Given the wide range of elite and development tennis tournaments on offer in Mexican territorya big question keeps arising among the fans of this sport: Why doesn’t Mexico have better positioned singles players in the ATP and WTA world rankings?
The contrast is clear and the word ironic enters the debate. They have been far away the times when Yolanda Ramírez and Rafael Osuna represented national tennis on the big stages, pre-open era; or that, together with Antonio Palafox, Pancho Contreras and Mario Llamas, they took Mexico to the Davis Cup Final in 1962.
A long term plan
MILLENNIUM–the hobby spoke with some tournament promoters and the current director of the Mexican Tennis Federation, Carlos González, to learn in detail about the plan that exists to once again have outstanding tennis players outside the doubles category, where Giuliana Olmos and Santiago González have stood up for the country in the last decade.
“In the year and a half that we have been at the head of the Federation we have traced a very clear path, which is to begin to massify tennis and have a greater number of Mexican players with a clearer path to reach professionalism. The first thing we are doing is the training part, we have already certified bronze as a country, the International Federation allows us to give certifications for coaches. We are giving courses where we have projected more than 84 throughout the country, Veracruz is leading along with Michoacánsince it has 90% of its trainers certified”, said Carlos González.
There is an important difference between carrying out the logistics so that world elite tournaments can be held in Mexico –thanks to private investment– and the program to develop national talent, which for years was null.
In this regard, Gustavo Santoscoy, director of the WTA tournaments in Guadalajara, details: “Each one has their function. The FMT is the highest institutional body that must organize tournaments and tours, which must have national coaches watching the development of their players. If we talk about a promoter, we do a very important job in making the big stars known and the media see them and they talk about tennis. Each one of us involved in the sport, we have to make a synergy, each one to develop what corresponds to them. We are a blessed country of sports and we should never underestimate what Mexican tennis players have done”.
On the other hand, Carlos González releases figures about 2022 in national sport: “We grew from having 14 international ITF Junior tournaments, to having just over 36 tournaments with which we are going to close this year in all categories. This has made our international player base grow from 14 to more than 240 players, men and women with international ranking. The next step is to look for it in professionalism. We have 38 Future tournaments where we want young people to reach that stage and have more in the ATP ranking.
The issue that everyone criticizes that we don’t have Mexicans is because unlike France, Spain, Italy or the United States, they have between 60 and 80 players who participate in the ranking. It is very expensive, we did not have the platform that we now have in Mexico, but we can already massify.”
the generation there is
In this 2022, Fernanda Contreras established herself as the most important face of Mexican tennis –in singles– by advancing consecutively to the main draw of Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open; in Paris he advanced to the second round, while in London and New York he lost his first game.
That does not take away from the history of its year, Well, since the days of Angélica Gavaldón in the 90s, no one had managed to play three Grand Slams in a row.yes It is expected that in 2023 she will maintain the same consistency and it will not happen to her like Renata Zarazúa, who after playing Roland Garros in 2020 has struggled to stay.
Another Mexican that should be paid attention to is the youthful Rodrigo Pacheco, who began to give something to talk about after reaching the quarterfinals in the junior category at the Australian Open, later he repeated the instance at Roland Garros and for the same reason he has received invitations to dispute the qualifiers at the Mexican Tennis Open in Acapulco and the Los Cabos Open, where he played his first ATP game.
“We have youngsters like Rodrigo Pacheco who is already in the Top 10 in his category, we have 10 players under the age of 18 in the Top 50 in the world and that’s how we go. We have worked a lot with the International Federation and we already see a small growth in juniors. We lose most of our young people over the age of 18, the stage that follows is to follow up in the universities of the US and Mexico so that they enter the circuit”, says Carlos González.
Hernán Garza, director of the Monterrey Open, comments: “I am convinced that with everything that has been done, speaking of infrastructure, we have everything to achieve it, there are great facilities for many sports. There are no excuses, if Mexican players don’t come out, it’s because we haven’t done something right. For our part, we have always been constant, we are supporting several tennis players who are outside the country here in Monterrey”.
Special mention deserves Giuliana Olmos, who has shone in doubles and thanks to her talent is currently ranked 12th in the category. She has won two Masters 1000 and is the best Mexican exponent at the moment.
the next generation
Faced with these flashes, the fan seeks to know what is coming in the future and in this regard Carlos González specifies: “Those who are 14 or 16 years old are having a change, it will take them six or eight years to see their potential. We are sure that we are on the right track, but it is the coaches who now have to work harder, so that they have more experience. We give them the necessary weapons to better develop our talents. In two years we want to have 100% with certifications. The project as a circuit is already in Mexico. I can assure you that if it is not the best, we have one of the three best development platforms worldwide”.
In the end Gustavo Santoscoy concludes “I believe that the issue of our players is cyclical, there are groups that have great talent, in terms of generations and ages. So right now Mexico has all the potential to develop high-level players in the same country, there are great tennis coaches, good academies throughout the country. A structure of national tournaments through the FMT very well carried out, and great professional ATP and WTA events, so it is a matter of time, before someone takes off, as we have seen in other sports such as golf. We must support the federations, the only way they become strong is through supportive members.”
MGC
