Moscow. (RIA Novosti commentator Tatyana Sinitsyna.) Russia's female tennis players are currently the strongest in the world: Fifteen of them are in the top 100, and eight in the top 30.
"They are afraid of us because we 'kill' business in the West," Russian Tennis Federation President Shamil Tarpishchev said in an interview. "Our results deprive it of the usual revenues, mostly because laws in different countries are not the same. Besides, our athletes are not businesswomen."
Tarpishchev said the recent Federation Cup and Davis Cup matches in Moscow were some of the most difficult in the history of Russian tennis.
"Our team was plagued by injuries, and it was pointless to choose any tactics in these conditions," he said. "But we won nonetheless. Of course, the atmosphere in the team, relations between players and coaches are very important. Luckily, so far we have managed to avoid conflicts."
As for the problems of tennis teams, Tarpishchev said: "We have a strong reserve of girls who could play, and any combination will put us into the world's top four. The situation with guys is different. Here our resources are limited."
He said that in the last five years 106 tennis hopefuls aged 14 or above have left Russia to study in European and American colleges.
"They are lost to big-time tennis, because it is not possible to combine serious study with professional sports," he said.
Parents do not want girls to leave home, and so there are more of them here. Coaches think it is easier to train girls than boys, and moreover it takes three or four years to turn a girl into one of the 20 top players, whereas it requires five to seven years to get a young man into the world elite. On the other hand, women leave tennis earlier than men. Besides, if a girl fails to become a star, she may lose interest in tennis and get married. If men achieve good results, they keep playing till they are 32 or even 34.
"Today we have a reliable reserve. We are ahead of the whole world in our methods of training young players [up to 14 years of age]," said Tarpishchev. "Everywhere else they use the same pattern for every beginner. Our principle is different: If a young player does not like his or her coach, change the coach. Only in this way can one reveal a beginner's individuality."
Tarpishchev also pointed to another feature of training in Russia. Elsewhere, survival of the fittest is the selection principle for tennis players, whereas Russian coaches have learnt to correct the shortcomings of their trainees. They gained this unique experience way back in the Soviet era, when tennis was not popular and they had to deal with physically unfit children who could not go into any other sport.
The Federation has set up teams according to age groups: under 18 years, under 16, and under 14. Soon there will be a junior team for under 12 years. Vladimir Kamelson, head coach of the national teams, said that this new structure of youth tennis is already improving the quality of the Russian tennis reserve. Russian girls (under 14 years) have won the European team championship in San Remo. Fifty Russian teenagers have good ratings, and are among the ITF top 10 and 20 players.
Today tennis is making rapid headway in 52 out of Russia's 89 regions. It is primarily funded by governors, big companies, and bankers. A sum of $5 million was allocated in Khanty-Mansiysk to set up a Siberian tennis academy.
The Federation holds 1,057 tournaments in 127 Russian cities every year.
"We manage to cope with our problems with an annual budget of $8 million for the entire Federation. If we had $50 to $60 million, like hockey or football players, we'd do marvels," said Tarpishchev.
