Aussie Juniors - Have we turned the corner?

Oz_Rocket

Professional
http://www.tennis.com.au/news/2014/09/09/aussie-juniors-lead-the-world

The article has a fair "pat ourselves on the back" tone but it does raise some good points. While I acknowledge it isn't a great indicator of adult tour success, in the last 8 years Australia has taken 8 junior grand slam singles titles, 2 more than the second place US.

I've only been back in the tennis scene for a few years thanks to my kids and while things aren't perfect, I can see how they are really trying to grow the game and develop elite players.

Even little things like trying to get more clay and hardcourts instead of the truly awful synthetic grass that seems to be everywhere these days. I've had a few parents of top level kids say to me they believe part of the reason for our most populous state and city, NSW and Sydney, not doing well in recent national titles is they have more synthetic grass there than any other state. So when they come up against kids who have played mostly on clay or hardcourt they just don't have the same ability to construct a point or use pace.

I've also noticed things like sending our elite juniors overseas more, having a national 10/U team competition that allows coaching and encouraging kids to develop peer groups to push each other harder.

Time will tell if it translates to a regular top 10 player(s), grand slam champions or a Davis Cup win but compared to where we were 10 years ago it is a definite improvement.
 
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