January 17, 2020

Ukrainian pro sports update: tennis
Ukraine’s thriving tennis talent

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For a couple of years now, many of the latest faces emerging on the WTA Tour and the ITF Junior circuit have Ukrainian names. Elina Svitolina has led Ukraine’s tennis to new heights with her established status in the Top 10, with her WTA Finals win in 2018 being her biggest trophy to date. Lesia Tsurenko and Kateryna Kozlova have firmly established themselves as Top 100 performers.

More young talent is snapping at their heels – 18-year-old Dayana Yastremska, already a two-time WTA titlist; 16-year-old Marta Kostyuk, who debuted into the third round of the Australian Open in 2018; 15-year-old Daria Lopatetska, who has gone 40-7 on the ITF World Tour, including five titles and a jump to No. 251 since her appearance in June 2018.

The list continues with 22-year-old Anhelina Kalinina, who pushed Sloane Stephens to the brink of defeat at the U.S. Open; 19-year-old Katarina Zavatska, who reached her maiden WTA quarterfinal in Rabat, Morocco, (2018); 17-year-old Daria Snigur, 2019 Wimbledon Junior champion/winner of four ITF titles in the span of six months; and 16-year-old Lyubov Kostenko, a Top 50 junior prospect who reached the final of her only ITF World Tour outing last October 2018.

One or two of these players would be newsworthy, but the large number of emerging young Ukrainians is rather amazing, especially considering that the last 20 years have seen political and economic upheaval at home in the form of several revolutions and ongoing military battles against Russia-led forces.

It is important to understand that outstanding young tennis talent does not appear in a few years’ time. The process takes dozens of years – the Ukrainian tennis federation and Ukraine are 25 years old. With the USSR’s demise, doors opened and it took a decade to initiate the process. Back in the Soviet days there was little opportunity to pursue a sport and almost no freedom of movement.

Even though tennis as a profession in Ukraine was historically closed off, it was always very popular as a pastime. Ukraine was looked upon as a tennis republic within the Soviet Union. The Kyiv tennis school had the reputation of being the top tennis institution, the climate was very conducive, there were nice cities with decent tennis courts and Ukrainian people were passionate about the sport. Although Ukraine regained its independence only 28 years ago, tennis traditions are more than 100 years old in Ukraine.

In the mid-1990s, when Ukraine began hosting tournaments at lower levels, the country’s love for the sport was evident. An ITF $10,000 event in 1993 drew large crowds, and Ukraine’s debut as a Davis Cup host against Norway in 1996 drew daily admissions of 3,000 persons despite not featuring a Top 50 player.

Twenty years later we saw the emergence of several successful pro players like the Bondarenko sisters, who reached the Top 30, and former Top 100 players Tatiana Perebiynis, Mariya Koryttseva, Viktoriya Kutuzova and Yuliana Fedak. However, there was a lack of experience among the specialists and coaches managing the national Fed Cup team. Those in charge were not interested in the development of tennis for producing good players.

Player development

To improve the development of tennis players it was necessary to incorporate a system matching an affluent businessman with a rising talent. Business owner Yuriy Sapronov provided the funding, while Vsevolod Kevlych took over the management of a 13-year-old Elina Svitolina.

The standard was to do everything at top level, with money being no object. Svitolina’s team had a personal coach, personal physio, personal fitness coach, private tennis courts and a swimming pool – everything she needed to go far in the juniors and the pros.

The elite training program boosted not only Svitolina’s game, but her mental well-being. In the past, even sponsored Ukrainian juniors had traveled with financial uncertainty. When Svitolina traveled around the world, she knew she would receive anything she required. Her win at the French Open juniors in 2010 was proof the elite program worked.

Unlimited spending is a great idea, but not realistic for the Ukrainian Tennis Federation, which has a budget of about $750,000 per year. Instead, the federation attempts to connect rising talent with the business community and rich individual sponsors.

The last decade has seen personnel changes within the Ukrainian Tennis Federation. Investment and funding increased under Vadim Shulman from 2006 to 2011, until he lost interest when the careers of his protegees, twin sisters Lyudmyla and Nadia Kichenok, stalled. Sergiy Lagur and Evgeniy Zukin then took over with the goal of improving communication between the federation and those involved, acting more like a union, assisting anyone with needs. Instead of being interested in profiting from tennis, there is an interest in the development of a professional sport.

The source of the talent pool can be found where this all began: in Ukraine’s tennis tradition which existed in the Soviet days and continued after independence right through today. At the turn of the century, the amateur leagues led the way. National amateur leagues were established with players traveling as professionals from town to town for tournaments.

Some people play, others become passionate fans, all of them push their children to be tennis players. It became a professional community from its inception – professional referees, managed like a pro tour, a gathering of businessmen, celebrities, tennis lovers – in many ways, a lifestyle.

Some involved in this community invest in players, while others contribute by building tennis courts in their home towns. Most of the young talent evolves from “dynasties” – families that revolve around tennis for generations, often accepting the baton from parents who struggled through Soviet times.

The Bondarenkos had a mother as a coach, the Medvedevs (Andrei and Natalia) had both parents and an uncle as coaches, Zavatska’s parents played in the amateur leagues. Lopatetska stands out as a young talent without a tennis family, an exception to the norm, whose parents gave her to an experienced coach without any interference.

Ironically, the majority of the potential world-class players in the pipeline are girls. Perhaps this should not be surprising, as Ukraine is seen as a matriarchal country, where women are viewed as stronger than men. Ukraine’s thriving grass-roots tennis scene has become a shining example for richer federations to emulate while creating a generation of young players with lots of hunger and ambition. This was quite evident in February 2019 during Fed Cup play in Poland.

Fed Cup influence

Kostyuk stood out for her maturity, according to Fed Cup manager and ex-WTA world No.79 Olga Savchuk. In post-Fed Cup discussions with the media, Savchuk described Kostyuk as super mature for her age with a different game, where she can slide, can run, can come in and has really good hands. Lopatetska is really tall, very strong, powerful, but doesn’t just hit without any thought in her head, using the court well. Yatremska was referred to as the most professional on the court Savchuk has ever seen. After missing a ball, Yastremska never reacts, remaining focused and organized on the court.

The intra-Fed Cup team competition was intense, with all of the young ladies showing sadness when not picked to play. Kostyuk and Yastremska wanted to play every singles and doubles match, not caring about fatigue or the need to fairly distribute match play. They displayed tremendous motivation and confidence in themselves, great attributes for team-building. Each teenage player had a personal goal of being the best.

As is the case when many elite talents come along in a generation, healthy rivalries are developed. Each one is intent on being better than the other, which drives one and all toward maximum improvement. One really good junior player could seemingly relax and rest on her laurels, but knowing Lopatetska, Kostenko and others are in the pipeline means pushing each other to the limit. A virtuous cycle has been established, full of up-and-coming potential WTA stars.

The Ukrainian tennis project is far from completed, although the infrastructure at home has improved to the point that there are more places to train than there were 10 years ago. The next step should be a national tennis center that would prevent talent from leaving the country, as Svitolina has done. A national center would retain players reaching the top level of the game and would also keep ex-professionals active and relevant within the community. An improved national economy with funding for sports projects would make this a reality.

In the Western media, it is often convenient to describe Eastern European success as surviving a struggle, from Maria Sharapova’s arrival in the U.S. almost penniless to Ana Ivanovic training in an empty swimming pool. Savchuk reflected on the quality of Britain’s National Tennis Center in London after training there early in the spring of 2019, astounded by the quality of its facilities. She acknowledges that Ukraine’s players have had to push themselves harder, not privied to high-end training centers, but disagrees it is necessary.

Young aspiring Ukrainian tennis talents should not struggle, but instead continue their growth in a community-grass roots base that thrives thanks to its passion for the sport.

 

Ihor Stelmach may be reached at [email protected].

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