF holds the annual Division-II 14-and-Under Championships. In 2012, this will be held in Vietnam in January. From there, players are selected to the 14-and-Under Division I Championships. In 2012, that will be held in March in the Philippines. When you take ‘Tennis 10s,’ the regional coordinators of the given country encourage large scale participation while identifying future talents. Then we will give those talented opportunity to develop their potential and move along the ‘Tennis Pathway.’
Q: What does involve your work basically with the ITF?
Menon: I’m the ITF DO for Asia. It involves comprehensive work. There are nine other DOs. I’ve been working in this capacity for 15 years, since 1996.
Q: What are your observations on Asia’s tennis?
Menon: Asian tennis is on the rise. Asia has begun to produce better quality players from more countries in the region. China in particular is doing well. It produced a Grand Slam champion as well (women’s player Li Na, the first Asian to win a Grand Slam singles title when she won the 2011 French Open). If you take international rankings, there are more Asians in both women’s and men’s rankings than any time before. There are more competitions coming up. Economically too, Asia is more powerful than it was two, three years ago. The developed countries in Europe are struggling due to the economic situation. That (the economic situation), has a direct correlation with Asia’s rise in tennis. We (ITF) feel India and China are important countries. They are huge. More competitions are being held there now. That’s why we have a DO, Doug MacCurdy, just for those two countries.
But still there is a lot more to be done. Asia’s progress in tennis is not indicative of the large population we have here. There are some developed Asian countries that are lagging behind probably because they haven’t built a good, comprehensive structure. The ITF will start what is named the Asian Development Centre in Thailand, one of our major programmes, for the players of this region to be trained in more economical and affordable manner.
Q: Each sport has its own way of progress. When you look back and see tennis in the 1970s or ’80s, what can you say about the present situation?
Menon: Tennis was very big in 1970s. During the ’80s, it was still good. But coming to the 1990s, there was a drop, a considerable drop, especially in the developed nations. A country like Germany which had a huge tennis market was not doing well. When society changes you have to adapt to those changes. The ITF understood this fact. During the 1990s, the world began to move at a greater pace and we needed to adapt to this situation. Like any other commodity, tennis too had reached its highest point and was stagnent. That’s why the ITF introduced ‘Tennis 10s’ where the kids needed to start tennis with modified equipment. That proved to be successful.
In Europe ‘Tennis 10s’ has become mandatory and kids no longer play with the usual tennis ball (they use slower coloured balls of either red, orange or green which are respectively 75%, 50% and 25% slower than the usual tennis ball). Earlier, many people began to play the game but quit before long. Now, there is a big boom.
The most recent ‘Tennis 10s’ competition in Sri Lanka attracted about 950 participants which is a great improvement. From 2012 onwards, it’s an ITF rule to conduct all 10-and-under competition with modified balls. If not, they’ll be breaking a rule!
Q: Now there is a problem with regard to Sri Lanka. The player base will drastically expand after the introduction of ‘Tennis 10s’. But the number of clubs and courts, especially in outstations, will remain the same. What’s the plan to counter this problem?
Menon: It’s a real problem. But the good thing is that the regional instructors have introduced the game to outstation schools. The plan is from schools to migrate to the clubs. But as you said, the number of clubs remains the same and the kids will again quit the game. You don’t want the ‘Pathway’ to be broken. We have to look at the economic situation of this country. Yes, there should be more courts in the outstations. It’s happening, but it’s not happening as fast as we’d like it to. A few years ago, you didn’t have a highway to the South, but there is one now. The war is no more and the govt. may come in to build more and more sports centres out of Colombo.
Q: Your observations on Sri Lanka’s tennis?
Menon: It is said that there is a drop in the standards here in Sri Lanka when compared with what it was there two, three decades ago. But still you have to understand that other nations have improved fast and not that Sri Lanka has gone down. I don’t say that the situation is ideal. There is more room for improvement. I’m here to talk about these things with the SLTA. Why good players are leaving for other countries and how are we going to maintain a good senior pool of players in here. May be the SLTA can have good local prize-money tournaments. When you know that you can make a living out of the game, you are encouraged to have a career. Here it’s not easy. In Spain, you have 52 Futures tournaments in the country. But this country is different.- By Revata S. Silva (http://www.island.lk)
