PHOTOSPORT
New Zealand women's No 1 Paige Hourigan is from Turakina, one of several top players from the provinces.
JONO'S SERVE: We've just had the pleasure of hosting Tennis New Zealand high performance director Simon Rea at the Manawatū Lawn Tennis Club for an afternoon of junior squad training.
This is the second time Rea has made a trip to Palmerston North to cast his eye over our junior talent pool.
There is no doubt Rea's presence inspires our junior hopefuls and motivates them to work towards their goals.
I appreciate representatives of our national governing body making themselves available to visit the regions. It is not something to be taken for granted and the demand for our country's leading coaches is high, especially throughout the nation's major centres, where the sport's playing population is greatest.
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However, there has been a history of New Zealand's rural areas producing some of our country's top tennis talent, and you don't need to look much further than three of our professional tennis players to see the fruits are rich in the provinces. For example, New Zealand's No 2 male Ajeet Rai hails from Taranaki and multiple ATP doubles title winner Marus Daniell is born and bred Wairarapa stock.
You don't get much smaller than Turakina, yet that is where New Zealand No 1 and 2019 ASB Classic doubles finalist Paige Hourigan is from.
What I love about these examples is a sport like tennis does not discriminate against either your background or where you are from. It is a truly global sport and it almost doesn't matter where you go in the world, you can find a tennis club or tennis courts and you can play. Tennis players come from here, there and everywhere.
There is a recipe required to create a decent tennis player, but these ingredients can be found anywhere in the world and most of them come from within.
Novak Djokovic is a prime example of this. He's proof that even having to run and hide in bomb shelters mid training and in the middle of the night as a child doesn't stop you from realising your dream of becoming a world No 1 tennis player.
If anything, having to overcome such adversity and hardship can increase in resilience and mental strength. These stories definitely give hope to aspiring junior tennis players and suggest it doesn't matter what little country town you are from, or what your situation is, as long as you have what it takes deep down then anything is possible.
I have a couple of little "sayings" that I use frequently on the tennis court.
One of them is "fortune favours the brave" and the other is "you create your own luck". I am a firm believer there are no coincidences on the tennis court and that a player can take control of their own destiny.
Yes, it can be hard and there will always be obstacles that appear, but if you think for one minute that people have excelled in sport without having to do what is hard and overcome significant hurdles then I am afraid you are mistaken. In fact, as a professional tennis coach I almost hope anyone wanting to do well in tennis faces obstacles, because just as important as practising your forehand or serve is working on your mental strength and stamina.
❑ We are through the first week of the third slam of the year. The green grass of Wimbledon has not failed to deliver its fair share of drama and excitement.
The highlight so far is seeing the continual development of new American superstar, 15-year-old Cori (Coco) Gauff. The main draw debutant has beaten a former world No 1 and a prior semi finalist on her way to the third round. It would take a brave person to argue we don't have a future champion of the sport in the making right here.
Jono Spring is a professional coach at the Manawatū Lawn Tennis Club
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