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12/8/09 10:21 AM | Johan Lindahl
After dipping his toes back into the sport with a seniors title last weekend in London, Patrick Rafter has some definite ideas as to how to stop the rot in Australian men's tennis.
"There's a group of us that all think the same way and we think that Tennis Australia could make changes and implement them a little better than what they are right now," the 36-year-old two-time Wimbledon finalist told Australian media.
"They're things that we'll put together and give to them in formal writing. It's not going to be something that's going to change overnight. All of a sudden you're not going to see 20 players. It's a 10-year process."
Rafter who has stayed well clear of the sport since retiring several seasons ago, appears to be ready for a return in order to aid the former tennis powerhouse with only a handful of men in the Top 100.
As usual, 28-year-old Lleyton Hewitt heads the list at 22nd, with Sweden-based family man Peter Luczak at No. 77 and American-born Carsten Ball, last summer's LA finalist, a distant 135th.
Chris Guccione, who occasionally has cracked the Top 100, has been out with an Achilles injury for two months and stands 136th.
Tennis Australia is coming under increasing pressure regarding the state of the game. But Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley said he would be glad to hear from Rafter, twice a US Open champion and one of the most popular players of his generation.
"We welcome the input, we welcome the advice of young players - in fact, we have more than 30 past players on our books right now who we employ or are in the decision-making capacity with the development of our younger kids.
"There are very few past players who are not directly impacting the future of our sport."
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a good way to measure the state of tennis in a particular country is to check out their Davis Cup ranking. Obviously, Spain is Ranked #1, which is consistent with the number of top players capable of winning the Cup. They beat Argentina in their home court without Nadal last year, which shows the great depth of the team and the health of tennis in the country. Many youngsters in Spain are starting to be referred to as "the next Nadal", and soon will be on stage at the big tournaments.
the USA is ranked #2 and Russia #3.
Australia is Ranked #15, so yeah, they need all the help they can get to go back to their former glory as one of the top tennis nations in the world.
You can check the current ranking list here:
http://www.daviscup.com/ranking/current.asp
grafight , 12/8/09 6:13 PM
The feminine Aussies tennis is not that well nether. The charming Sam Stosur (top 20) and attractive Jelena Dokic (47 I think) might feel a bit lonely on the tour. Can't see the forest for the trees. A bit short for that great country of sport?
spoonnie , 12/9/09 11:25 AM
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I'm so happy to hear this, since he's my all-time favorite player EVER!! (Redundancy is ok in this instance.)
So many legends from Australia, and wonderful people to boot. I'd love to see Rafter, Laver, Newk, Rosewall, Roche all band together. Talk about Aussie Rules!!
Rafterfan , 12/8/09 4:20 PM