The Pakistan Tennis scene that new PTF President Kaleem Imam inherits can best be described as a barren moonscape. He discovers to his dismay, that there are no tennis players below the age of 30 who could be called South Asian standard. There are no juniors worth the name. The PTF Complex is a crumbling relic.
The only good news is that the despot Dilawar Abbas and his incompetent crony, Rashid, are gone. There are some remnants of the past that have survived and that is something the new president has to deal with, sooner rather than later.
What the PTF needs badly is a fresh new image, that of an organisation which is modern, well-managed and progressive. It will require engaging technocrats along with managers who can set up a master plan for the sport. It will need to consider hiring a company that can market the PTF brand and bring in corporate sponsorship.
Then it will need to train and retrain the coaches. There are too many mercenary coaches who in the past few years have been running protection rackets rather than developing players. He would do well to consider the Swedish system where there are very few full time coaches. The coaching is done by educated people who hold jobs, and who come in the evenings to help out.
There are some people of this type available and could be effectively utilised. If the PTF would just provide balls, strings and a stringing machine at its PTF Complex, the players would emerge by themselves. They fashion their games after role models that they watch on television and the internet and only need the opportunity to play and compete. What they do not need are half-baked coaches who can cause more harm than help.
Already, a Lahore-based sponsor has announced a national junior tournament celebrating what he calls, “The rebirth of Pakistan tennis.”
It is hoped that more sponsors will emerge now that an energetic new setup is there. The initial signs of this new setup are encouraging. Imam has garnered the assistance of some professional colleagues who will bring a modern management style to the PTF office. The opportunistic, “us against them” style of the previous regime will now be history.
The tennis renaissance that Imam envisions will not happen overnight. It takes a year to seek out talent and develop new players. That will be PTF’s biggest challenge.
Champion Federer back again: It was a rejuvenated Roger Federer who came to the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London’s O2 Arena. Perceptive observers had felt for some time that Federer did not fully utilise his full offensive repertoire, preferring to stay back and win with his counter attacking and baseline play.
With the advent of new coach Paul Annacone, that has changed. Annacone, a top player of the 1980s and ’90s, was a serial net rusher. He would attack the net on serve as well as return of serve. Some of this has rubbed off on Roger as he follows his serve to the net more often. He is also aggressive from the baseline, going more for point-ending shots.
The result has been a revelation. Federer literally toyed with the opposition, losing just the one set against Nadal. Even that set loss was followed by a wipe out in the deciding set. Perhaps the court was to Federer’s liking, but it seemed as if he was a level above the rest. Should he stay healthy, Federer will be a force to reckon with in 2011. He could add a Grand Slam event or two to his record tally of 16 and draw him further away from his nemesis and rival Rafa Nadal. 2011 promises to be a fascinating year.
Glory for Serbia: France and Serbia squared off over the weekend in the Davis Cup Final in Belgrade. France had won the Davis Cup nine times although all but one had been won in the 1920s when the Four Musketeers reigned supreme. France won again in the 1990s when current captain Guy Forget and Henri Leconte combined to defeat the Americans.
Serbia had never won the Davis Cup and they were fully primed to do just that in front of a fired up home crowd. The French drew first blood with Gail Monfils trouncing a nervy Janko Tipsarevich in straight sets. Novak Djokovic easily beat Giles Simon and when the French fought back from two sets down to take a 2-1 lead, it seemed as if Serbia would have to wait a little longer.
But the Serbs came out all guns blazing on the final day. After Djokovic had sorted out Monfils, it was all up to the debutant Victor Troicki with the score tied 2-2. Troicki was all over the veteran Michael Llodra, winning the match and the Cup with a straight sets rout.
new era for England: England destroyed Australia in the second Test at Adelaide to win by an innings and plenty. This England side promises to be one of their best post War sides. There is hardly any weakness and regardless of the fact that some wags have called it a Commonwealth team because players of the South Africans and South Asian descent in the side, they look like world beaters.
This side is so loaded with talent that an exceptional player such as Eoin Morgan, yet another expatriate, cannot find a regular place in the lineup.
England fired on all cylinders, outplaying Australia in all aspects. This will be a difficult time for Ricky Ponting as he struggles with an underperforming team as well as with his own batting. He is not getting any younger and the hand-eye coordination is no longer what it used to be. Should Australia lose this Ashes series, this will be Ponting’s third loss as captain – a significant blot on an otherwise stellar career.
Our match fixing shame continues, with another video released on a local channel, in which match fixer Mazhar Majeed claimed he had seven players in his pay. Considering his earlier statements and the evidence available, there is no reason to doubt his statement. Pakistan cricket is rotten to the core and it is not beyond the realm of possibility that the fixers have contacts with the team management as well.
Also, considering their statements in the recent past and the odd goings on in the selection process, the rot could go even further. What is urgently needed is a strong, no nonsense chief executive, who would lead from the front and set things right.
