Dear Santa

Dear Santa

Tennis in this country needs some help, could you please find room in your workshop for some of the old tired administrators ,those with very little to do that think they own the game of tennis. Quite honestly SANTA these people need to go and maybe you could keep them at your North Pole workshop for a few years ..probably about 10 years that should give the nation time to get sorted.

Recently Santa the NZ nationals were held Below I make some valid observations.

1. The mens title was won by Dan King Turner who is 29 next birthday, he was top seed and played the 2nd Seed Artem Sitak he is 27 next Feb ,Turner was fortunate he did grow up in a competitive junior background in New Zealand as a junior.We cant claim Sitak progressed through the local junior program basically he came from Russia.I had hoped the younger generation could of stood up and placed a claim to come to the fore for New Zealand Men's tennis.It did not happen they were all beaten by the two old stagers that hover around the 350 mark plus ATP.So with the current generation I certainly have doubts that they will achieve higher rankings than the current Davis Cup SQUAD.Time will tell , I HOPE I am wrong.

2. Congratulations to Imogen Golder who took out the Ladies titles from Paige Hourigan (15). Imogen is at college in the states but does not figure in the top 100 girls national College individual rankings.It was a substandard field and really showed the weakness in women's tennis in this country.Imogen is not planning a pro career...the eye applauds your vision .Emily Fanning withdrew from the event..although winning NZ Junior player of the year she plummeted out of the top 50 ITF junior rankings to around 95 this year as she tried to mix it with the best in the World. And lets get the record straight the WTA doubles title at an event in Mexico was weaker than a Grade 1 Junior event.The women's singles was won by a junior.

NZ Fed cup Captain had this to say about Hourigan " is the most talented player this country has produced since Marina Erakovic."I would say so, I would say so, and especially, she has got a really good game, but what really she stands out with is her mentality on the court - she does know how to play points."

Thats a big call Pavlina. Let's start exposing the youngster to quality opposition and work really needs to be done with her mental side, the footage used for a recent news Item on TV was to say embarrassing at the least, intimidation might work on the local scene but not on the Pro Tour.She is way too young for FED CUP.Beating the top Aussie juniors for her age would be an indication where she sits potential wise and that needs More exposure.Again Time will tell.The longer a good junior stays in the local environment the less chance of really making it.Grade 4 ITF junior tournaments are a waste of money and time.

Santa in your sack this year please have some presents that will help tennis go forward in this country big changes are needed in all areas until this can be fixed we will continue to be a tennis minnow.

*this blog is views and personal opinions , you may not agree on some of my blogs but then again you keep coming back to read

MERRY CHRISTMAS

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The Eye Previews the Nz Nationals Men's Draw...Main Draw Starts Today

 

The NZ Nationals gets under way today.I am sure over the next few days some interesting results and match ups will occur.

Top Seed Davis Cup Stalwart Dan King Turner at 375 ATP should start favorite for the Wild Card prize at next year’s Heineken Open.He will come up against Jaden Grinter in his first match... who will defeat Victor Klintcharov...I will bet my house on it ..but no one will take the bet that's the problem.Grinter 19 one of New Zealand's top rated juniors ...has not set the world on fire with average results at Futures in Austria earlier this year.He has pushed King Turner in their last two head to heads.The field has many former and present New Zealander's who have or are on college scholarships at American University's.Seeded to meet King Turner is Ben McLachlan who is from Queenstown and plays for the California Golden Bears-CAL.Ben has played some future events in the UK and USA and has had some great results.This will be a very interesting match up should it eventuate ...the old brigade vs the new brigade.4th Seed is Sebastian Lavie the same age as McLachlan 20.Lavie has been based in France for his junior training and has been playing Futures he is 794 ATP ranked.The good thing about this tournament is to see where the players sit amongst their fellow countryman.Cameron Norrie is 64 ITF junior ranked and it will be good to see how he steps up against the more experienced players. The one thing that irks me is that New Zealand Juniors spend far too much time and money playing ITF junior tournaments , if good enough get into the tough tournaments early I say.. Norrie has no senior ATP activity as yet. Lavie looks to have a good run to the semi's.

The Bottom half should be very interesting also.The third seed Sean Berman is an interesting entry. Berman is well known to many here commencing his junior tournament days with Coach Chris Lewis and then followed Chris to the states.He split from Lewis and had some USTA backing before arriving in Australia where they also helped him out.He is still listed as a USA player on the ITF players site. Berman has a 731 ATP ranking and has been playing futures with some reasonable results in the country's not on everyones preferred holiday list. So is this the start of Sean becoming a New Zealander again? or does he think he has a chance of the Wild Card. Finn Tearney an outstanding player for Pepperdine University will be seeded to meet Berman. College vs Tour I get excited when these type of matches happen in a local event. It gives the eye a good look at the different paths players take and then measure the success tennis wise.At the end of the Day the college players have a degree and something they can fall back on if the tennis tour does not work out. I RECOMMEND that tennis coaching is not an option for the smart ones.The bottom quarter looks like a cake walk for second seed Artem Sitak. Is 557 ATP ranking and he is coming off a futures win in Cambodia recently.In fact Sitak has beaten Dan King-Turner a couple of weeks ago at a local tournament. Also in this section is CAL's Ricky McLachlan,another player to watch out for is 18s National finalist Kyle Butters 15 who was defeated by Connor Heap also 15 ...not taking anything away from these two boys but really TNZ two 15 year olds fighting out the 18s final!!!On top of two 15 year olds who also fought out the girls 18s national titles.Great effort from these younger players , but the eye reads more into these results than the scoreline.There are some noticeable players that have not entered or pulled out, such is the climate for local tournaments, sometimes its better to keep with the hype than have a reality check.Over the next few days I will keep readers posted and no doubt my candid comments which are just my opinions but obviously a lot regard highly to keep coming back to the blog to read : ).

 

 

 

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You have heard the saying too many cooks....

Its with interest I read the new advertised position for a High Performance tennis coach by  Tennis New Zealand . This position will take in the role of New Zealand Davis Cup Captain and Marcel Voss will become the Davis Cup Coach. "Due to a staff restructure within its High Performance team, Tennis New Zealand has created a new position of High Performance Coach with a primary emphasis on talent ID and development but who will also act as the Davis Cup Captain working in partnership with incumbent High Performance Coach Marcel Vos who will take on the new role as Davis Cup Coach." With tennis in dire straights in this country is this logical? Yeh sure! these two positions will work in partnership! ...time will tell but history tells us past appointments have been a failure, do we need a Davis Cup Coach?" For me the money is better spent on the younger juniors and more help for their private coach whoever that is. WHAT DO YOU THINK? 

Tennis on the Move with Coach Clem

Piako Tennis Coach Clem Apted has a new Toyota from Waikato Toyota to carry all his equipment. Pictured is Clem and some of his ‘crazy’ kids at Ohinewai Tennis Club, a small Club with an amazing 60 children. Clem says this Club is a breath of fresh air, well run with a full programme of activities for all the members. The sub for a senior is an amazing $35 !! They have 3 pro grass courts and if it rains Clem can coach at an adjoining hall for coaching. The shame is in the Huntly area this is the only Club, Apted spends a lot of time and money trying to develop Tennis in poorer less fashionable areas, he lives in the hope that one day NZ Tennis will do the same. People see tennis as an elitist sport and many Clubs make it impossible for kids to play the sport, not so Ohinewai Tennis Club

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TENNIS IN TWIZEL

What a great location, and some great kids to work with.Today and tomorrow the eye is taking tennis to twizel.

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Happy Kurow Tennis Kids

Today I worked with Juniors from Kurow a Small Town in the South Island of New Zealand.It is always great to work with keen and enthusiastic tennis players.Did the kids have fun YES!

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Merry Xmas Rodger ......from Rafa

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16 year old Aussie beats New Zealand Davis Cup Team

I've been following a couple of younger Aussie Junior players pictured above.Nick Kyrgios 17 who hails from Canberra ACT and Thansasi Kokkinakis 16 .Two weeks ago Kokkinakis defeated  New Zealand Number 1 Jose Statham and then Michael Venus in the Bendigo Futures.The young Aussie has played more Future events on the Pro Circuit than the ITF junior Circuit.Gaining results on the bigger stage for me is a clearer picture how that junior will transgress to the Pro Tour.Far too many juniors play way to many ITF junior tournaments. The high performance program locally must take a close look re funding and results and the amount of ITF tournaments juniors are playing and where they have accumulated points, I mean if your not making it on the Junior scene then how the heck will you make it on the Pro tour?Most New Zealand juniors can gain a US college scholarship with a decent ITF junior ranking , I question this pathway if you want to make it at pro tennis, College Tennis Life is pretty good...is it tough enough to develop into a top 100 player for New Zealanders I think not. However in saying that it does add security and players come out of it with a degree and I think it  is the best option for most New Zealand junior tennis players.If you want to look up Thanasi's activity click HERE. Nick Kyrgios is the 4th ranked ITF junior in the world , he has been rising up the junior rankings with some great results including a narrow loss to World Number 1 Junior Filip Peliwo from Canada recently at the US OPEN JUNIORS.Some of my recent articles about ITF junior rankings are made relevant in this stat Kokkinakis has a  Junior Ranking of 1252!Kyrgios is 4.Thanasi on the Pro tour is ranked 754 Kyrgios is 831 on the Pro men's tour.Let me say that the team that is looking after these guys are making sure that they out there playing their fair share of Futures and for me thats the right way to go after all the only points that matter and effects your bank balance are points earned on the Pro Tour. Kyrgios playing activity can be found HERE

Davis Cup Chinese Taipei Vs NZ- Postcards from the edge

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The New Zealand Davis Cup team has been beaten in its Asia/Oceania Group I relegation playoff against Taiwan in Taipei this evening. The home team scored a 3-1 overall victory over the Kiwis with a win in the first of the reverse singles sealing the result as Liang-Chi Huang defeated Dan King-Turner 3-6 6-7(4) 1-6. After losing the opening two singles matches on the first day King-Turner and Rubin Statham kept the Kiwis in the clash with a four set victory in the doubles to take the contest live into the final day and the first of the reverse singles. Huang ranked at 353 won the first set 6-3 but then King-Turner with an ATP ranking of 357 worked his way to a 5-1 lead in the second set, including a set point before the home player came back to win in the tiebreak and then wrap up the match 6-1 in the third set. The loss means that after a year back in the strong Group I of Asia/Oceania in Davis Cup New Zealand now drops to Group II and will play Lebanon, away in February 2013.Pictured above is Bassam Beidas  who plays for Lebanon ...a little trivia when Head Coach in Egypt the eye worked with Bassam.

Davis Cup Chinese Taipai 2 New Zealand 0

New Zealand will need a miracle and are facing a debacle and the 2XU Compression  team is fast becoming the 2XU Depression team. Davis Cup Captain Marcel Vos did not play New Zealands top ranked player Jose Statham on the first day electing for Michael Venus ranked some 237 places lower on the ATP rankings.Again the New Zealand High performance team was outsmarted by the opposition , they used a calculator to work out their rankings, they offered the New Zealand Davis cup captain use of the device but he said he could work out their rankings in his head....Jin-Ji Ding a ling said he could work out that the players picked did not add up how could he get 237 difference so wrong i guess he ran out of toes and fingers! Mi-hit out and Mi-hit -in lead the crowd with "hey hey .....goodbye" and "hit the road jack ..."famous taiwanese chants .As we know in tennis its not over till its over and maybe the high performance team can get it together.

Taiwan 2 New Zealand 0

Yang Tsung-hua (TPE) bt Daniel King-Turner (NZL) 4-6, 6-0, 6-3, 7-6(2)

Huang Liang-chi (TPE) bt Michael Venus (NZL) 6-4, 7-6(0), 6-3

Update Score NZ VS Taiwan

Zhuxeuegao

Sorry for the Delay however my reporter on the ground Jin-Ji-Din a Ling had to charge his mobile phone. He also sent the text in taiwanese! So I had to Google translate ....and its bad news for New Zealand. Mi -Hit- In and Mi- Hit -out was also busy( they are in charge of catering and taiwanesefanatics) they had run out of Zhuxuegao (豬血糕).  Made from pigs blood and rice, this is a local delicacy and an acquired taste. and had to call the local McDonald's to bring around some cheeseburgers. Marcel  ( DC captain)was not impressed as this seemed to cause a disturbance and break Danny KTs concentration especially after he won the first set. Any how below is the Google translate.

The New Zealand Davis Cup team has had a tough start to its Asia/Oceania Group I relegation playoff tie against Taiwan in Taipei with Dan King-Turner going down in the first singles 6-4 0-6 3-6 6-7(4) to Tsung-Hua Yang.

King-Turner went into the match with a ranking of 357 while Yang is ranked 236 in the world.

In the second singles Michael Venus was expected to face 201st ranked Ti Chen however he has been substituted by his team captain and Venus will now play Lian-Chi Huang ranked at 353.- Jin-Ji Ding a ling

NZ VS TAIWAN DAVIS CUP ACTION

The eye has again secured on the ground reporters for the important Davis Cup tie New Zealand vs Taiwan.The draw and order of play for New Zealand’s Asia/Oceania Group I relegation playoff Davis Cup tie against Taiwan has been confirmed with Kiwi No2 ranked player Dan King-Turner to start the clash against Tsung-Hua Yang. Jin Jai Ding a Ling reports Taiwan are super confident they have their  lower ranked players playing whilst their top ranked players Jimmy Wang and Yen Hsun Lu are believed to be playing a social doubles against Bhupathi and Paes of India.

New Zealand has a 3-0 record against Taiwan and the loser of the tie will play Lebonan in the who cares group.Mi-Hit In and her mother Mi-Hit Out are in charge of local cheer squadS who have modelled themselves on the AustraliaN Fanatics with chants like

DO-RE -ME

ITS TAIWAN WE WANT TO SEE

AND TAIWAN TAIWAN TAIWAN

YES YES YES

I have made sure that the reporters do not get confused with the New Zealand Davis Cup captain, Indian reporters confused Marcel Marceau and Tennis Coach Marcel Voss.I am sure the NZ high Performance team is quietly confident although they class themselves as the underdogs.Mi-Hit-In and Mi-Hit -Out are in charge of catering also and although the stadium holds 500 capacity anything over 50 spectators will be a bonus.Jin Jai Ding A Ling will be texting me live scores so I hope to keep readers updated.Reports that the surface will be a Fast Hard court and should suit the New Zealanders although Jose Statham performs best on Clay Courts ( he is the Number 1 player for NZ) There is still time to change his name to " Jose "Pistol Pete" Sampras/Statham to try to fool his opponents.

Uncle Tony Nadal Says Coaches to nice to their players

Toni Nadal: "Many coaches are too servile with the players" 

'Without wishing to criticize, I see there are coaches who are too servile to the players. I see they run to hand them the water bottle or run to string their racket . That is not the case with me".

'I see what some players answer to their coaches and I can't believe it. With Rafa, the relationship is well defined. I'm the uncle but on the court I'm the coach and I make the difference clear. That relationship was always clear. And the secret is I am passionate about his success".

“(Nadal) is a correct and well brought up kid, very obediente, who let himself be guided. Intensity is Rafa’s salient feature. It isn’t that he trains more, but he does do it with more intensity. To me, that is key to his level”.

“The mind is fundamental in tennis, because mistakes are punished. In football, you miss three passes and the score a goal and you can be the best player of the match. I taught Rafa that it isn’t like that in tennis, because you do pay (for mistakes)”.

“The mind is trained too, not only the body. Since he was a kid, I never allowed him any dejection gestures”.

“Anyone who thinks himself special is not right in the head”.

“My nephew plays well at tennis, but he doesn’t think he’s a special being or superior to others. He’s polite and has his feet on the ground. Rafa suffered a lot when his parents separated, he suffers if he has an argument with his girlfriend, like anyone else”.

About Argentinian players “Del Potro has huge potencial. An injury cut the good streak he has in 2010, but he’s a complete player and I highlight his serve and his forehand”.

About Juan Mónaco, one of the “two or three best friends” of Nadal in the circuit “he improved a lot this year, though he lacks ‘punch’ is key moments. Rafa is very hapy about the moment Pico is going through”.

David Nalbandián “is of the tennis players with most class in the whole circuit. His return is incredible and it’s a pleasure to watch him play, because of how complete he is”. 

http://www.diariopopular.com.ar/nota...-los-tenistas-

The eye agree's with Uncle Tony ....but Blood is thicker than water and Rafa and Tony are family.Too often players and especially parents run to other coaches when some basic truths and training ethics are told and enforced.Time eventually does tell and Rafa is the only player on the tour that has had his coach from junior days to current.Most Coaches adapt to the pay check at the end of the rainbow.

Where is the depth of World Junior Tennis

Very interesting ITF stat's .From the above 15 selected countries we find USA and RUSSIA leading the way with Juniors in the top 250 .USA has 51 whilst Russia 39.Spain only has 9 - 7 boys and 2 girls.Great Britain has 22 - 16 boys and 6 girls.Of course whether the junior players can transgress to the Pro senior tour is the key.All stat's are boy and girl combined. France has 14 - 13 boys and just 1 girl. Russia's Break down is 15 boys and 24 girls whilst the USA is 19 boys and 32 girls!Canada has 10 4 boys and 6 girls.Will we see a resurgence by the USA based on these numbers?New Zealand has 1 boy and 1 girl  in the top 250.