It has been reported that Luke Saville and Colin Ebelthite will play in the new National Tennis League (NTL) to be launched in Adelaide in November.
It seems like Tennis Australia is trying to bring European club tennis to Australia. Im not a big fan of the idea. I know it provides good opportunities for players, but it seems like a means to an end.
“It’s all go and people are pretty excited,” Tennis SA chief executive Alistair MacDonald said.
“Luke Saville has registered but I’m not sure which team he’s going to play for. There are a few who would want him.”
Instead of trying to keep the top players in Australia, why aren’t Tennis Australia just looking to set up more opportunities for players to travel into Europe to play real club tennis. Im sure Tennis Australia could set up a club in France or Germany and help the top players travel over, play for the club, then play a series of tournaments after the club season.
I’m still not impressed at all with Tennis Australia and how they aren’t really interested in pushing promising players into positions that will instant improve their games.
The reigning Australian Open junior champion is eligible to spend another two years bolstering his already impressive age record, if he wants to.
But, after mixing junior and senior events in roughly equal measure in 2008, the talented Gold Coast teenager would prefer to speed up his development by committing fully to the men’s circuit next year.
“I’ve started this year to play more and more (open) Futures and Challengers, but then again I’ve played also juniors,” German-born Tomic said.
“I think it’s time to put juniors away next year hopefully and just focus on Challenger level and Futures and getting my ranking up to where I want it to be.”
Tomic is the junior world No.3, with the two players ranked above him both about 18 months older.
In the senior rankings, he is 772.
While he hopes to steadily cut that number, he needs to rely on the generosity of officials if he is to play in ATP events or senior grand slams.
His chief aims for the coming summer are to make his ATP debut at the Brisbane International, starting January 4, and then play in the Australian Open later that month.
He will need wildcards for both, a prospect that remains uncertain, particularly given Tennis Australia’s recent emphasis on awarding wildcards on a merit basis, with Tomic only the 26th-ranked Australian man.
