I've had several interesting conversations with tennis journalist Joel Drucker about player development, the most recent at Wimbledon, when I was working on stories about what was going on in Great Britain and in Australia on that front. In this story for espn.com, Drucker reveals his basic suspicion of the concept of player development, and for the most part, I agree with him. So does Craig Tiley, the head of player development in Australia, who you might think would lean more to the side of the federation as nurturer. Tiley told me at Wimbledon however that he believes a federation should supply a pathway, but the only person ever responsible for developing a champion is the champion.
Michelle Larcher de Brito, the 14-year-old phenom from Portugal, had two disappointing Junior Grand Slams, losing in the first round at both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. But her next stop after New York was the $75K in Albuquerque, where as a wild card, she defeated Christina Wheeler, Jelena Pandzic and Vavara Lepchenko before losing, in three sets, to the eventual champion Rossana De Los Rios of Paraguay. Because it takes three pro tournament results before a WTA player can earn a ranking, Larcher de Brito just now has entered the WTA computers, at No. 364. Tennis Week has this story about how that stacks up with some of the best 14-year-olds of the past dozen years.
In Italy today, the two U.S. teams rebounded from their losses on Thursday to take 3-0 decisions against Croatia (boys) and Argentina (girls), and will play for fifth place on Saturday. Croatia was seeded No. 2, and to finish fifth, the boys will need to beat No. 3 France. Argentina was seeded eighth; to finish fifth, the girls must defeat No. 1 seed The Netherlands. Eleanor Preston spoke to Coco Vandeweghe about the Junior Fed Cup experience in today's itftennis.com wrap-up story.
Michelle Larcher de Brito, the 14-year-old phenom from Portugal, had two disappointing Junior Grand Slams, losing in the first round at both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. But her next stop after New York was the $75K in Albuquerque, where as a wild card, she defeated Christina Wheeler, Jelena Pandzic and Vavara Lepchenko before losing, in three sets, to the eventual champion Rossana De Los Rios of Paraguay. Because it takes three pro tournament results before a WTA player can earn a ranking, Larcher de Brito just now has entered the WTA computers, at No. 364. Tennis Week has this story about how that stacks up with some of the best 14-year-olds of the past dozen years.In Italy today, the two U.S. teams rebounded from their losses on Thursday to take 3-0 decisions against Croatia (boys) and Argentina (girls), and will play for fifth place on Saturday. Croatia was seeded No. 2, and to finish fifth, the boys will need to beat No. 3 France. Argentina was seeded eighth; to finish fifth, the girls must defeat No. 1 seed The Netherlands. Eleanor Preston spoke to Coco Vandeweghe about the Junior Fed Cup experience in today's itftennis.com wrap-up story.
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