Weird that Switzerland is so strong...

[gzhpcu]

Here we Swiss are, a nation with 7 million inhabitants and we produced Federer and Wawrinka! A similar situation some years back to Sweden, producing Borg and Wilander.

Why has happened to the traditionally strong countries like the U.S.A. and Australia... Must really be a lack of interest in comparison to other sports (money $$$)....

[GeoffWilliams]

Envious! That would be like the bay area producing those two. The only guy we ever produced was Brad Gilbert, who made it to #4. When I talked to him at Davies, he seemed to think that most pros use a vs/alu hybrid. Knew nothing about the dyreex string I had. http://www.stringforum.net/ratings.p...atus=0&limit=5

[nikae]

Same goes for even smaller Serbia - Djokovic, Tipsarevic, Troicki and Ivanovic, Jankovic... not to mention Serbia is on of the poorest country in EU. That's some weird stuff indeed.

[giancarlo]

Here we Swiss are, a nation with 7 million inhabitants and we produced Federer and Wawrinka! A similar situation some years back to Sweden, producing Borg and Wilander.

Why has happened to the traditionally strong countries like the U.S.A. and Australia... Must really be a lack of interest in comparison to other sports (money $$$)....

Phil,

Perhaps one key factor is that when both Fed, Wawrinka and Hingis where growing up in CH (and I), Tennis was a top 5 sport in the country. There were so many tennis clubs and courts (indoor and outdoor), and tennis was extremely popular. Also, what hasn't really been talked about much, but could be an important factor, is that the Swiss play almost exclusively on slow red clay for about three months in the Summer (unless you are in Lugano , and then switch to lighting fast indoor carpet for the rest of the year. That contrast of courts/speed, with the encouragement of the coaches to focus to play server-and-volley during the indoor season, creates a well rounded player.

But, just like in the US, Tennis is no longer a top 5 sport, and the numbers of young people playing are declining. The only thing that keeps the majority of kids excited about Tennis is, Interclub (club tennis). In my opinion, it's perhaps the funnest team tennis event that exist. Format as you well know is, 6 singles matches (best of three) with three doubles matches (best of three). Played on the weekends during the month of May.

Fed, Wawrinka and Hingis all played it during their Juniors years, as the points also count for your individual ranking. Doesn't matter if you play a junior or and adult, it's all based on ability--not age.

Thought?

[giancarlo]

Same goes for even smaller Serbia - Djokovic, Tipsarevic, Troicki and Ivanovic, Jankovic... not to mention Serbia is on of the poorest country in EU. That's some weird stuff indeed.

Keep in mind, that Djokovic was picked up and moved to Germany to train at the Niki Pilic academy (a great place to train in Germany, with very high level coaching). And Ivanovic actually moved to Switzerland and had fantastic training opportunities with Swiss Tennis. They had an amazing drive to succeed, but also the best facilities and the financial support from their families/sponsors.

[stotty]

Perpetuation

I have no answers as to why some small countries have such success. I do know years ago the Australians had players that came out of one small vicinity, which is kind of the same thing. I wonder if most great American players have evolved from just a handful of pockets around the country? No doubt someone on the forum could tell me.

I do believe in perpetuation. If a country can produce a handful of very good players, an "if he can do it, then I can" mentality can develop amongst the players just beneath, belief can follow and players "figure things out" and take the extra step...they get shown the way. The bottom line is ability has to be present or the river will run dry...and the way gets lost. Sweden had its glorious moment...then lost its way forever.

Just my two cents...which may be nonsense, but I honestly think there is something in it.

[klacr]

Phil,

Perhaps one key factor is that when both Fed, Wawrinka and Hingis where growing up in CH (and I), Tennis was a top 5 sport in the country. There were so many tennis clubs and courts (indoor and outdoor), and tennis was extremely popular. Also, what hasn't really been talked about much, but could be an important factor, is that the Swiss play almost exclusively on slow red clay for about three months in the Summer (unless you are in Lugano , and then switch to lighting fast indoor carpet for the rest of the year. That contrast of courts/speed, with the encouragement of the coaches to focus to play server-and-volley during the indoor season, creates a well rounded player.

But, just like in the US, Tennis is no longer a top 5 sport, and the numbers of young people playing are declining. The only thing that keeps the majority of kids excited about Tennis is, Interclub (club tennis). In my opinion, it's perhaps the funnest team tennis event that exist. Format as you well know is, 6 singles matches (best of three) with three doubles matches (best of three). Played on the weekends during the month of May.

Fed, Wawrinka and Hingis all played it during their Juniors years, as the points also count for your individual ranking. Doesn't matter if you play a junior or and adult, it's all based on ability--not age.

Thought?

Great insights and post Giancarlo. I had the same question as why such a small and quiet country has been able to produce very skilled players. Makes sense with the court speeds and I think the team tennis format is a great way to introduce kids into competition comensurate with their level, not just an age group.

Also, tennis is a popular sport (usually in top 5) in many countries. In US, there are so many other sports that tennis has to compete with, football, baseball, basketball, soccer, hockey, swimming, gymnastics the list goes on and on. Not that there is anything wrong with that but it certainly waters down the athletic playing field.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[gzhpcu]

Good points Giancarlo and Kyle. (I played 35 years of interclub myself, mostly for Tennis club Seeblick in Zurich )

One other point has come to my mind:

When I came back to Switzerland from the States, the sport was not so popular here. The only indoor facility was the Grasshopper's Tennis Hall. Also tennis was very exclusive and you had to play a large admission fee to get accepted into a tenns club. So there were not too many people playing tennis (this was the era were Dimitri Sturza was the top player).

In the States (and in Australia, I presume) there were lots of public courts were you played for free (where I learned to play tennis with my Dad). So poor players had a chance, and, for example, the great Pancho Gonzales started playing tennis. No such thing over here - it was an elitist sport.

Tennis began to become popular when second tier players like Heinz Günthardt, Marc Rosset, Jakob Hlasek and Martina Hingis, Patty Schneider emerged. Suddenly there was a boom and an overabundance to tennis clubs, which competed to get members, and dropped the high initial admission fee, and lowered the yearly fee.

So in the past, there was no competiton from other countries for the U.S. and Australia then suddenly, more players emerged from other countries, like Sweden, Serbia, Spain and Switzerland. Strangely all beginning with the letter S.... Hmmm.... could that be the real answer?

[GeoffWilliams]

Look at all the serbian/croatians from other countries: Raonic, Tomic, Mladenovic, etc ovic. Must be sword fighting genetics in play.

[DougEng]

Small Countries

Good points Giancarlo and Kyle. (I played 35 years of interclub myself, mostly for Tennis club Seeblick in Zurich )

One other point has come to my mind:

When I came back to Switzerland from the States, the sport was not so popular here. The only indoor facility was the Grasshopper's Tennis Hall. Also tennis was very exclusive and you had to play a large admission fee to get accepted into a tenns club. So there were not too many people playing tennis (this was the era were Dimitri Sturza was the top player).

In the States (and in Australia, I presume) there were lots of public courts were you played for free (where I learned to play tennis with my Dad). So poor players had a chance, and, for example, the great Pancho Gonzales started playing tennis. No such thing over here - it was an elitist sport.

Tennis began to become popular when second tier players like Heinz Günthardt, Marc Rosset, Jakob Hlasek and Martina Hingis, Patty Schneider emerged. Suddenly there was a boom and an overabundance to tennis clubs, which competed to get members, and dropped the high initial admission fee, and lowered the yearly fee.

So in the past, there was no competiton from other countries for the U.S. and Australia then suddenly, more players emerged from other countries, like Sweden, Serbia, Spain and Switzerland. Strangely all beginning with the letter S.... Hmmm.... could that be the real answer?

Yes, there are just too many countries all playing now. Australia still has a high standard of playing. The Australian Open is Australia's rare chance of international sports so it had a strong presence, much more than tennis in the US. There are plenty of other examples. Belgium with Cljisters and Henin. Australia is not a big country, still only 23 million but it still does have recent high ranked players and can be a force in 3-4 years or so when Nick Kyrgios matures a bit (I imagine he should break into the top 30 by age 22) and an older (hopefully wiser) Tomic in the top 10-15. Chile with a population of 17 million had Massu, Gonzalez and Rios. Think about it, within a population of 5 million, there will be at least 50-100 world-class athletes. But which sport? Maybe 10 in soccer? 3 in swimming? 3 in track? We can all name like 100 different sports but sometimes some are so small, we are unfamiliar with who is at the top. Some athletes fall by the wayside but if the coaching and talent ID is efficient, the 50 or so athletes can be developed and naturally towards those sports that are accessible.

[klacr]

Switzerland is strong and so is there Davis Cup team. Swiss will announce that Federer will join Wawrinka on the Davis Cup team this weekend vs. Serbia. If Fed stays with Swiss team all season they could be one of the favorites for a title. Stay tuned...

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[giancarlo]

Good points Giancarlo and Kyle. (I played 35 years of interclub myself, mostly for Tennis club Seeblick in Zurich )

One other point has come to my mind:

When I came back to Switzerland from the States, the sport was not so popular here. The only indoor facility was the Grasshopper's Tennis Hall. Also tennis was very exclusive and you had to play a large admission fee to get accepted into a tenns club. So there were not too many people playing tennis (this was the era were Dimitri Sturza was the top player).



In the States (and in Australia, I presume) there were lots of public courts were you played for free (where I learned to play tennis with my Dad). So poor players had a chance, and, for example, the great Pancho Gonzales started playing tennis. No such thing over here - it was an elitist sport.

Tennis began to become popular when second tier players like Heinz Günthardt, Marc Rosset, Jakob Hlasek and Martina Hingis, Patty Schneider emerged. Suddenly there was a boom and an overabundance to tennis clubs, which competed to get members, and dropped the high initial admission fee, and lowered the yearly fee.



So in the past, there was no competiton from other countries for the U.S. and Australia then suddenly, more players emerged from other countries, like Sweden, Serbia, Spain and Switzerland. Strangely all beginning with the letter S.... Hmmm.... could that be the real answer?

Of course, the Grasshopper!. That is where Fed's coach Severin Luethi played NLA club tennis for about ten years in a row. Also, do you happen to remember Beat Bossard? He is now about 48 years old and plays with me at Harbor Point in Mill Valley, CA. He was ranked around N3.50 in college days, and a member of the Seeblick Club as a junior.

And just like the Grasshoper's club in Zurich, there is the Old Boys Tennis club in Basel. Home club of Roger and Patty, and a fantastic coaching staff.
Also, one thing to remember in terms of the Swiss Tennis development was the fact that around Fed + Patty's time, Swiss Tennis started a program called Tennis Etudes (head of conditioning was Pierre Paganini; perhaps one--if no--the best tennis fitness coach). One of the first programs that allowed gifted tennis players to pursue their tennis and complete high school. This was when Fed moved to Ecublens (in the western and french-speaking part of Switzerland).This allowed both players to stay in Switzerland and not move to Florida.

[gzhpcu]

Giancarlo,
Do I remember Beat? Sure I do! Very nice guy. Knew him and his brother Marc, both of which I used to play when they were teenagers and in their early twenties... Played the Stadt Zürcher Meisterschaft doubles once with Marc, and we exited against Roland Stadler (remember him? He played two-handed off both wings, and once played a terrific final against Edberg in Gstaad.).

Small world. Give my best regards to Beat! I was in Beverly Hills from the age of 3 to 21 and came back to Switzerland, and now Beat is in California and is 48!

Beat and his brother were very talented players, and, both had a great sense of humor. We were all first in TC Adliswil, then went to all went to TC Seeblick. Still remember Beat when he was around 15 and first asked me to play with him.

[worldsbesttenniscoach]

Athletic greatness, tennis greatness, is possible for many different persons all over the world. Those who succeed are those who are given the proper conditions; those who fail lacked some of the crucial conditions. In high level tennis, quality teaching & learning environments are far more important than just trying to expose the public to tennis.

In the USA, the tennis powers that be hope that if enough players are exposed to the sport, then some of those players with "good tennis DNA" will adopt the sport seriously & go on to represent the USA well. I am all for greater exposure. However, quality of learning environment carries greater weight than does trying to increase the size of environment. American tennis needs to learn how to coach & teach better. MANY people actually can become great in tennis, given proper environment.