Dubai: Former world number seven Andrea Temesvari is likely to be involved in a junior tennis development programme in the UAE.
Temesvari, who is in Dubai this week with a couple of players from her native Hungary, has been in informal talks with top officials from Tennis Emirates, governing body for tennis in the UAE.
The 50-year-old, who made it to her highest ranking of world number seven in January 1984, is willing to draw on her ample experience to be involved in a project of this nature to develope juniors in the UAE.
Her eldest daughter Timea Visontai had made it to the second round of the ongoing 15th ITF Dubai Junior Championships at the Dubai Tennis Stadium. Her other two kids, Marko and Milan, are also keen about joining the junior circuit.
In recent months, Temesvari has worked with some of the top players from Hungary on the WTA including Timea Babos and promising teengar Dalma Galfi. Her first love has always been working with the young ones though, which made Temesvari start off with promising juniors, including her daughter Timea, on the junior circuit.
“Having three tennis-playing kids of my own along with the experience of training at my academy has given me a unique dimension to tapping talent. Being here for just a few days is enough to show that there are a lot of opportunities here and we can easily work on the juniors and prepare UAE stars for the future,” Temesvari told Gulf News.
“Why is Dubai the destination for most of the top players in the world? It means that Dubai and the UAE is doing something right for them. Why can we not turn this attention on to the youngsters here and give them a reason first to love tennis,” Temesvari suggested.
The former top player has already started discussions with Tennis Emirates to attract youngsters. “Tennis needs numbers. In my academy I have 150 to 200 kids willing to pay and play. You get some of the best players coming. You’ve got to get them on board and attract the youngsters to the sport who will say ‘why can’t I play like these big players’,” Temesvari said.
“This entire process won’t be easy. It will take years and we will need the have patience,” she added.
Temesvari is also waiting to see some more top players come out of Hungary. “Hungary has had some promising names coming through, but they were unable to keep the consistency,” she observed.
“We had a few juniors after me, followed by players like Aniko Kapros, Agnes Szavay and a few more. But none of them lasted at the top. They were like one-hit wonders. The trick is to try and stay there at the top of your game,” she added.
Her coaching stint, first with Babos and more recently with Galfi, has left Temesvari all the more wiser. “I know the bumps involved. No part of the journey is going to be smooth. There are going to be bumps. It’s going to be rocky. But the important thing is that the team holds hands and let the experience guide you through,” Temesvari said.
