Deuce Report: ATP players coach young tennis stars at clinic

More than 50 children from affiliated tennis academies across the country took part in the ATP UAE Tennis Federation Coaching Clinic on Tuesday morning at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships (DDFTC). ATP doubles players John Peers and Michael Venus were special guests at the clinic and even had a practice session with the budding tennis stars and gave them some invaluable advice and top tips for the future. Following some hard training, several children received medals and trophies to ensure that they felt like a champion and to give them inspiration to pursue tennis professionally.

“I am pretty happy about the experience we are having right now and the kids think it’s great as well. It is a very nice opportunity for the little kids, not just because they get to compete between each other, but at the end they get to play against two professional players, they get motivated, they get excited and after this,” said Joshua from TPS academy. “I am a 100 per cent sure that they will be more excited to keep training and of course, most of them will stay here to watch some matches too.”

Australian professional tennis player Peers said he was happy to be back in Dubai. “They look like they had a lot of fun. Getting out here and seeing all those happy faces and smiles makes this a whole lot better, they get a kick out of this and so do we, so it’s always great to give back to the kids,” he said.

Venus added: “I thought it was an amazing morning, so many kids out here enjoy playing tennis, so I hope they keep playing and be playing this tournament in the future.”

Tournament Director Salah Tahlak said the DDFTC’s mission was to boost performance of young tennis players in the UAE. “We are grateful that so many children from the affiliated academies had the opportunity to interact with ATP players. We hope that initiatives such as these inspire more kids in the UAE to take up the sport and pursue a career in this field,” he said.

The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships runs until February 29. For tickets, go to dubaidutyfreetennischampionships.com.