Tennis Emirates makes fervent appeal

Dubai: The governing body for tennis in the UAE has made a fervent appeal to all training schools and academies to "join up or be left behind".

"We need to look at tennis on a more holistic level. We need cooperation from the coaches and organisers. We are all in the same boat and we need to get our strengths together and see this sport take off at a different level," Slah Bramly, technical director, Tennis Emirates told Gulf News at the season-ending presentation held at the Aviation Club.

Over the past few years, Tennis Emirates has been working tirelessly, though with limited success, to get all tennis players and coaches under one banner. "If the sport develops then it is going to benefit all — players, coaches, sponsors and spectators alike," Bramly said.

"Hence it is very important that we all unite and move forward in one direction," Bramly added.

For starters, Tennis Emirates made a few changes to the competition format from the start of the season, something that will assist in the overall growth of the sport in the country.

"All top division matches are being played on a Davis Cup format of two singles and a doubles. This has ensured that players are now interested in participating. I think this is more of a leap from the recreational to competitive tennis," Bramly offered.

Not surprisingly, the number of teams participating in this season's UAE National Tennis Championships was up marginally from 18 last year to 24 this year. "And each of the league matches add up towards an end of season ranking system making this much more interesting," he said.