Italy, US coaches and money behind Belarus’s tennis success
Belarus’s Uladzimir Ignatsik, 16 won in the singles, although he had preliminary ranked 12th. Andrej Karatchenya together with Italy’s Tomas Fabiano was the best in the couples. In the female couples’ competition, Ksenija Mileuskaja took the top award together with Poland’s Ursula Rodvanska.
Ksienija Mileuskaja currently holds the third position in the world rating. Football fans also know her brother Artiom Mileuski, who stars in Dynamo Kiev and Ukraine’s national team.
Roland Garros 2007 has become a true breakthrough for the Belarusians. Victoria Azarenko also shined among juniors before entering the ‘adults’ tennis elite. Mirnyi and Volchkov were the only Belarusians to stand out among the world’s best men tennis players. They would repeatedly remind the sports bosses in Belarus that there was no generation behind to take over from them. Yet, it seems like a new generation is there, and it is not the worst.
The European Radio for Belarus explores the reasons for this unexpected breakthrough of the Belarusian juniors. We approached Dzmitry Tatur, the country’s chief tennis coach, who was at Roland Garros and agreed to share his impressions.
“Simply getting there and playing at least one game is already a great success. Our juniors did not simple play one game. They won three top medals in four nominations. This is a triumph of the Belarusian junior tennis. It feels good.
Why? Because it means that we are moving in the right direction. The Belarus Tennis Association with the help of the leadership makes right steps in order to develop tennis successfully in this country,” he said.
But the European Radio for Belarus has learned that Ignatsik has long since been coached in the U.S. His mother Sniazhana who accompanies the son at all the events told our radio that the young player’s training has been paid for by a U.S.-based management company over the past two years.
“When Valodzia turned 14, they saw him as a promising player and helped to pay for his training. This supported us greatly. They believe that he could grow into a very good player. Besides, his looks and appearance could be suitable for promotion campaigns. They also like the way he behaves on court, because sport is also a show,” she said.
Andrej Karatchenya does not train at home, either. Being 18, he is already eligible for playing in the adult tennis. His father Yury Karatchenya tells our radio why Andrej still plays for the juniors.
“Frankly speaking, he would be playing among adults long time ago. But he was held by injuries. That’s why he left for Italy where he trained and received treatment during the whole year. Everything depends on a coach. Yet, we lack very good coaches back here. Our coaches have almost exhausted him, always pushing for good results…,” he said.
Why is it impossible for young tennis stars to train in Belarus?
“We have wonderful juniors. But in order to grow further, there should be better conditions and better coaches. That’s why we had to look for an opportunity to be coached by more qualified trainers. We had to move to America.
In January he (Uladimir Ignatsik) started working with a new Canadian coach. With him, Valodzia has made such a big progress over these six months that he would not be able to do over the past years. I hope that people would pay more attention to him in Belarus and start helping him more than it is today,” Sniazhana Ignatsik told the European Radio for Belarus.
Tennis is developing in this country, of course. More tennis courts are being constructed. Mirnyi and Volchkov played their role as well. But it turns out that we are not mature enough for the big tennis.
