Sport | Tennis
Ward sees great future for young tennis players
One of the most promising tennis youngsters in Great Britain sees a rosy future ahead for his kind following a new path being treaded by the national governing body.
- By Alaric Gomes, Senior Reporter
- Published: 23:25 December 2, 2008
- James Ward returns to Filip Prpic during the singles final of the ITF F2 Futures at Al Wasl Club Tennis Court.
- Image Credit: Atiq-Ur-Rehman/Gulf News
Dubai: One of the most promising tennis youngsters in Great Britain sees a rosy future ahead for his kind following a new path being treaded by the national governing body.
"I see a bright future for youngsters in tennis back home," James Ward told Gulf News after losing to Sweden's Filip Prpic in the final of the ITF F2 Futures for the Al Wasl Club Open last week.
Ward, 21, was one of four youngsters from Great Britain who played in the Dubai tournament. He and countryman Jonathan Kinsella reached the last four stage of the competition.
The other two were Chris Eaton and Burnham Arlidge. Ward, who brought down his ranking to 270 following last week's success, believes he is leading the way for the other junior tennis players in Great Britain. "The Lawn Tennis Association has been supporting youngsters like me with financial benefits while on tour. This can only help us concentrate and achieve results for ourselves and improve the profile of the sport for the country," Ward observed.
Though one of the biggest and best Grand Slams is played at Wimbledon, the country has always lagged behind in producing quality players. Scottish lad Andy Murray has come up through the ranks, but albeit with very little support from the LTA.
"But the mind-set is changing now. They are supporting us and we need to focus on tennis as a career," Ward stated.
One of the reasons for the lack of players is the players' preference for academics, the 21-year-old observed. "If they find they are having a few bad tournaments, players do not mind moving back to university, and that is a huge loss for the sport," Ward stated.
Besides financial support to travel extensively on the circuit, Ward was also supported during the past five years that he spent in Spain. "I think I am here to break the trend. We have an exciting group of youngsters who are showing a lot of promise on tour. The system was bad at the LTA, but now that is changing and we will hopefully see some good things for tennis in the future," Ward stated.
The youngster has targetted qualifiers at next year's Australian Open and an entry into the Davis Cup squad as his most immediate goals.
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