up his job in 2005, he has focused on
the performance of the most promising
juniors as well as on coach education. With
more youngsters playing tennis, the better
educated the coaches are, the greater the
chances that a determined young player
who's willing to put in the work will get to
meet a coach who knows what can take
him or her to the top.
And he believes better coach education is
the key to building on the success of those
African players who have shown that you
can make it as a touring professional.
"We've had some great African players
over the years, from the South Africans
and Zimbabweans in the south to the
Moroccans, Tunisians and Egyptians in
the north. Kevin Anderson getting to
two Grand Slam finals in 2017 and 2018
was obviously a big boost, but the legacy
of such players – in particular the three
Moroccans: Hicham Arazi, Karim Alami
and Younes el Aynaoui – has two sides.
"The first effect is that they have generated
many players who want to play at the
top, which is good. The second, which is
not so good, is that it has put pressure on
federations and everyone else because
people are asking for more. Their success
has made it seem like it's easy to get to
the top 100. Youngsters and parents don't
realise how much they need to sacrifice
to get to the top, and the competition is
becoming tougher and tougher. In addition,
TV doesn't show just how fit, fast and
strong you have to be.
"The same thing is happening in Tunisia and
Egypt, and even Burundi now that Sada
Nahimana has played in Grand Slam junior
competitions. And that's why the focus
is on coach education. Promising young
players need to be given the right approach.
A few years ago, we had a handful of level-3
performance coaches – now we have
around 40."
El Aynaoui is happy to be a witness for the
progress that has been made since he was
a junior in the 1980s. "If you see tennis
in Morocco today," he says, "there's no
comparison with the 80s. There are so many
more players now. Some go to academies
in Europe. The will is there, we need to find
the kids who really love the game, but there
are a lot more kids wanting to give it a go."
The magic stepping-stone for youngsters
in Africa is to get into the top 100 in the
ITF junior rankings. Once your ranking is
in double figures, the option of a place,
even a scholarship, at a decent American
university becomes possible. Ben Makhlouf
is even happy to let the US college system
take the strain until he has more funding
to help these talented players.
"We're trying to direct most of the
talented young players from West
Africa towards the American universities
pathway," he says. "It's too expensive
to make the transition from junior to
full tour ranks, especially when you're a
younger player. It's much better to send
an 18-year-old to college in America than
to put them out on the pro tour. Mayar
Sherif from Egypt went to Pepperdine
University in California, and we've had
some from the regional training centre in
Morocco who got a place at the University
of Pennsylvania, Rice University and other
prestigious schools.
"This also helps to bridge a funding gap.
I've worked out that you need about
€140,000 a year for seven years to make
the transition from being an 18-year-old
junior to a 25-year-old top-100 player. If
I have €100,000 and a child, do I put it
into seeing if they can become a top 100
tennis professional, or do I buy a business
to set them up for life? – it's much safer
to buy the business. But if four of those
seven years can be largely funded through
a course of study in America, then the
investment required is less severe."
The geography of Africa constantly makes
demands on those looking to spread the
tennis gospel. A look at the map of top-level
African junior tournaments indicates that
one generally has to fly to get from one
event to another, whereas in Europe there
is often another tournament within a two
or three-hour road or rail trip. The ITF has
tried to organise a swing of tournaments in
neighbouring countries such as Ghana, Togo,
Benin and Nigeria, which are all close enough
that, with the right calendar, you could play
10 events without ever having to get in a
plane. But if you're a promising junior, you
still have to hope you're from a country
with a good tournament programme.
If a good network of junior tournaments
is important, so are tour-level professional
events, says Younes el Aynaoui. "There are
barely any tournaments in Africa, only the
250-level tournament in Morocco. When
you're young, it makes a big difference to
see professional athletes performing at a
high level at close quarters. You need to
make the kids dream to raise the activity of
their sport. If you can inspire youngsters,
ITF World Spring 2022 35
"
The biggest
development
has been how
many countries in
West Africa have
benefited from the
ITF Junior Tennis
Initiative (JTI).
DEVELOPMENT
