ITF

ITF World Winter 2020 23 by, Swiss tennis fans would appear to have new and exciting names to follow in the coming years – they are the only nation other than France to have two players in the Top 10 of the boy's rankings. It is Stricker and Riedi who are the highest placed, but Jeffrey von der Schulenburg is ranked No. 15, while Jerome Kym – aged 17 and a year younger than the other three – is among the best 40 boys on the planet. Michael Lammer, who was part of Switzerland's 2014 Davis Cup-winning side, was appointed Swiss Tennis's head coach earlier this year after previously overseeing the juniors. He has witnessed the quartet's development, which began at 12-and-under level, first-hand. "Everyone at Swiss Tennis is very proud," Lammer told ITFWorld. "These guys have grown up and are nearly adults and we are very pleased with how they have evolved from an early age. "It is always the goal of us as a federation to have juniors doing well in the Grand Slams and this is the base for after. It means the work which has been done is good and the direction is the right one. We are really looking forward to what is coming. "How far it goes, we cannot predict, but the base is there. We have top players in Switzerland with Roger, Stan and Belinda and maybe they can go into these big footsteps. That is obviously not easy but it is a big advantage for Swiss tennis to have such role models." During discussions about the future and how established stars such as Federer, Wawrinka and Bencic are helping to nurture their nation's aspiring players, Alessandro Greco is a name which tends to crop up. Greco was appointed head of elite sport at Swiss Tennis in January 2011 and with Riedi, Stricker, Von der Schulenburg and Kym already showing promise in age- range tennis, under his overall stewardship, the merits of the 'group' were realised. For years, Riedi, Stricker and Kym have trained together on an almost daily basis at the national training centre in Biel and while Von der Schulenburg has had a slightly different set-up, he has frequently joined. The key appeared to be their collective strength, and while development occurred at slightly different rates each have had their moments, which has only served as motivation for the others. "We have been together a long time and we have played a lot against each other and trained together a lot. We have always pushed ourselves to be better and better," Riedi told ITFWorld. "Every time when we train together, we are pushing ourselves to the limit and that is big. The push to the limit is key. I am also really happy when someone wins a title, but at the same time that really pushes me. "We have always done this, when one has success, we are all really happy but the others want it also." It is a point echoed by Von der Schulenburg, who told ITFWorld: "It is a really good time to be a young Swiss tennis player. I have three great guys around me and we're all friends and it is even better to have a group like this so we can compete together. "Sometimes it is nice to be the best one but we are pushing each other to be Jerome Kym Leandro Riedi

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