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Portland 2007 Russian Tennis is a Force to be Reckoned in the World of Sports:
President of the National Tennis Federation Shamil Tarpishchev Explains Why
Tennis in Russia:
A Popular
Russian Tennis
National Sport
Far from a recent fad, tennis almost every day now brings a
in Russia has attracted triumph. It would have have
Headed for Success
followers from Tsar Nicholas been a farfetched dream 15 or
II and Count Leo Tolstoy to the 20 years ago, but now there is
first Russian president, Boris not a single tournament – be it
Yeltsin. Grand Slam events or cup tour-
naments – in which there are
ALEXANDER NIKOLAEV
no Russian stars among the
ROSSIYSKAYA GAZETA winners.
What are the chances of the impeachment proceedings
MOSCOW
“I don’t remember any other
Russian men in the Davis Cup against him. Yeltsin and I went country whose players rose to
Final in the U.S.? on court and played. After- Recent years have seen many the top as fast as the Russians,”
The Americans have better wards he told me: “Shamil, it’s outsiders herald the “discovery” said Larry Scott, Director Gen-
chances. I rate our chances at the first time I didn’t unwind of tennis in Russia. Few know eral of the World Tennis Asso-
40%. Dmitry Tursunov can do during a game of tennis.” that, in fact, tennis has a signifi- ciation. Indeed, “the Russians
well on a fast court. I know that cant history in the country. are coming” has been the buzz
James Blake is afraid of him, They say tennis brings out a per- Count Leo Tolstoy played it, for some time.
and they have never played son’s personality and habits. had his own court, and devoted With the advent of affluent “new
against each other before. If What was Yeltsin like on court? an episode in “Anna Karenina” Russians,” many boys and girls
you look at the head-to-head re- He had an amazing quality, a to the game. can now be seen practicing
sults of others, Mikhail Yuzhny strength that characterizes pro- Next year will be the 130th an- tennis at glamorous foreign
leads Andy Roddick by 2:1. The fessional athletes and politi- niversary of tennis in Russia. academies, for example, the
only Russian team member cians. He had a capacity to mo- Officially, the game appeared Nick Bollettieri tennis academy
who has a negative balance bilize his nervous system. The in Russia in 1874, 100 years in Florida. “These rich parents
with the Americans is Nikolai worse the situation on court for after a British cavalry Major, attack you all the time, just like
Davydenko, 0:4 against Rod- him, the better he played. It is Walter Wingfield, patented an the Russian army,” jokes Bol-
dick and 0:6 against Blake. Oth- his opponent’s “advantage,” invention he called Sphairis- lettieri.
ers are scraping by. Marat Safin and yet he takes risks and he tike, or Lawn Tennis. Many attribute the boom in
can do well if he is prepared. So gets the ball in. On August 28, 1878, a mani- Russian tennis to the fact that
we have several options (ex- festo “On the development of the first Russian President,
cept in the doubles match: the How did you make tennis your lawn tennis in Russia” was is- Boris Yeltsin, was a tennis buff.
American Bryan brothers are a main occupation in life? sued in St.Petersburg. Very More pragmatic observers note
very strong pair). I started playing bandy, and soon afterwards, one of the old- that there is more money to be
then football. But I had a liga- est sports clubs in Russia — made in this sport than in any
As captain of the national team ment rupture, and when I came the St. Petersburg Cricket Club other. Even if you don’t become
do you often have to step in to home my mother forbade me — decided to popularize tennis a star yourself, you can make a
VLADIMIR FEDORENKO_RIA NOVOSTI sort out personal conflicts? to play football. Later I took up as well. more than decent living by hit-
Marat Safin (Russia) defeated Paul-Henri Mathieu (France) in three sets, winning the fifth match in the Tennis is an individual sport tennis, but only because they The new game was taken up ting the ball around with rich cli-
meeting with the French and taking Russia to the Davis Cup semi-final and there is always a more or used to play football after the by many young Russian aristo- ents.
less obvious leader on the end of the training session. crats. Many noble estates ac- As for Boris Yeltsin, he was not
team. I was lucky because I quired courts, sometimes also only a keen player, but a fan
A member of the IOC, spent two years studying the You once let it slip that you want- called “venues for the English and connoisseur of profession-
President of the Russian Tarpishchev hopes psychology of stress in sport. I ed to be a children’s coach. pastime.” al tennis. Yeltsin created a pos-
Tennis Federation, Captain
his charges will
became captain in 1974, so I This is my vocation. I have al- Tsar Nicholas II was a keen itive atmosphere around ten-
of the men’s and women’s
win their third Sil-
have a lot of experience han- ways known how to handle tennis player. His diary entries nis, attracting the attention of
national teams and Chairman
ver Bowl, the most
dling players. children. It is simple: if children are full of references to the businesspeople and journal-
of the Board of Directors want a coach to train them it sport: “played tennis after ists. Now that he is gone, Rus-
of the Kremlin Cup Tennis prestigious trophy in Do Russian women players have means he is a real children’s breakfast until 5 o’clock”, sian tennis players dedicate
Tournament, Shamil
men’s team events.
any problems in their relations coach. If they are reluctant or “played a lot of tennis”, “en- their triumphs to the memory of
Tarpishchev is a real magician:
The final match be-
with Maria Sharapova, who afraid, it means he or she
he can turn even mediocre
tween the US and
lives in Florida? shouldn’t be training children.
children into champions and The situation with Sharapova
he has turned tennis, until Russian teams will is very simple. She has never Do you get along well with your
recently thought to be a sport
take place in Port-
had any conflict with any tennis sons?
of the elite in Russia, into a very
land, Oregon, on
players. The conflicts were be- There were some problems
popular sport.
November 30-De-
tween parents and they blew with the elder son Amir, but that
up around Sharapova. The is all in the past. He is 19 years
ALEXANDER YERASTOV
VIKTOR VASENIN_RG cember 2. Federation Cup Final was old now and studies at an
ROSSIYSKAYA GAZETA played in Moscow in the au- American college in Moscow. I
MOSCOW
tumn. I was pleased: she had have no problems with my
to make an appearance in Rus- younger son, Filipp. He is 13
Both the Russian men’s and You are probably often asked play and stay below the top sia and be part of the team. and he plays tennis. Speaking
women’s teams have the top why Russian women tennis hundred they retire at 25-26. If She agreed: “I’ll come.” And of tennis, Amir was very talent-
rating in the world today. You players do better than men. a boy starts playing profes- she did. ed. He was very fast and had
have presided over the nation- Some attribute this to Anna sional tennis he usually stays stamina. But unfortunately he
al team winning three Federa- Kurnikova, who has shown that in it until he is 32. Also, the ral- Tournaments among amateurs, was unmotivated. The younger
tion Cups and two Davis Cups. tennis can make you beautiful lies are faster in men’s tennis prominent personalities and is not so talented, but he is very
How do you account for such and rich. than in women’s. It is 25-26 politicians, have become very hard-working. He can’t imag- ITAR-TASS
spectacular performance? That is not a simple question hits a minute with girls and 27- popular in the world. ine his life without tennis. Leo Tolstoy playing tennis with his daughters Alexandra and Maria in
It just happened that today our to answer. As a matter of fact, 28 with boys. So, any boy can You know, a long time ago we Yasnaya Polyana, his country estate
methods of training kids under girls are easier to train than make a good sparring partner visited the U.S. The Soviet Am- You have played with many fa-
14 are the best in the world. for a girl. Training a woman bassador there at the time was mous people. Is there any story
Why? Not because we are so tennis player costs up to Oleg Troyanovsky, a very keen that sticks out in your memory? joyed playing tennis,” “I person- the first Russian president, as
good, but simply because the We hold a thousand $50,000 a year and training a amateur tennis player. He al- I remember playing with Jack ally played seven sets”, “went was the case when our wom-
world had no need to develop
tournaments every
man costs $70-80,000. ways waited for us, and took us Nicholson. It so happened that to play tennis early and played en’s team won the Fed Cup for
them and we had. In America,
year involving more
to all the tournaments among I occupied his parking place at and sweated a great deal.” a third time, and again when
for example, 2,000 children
than 8 thousand chil-
It is no secret that almost all the diplomats. The tennis court is a Los Angeles stadium. And The pioneers of “professional” Yelena Dementieva triumphed
took part in their national cham- Russian tennis players train an ideal place for resolving when I came out on court I tennis, if the term can be ap- at the Kremlin Cup.
pionship. In the Soviet Union dren, 43 of these are abroad. problems. Besides, it is fun, it is was told: No, you can’t use it, plied to the sportsmen of the Some cynics boldly predicted
there were just 24 participants.
international. More
Yes, but none of the leading recreation. Our sport is unique this is Jack Nicholson’s court. time, were people like Count the end of tennis as a national
In other words, only the best,
than 52 thousand
players has gone abroad be- because you don’t need a lot of There was a notice there. Mikhail Sumarokov-Elston, hobby and sport following the
number one and number two,
kids are regular ten-
fore he or she was 14. And it is people, like in football. All you “When did he last play here?” Russia’s champion in 1910- demise of Yeltsin. After all, they
from each republic and each between 6 and 14 that a future have to do is find a partner of I asked. “Two months ago.” 1914, and Arthur MacPherson, noted, Putin is into other sports,
region made it. And yet at that nis players athlete is formed. Of course, approximately equal strength “Do you think he will show up a Russified Englishman and such as skiing and martial arts.
age the most talented kids are the process continues beyond and you can enjoy yourself on today?” And – surprise, sur- one of the founders of Russian People, the cynics said, would
usually number five or six. that age. Endurance and con- the tennis court. prise – he showed up within lawn tennis. turn their backs on tennis. This
Speed, for example, does not boys. First, girls are more centration are trained until 16 Boris Yeltsin, the first Russian minutes. We had a good laugh Officially, tennis was rejected in is not the case; tennis is more
develop until the children are 7 amenable than boys. A boy and psychological training con- President, used to say that together and a good game. In Soviet times, being considered popular than ever.
-
to 9 years old. Only one in can be stubborn and you need tinues until from 18 to 19. Last tennis is the only sport that general, tennis is an amazing a “bourgeois sport.” However,
25,000 children is endowed time to establish rapport with year, 360 Russian kids played can “take his mind off things.” sport. It’s a whole different there is historical evidence that
with speed and endurance him. Second, training is cheap- in 56 countries. If that army of It is just you and the ball, and world, it’s a way of life. Be- in private even Vladimir Lenin, Figures and facts
from birth, and has these qual- er. Girls start playing and if 14-year-olds were to stay in all your thoughts are on how to sides, you can relax and enjoy and later the Foreign Minister
ities in his or her genes. And they don’t make it to the elite, Russia we wouldn’t have the hit it. I remember just one oc- yourself all year round no mat- Viacheslav Molotov, played 1996 Yevgeny Kafelnikov wins
who trains children ages 7 to 9 the top hundred for example, next generation of tennis play- casion when the trick didn’t ter where you are. Unlike other tennis. Rolland Garros in Paris
for speed? No one does that in they quit early. They get mar- ers. I would gladly have sent all work for Yeltsin. That was activities, you don’t need This has immediate impact on 1999 Yevgeny Kafelnikov wins
any other sport, except us. ried. And if they continue to our children to all the acade- when the State Duma started mountains or water.
-
the professional game. The first Australian Open
mies in the world to have the Soviet tennis player to be “al- 2000 Marat Safin wins US Open
whole world work for us. We lowed” to play abroad was 2002 Russian men’s team wins
have a well-established sys- Anna Dmitriyeva who placed Davis Cup
tem of competitions with teen- second in the Wimbledon junior 2004 Anastasia Myskina wins
agers under 16. We hold a tournament in 1956. Legend Rolland Garros in Paris;
thousand tournaments every has it that she owes her ap- Maria Sharapova wins the
year involving more than 8 000 pearance there to Nikita Khrus- Wimbledon tournament ;
children. Forty three of these chev. During a visit to London, Svetlana Kuznetsova wins
are international. More than 52 the then-Soviet leader was US open;
000 kids are regular tennis asked why he did not send Russian women’s team
players. players to compete in Wimble- wins Federation Cup
But problems arise after the don. “What is Wimbledon?” he 2005 Marat Safin wins Austra-
age of 16. The costs of training is supposed to have replied. lian Open ;
increase considerably. The They explained it to him and Russian women’s team
world seems to be divided: the soon afterwards Soviet players wins Federation Cup
kids are trained in our country could be spotted at tourna- 2006 Russian men’s team wins
and young men and women ments in Europe and America Davis Cup;
are trained abroad. Through- “And now all those who have Maria Sharapova wins US
out the history of Russian ten- anything to do with Russian Open
VIKTOR VASENIN_RG nis, none of our athletes have ARTEM KOROTAEV_RG tennis are basking in publicity,” 2007 Russian women’s team
Davis Cup-2006. The Russian team – Shamil Tarpishchev, Marat stayed abroad. They all play for Russian tennis players Yelena Vesnina, Svetlana Kuznetsova, and says Anna Dmitriyeva, now a wins Federation Cup
Safin, Mikhail Yuzhny, Dmitri Tursunov and Nikolai Davydenko Russia. Nadezhda Petrova (left to right) celebrating their victory tennis commentator. Indeed,
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