Everyone likes to quote the Serbs when talking about British tennis but it seems they are much more organised than given credit for. Perhaps LTA should have recruited Serbian coaches instead of the 'mega buck' ones that they did. :-
Serbian tennis taking the systematic approach
By JEFFREY DUNHAM Aug 5, 10:17 pm EDT
According to Serbian National Coach for Juniors, Dusan Janicijevic, this country of six million people has developed a cohesive player development system in response to the current popularity of tennis among its youth. "Tennis in Serbia is like basketball in the United States," he says. As a result, Serbia provides experienced coaches and matches them up with promising young players, although the facilities themselves may not be up to the standard of those found in the U.S.
Prior to his easy straight-sets win over Victor Estrella, Serbian No. 2 seed Ilia Bozoljac asserted that "the U.S. should have more top tennis players, but they do not have a system, although they have a larger population and better facilities." The gregarious and forthcoming Bolzoljac makes an interesting point, although the U.S. has many sports competing for the attention of its young athletes. These comments from citizens from a country where tennis is enjoying such a surge in interest should be food for thought for the USTA, however.
One example of Serbia's grooming of young players may be found in Nebojsa Peric, a 15 year-old currently traveling with the Serbian contingent. Peric lost in the first round of singles qualifying in the LG&T Tennis Challenger, his first tournament as a professional. Aware of the dangers of putting young players under too much pressure too soon, Janicijevic intends to take a slow, relaxed approach with his young charge. "I told him that it is okay for him to lose 100 matches," he says, suggesting that Peric stands to learn more from his losses than the occasional win at this point. He also added that "Peric lost, but many games were very close." Indeed, the young Serb showed much promise in his erratic, but occasionally flashy, showing. He clearly needs to mature and to become stronger, improving his footwork and shot selection. All of this will come in time, as Janicijevic is all too aware.
