Exotic surnames betray origins of racketeers

Mull over these tennis names – Bianca Andreescu, Amanda Anisimova, Milos Raonic, Denis Shapovalov. You would expect them to hail from Romania, Russia, Croatia and Russia, respectively. But no. They call Canada, the United States and Canada home, and Canada is under snow for half the year. It’s obvious progeny of recent immigrants possess new-life vigour – the drive to succeed in tennis that kids from settled families in developed countries cannot be bothered with.

Chuck in Marina Erakovic if you wish, possibly New Zealand’s last top-39-ranked woman. She was born in Split in what was then Yugoslavia and came to Auckland when her family emigrated.

Andreescu reached the WTA final at Auckland on Sunday, battling through three rounds of qualifying, blazing away on both wings and having the cheek to snuff out Venus Williams.

Andreescu was born in Canada, but lived in her parents’ home country of Romania before switching back to Canada. At Auckland, she also had the sauce to douse Caroline Wozniacki. There’s another one – Wozniacki is hardly a Danish name. No, her parents played volleyball and soccer in Poland and moved to Denmark when the father signed for a Danish soccer club.

Next I checked out Anisimova. Her olds emigrated from Russia to New Jersey and put a tennis racket in her hands in Florida at the age of 2. The 17-year-old made the quarterfinals at Auckland last week and has been the world’s No 2 junior.

Meanwhile, Raonic was born in Yugoslavia in what is now Montenegro, before his folks took him to Ontario, Canada. He has been as high as No 3 in the world, mainly on the back of a nuclear serve.

Immigrants made good are everywhere. Denis Shapovalov was born in Israel of Russian parents who emigrated to Canada. New German star Alexander Zverev is another, born in Hamburg from parents who had been Soviet tennis professionals.

All of this is suggesting New Zealand might have to rely on industrious immigrant stock for our future professionals.

The same trend is in Australia. The top 10 men have names such as Kyrgios, Tomic, Kubler,

Turbos timing

Bianca Andreescu thanked both Canada and Romania after her glorious run in the women’s classic in Auckland last week. Polmans, Kokkinakis and Popyrin. The top 10 women include Daria Gavrilova, a Russian until she quit Moscow in 2015, Tomljanovic, Hon, Arina Rodionova, a Russian until 2014, Perez, Fourlis and Sharma.

Nothing amiss with that. It’s just that such citizenry will put in the hard graft to reap the benefits, even sleep under bridges in Europe as Manawatu¯ ’s Tour de France cyclist Nathan Dahlberg would do. Just answer this question. How many long-established New Zealanders would bother operating corner dairies around the country? Almost none. The hours are too demanding and you must fend off crazed crooks nicking nicotine sticks.

Same as in tennis. The millennial youth in developed countries won’t abandon their cellular devices, their ready-to-drink firewater, their fatty burgers, nor their social life. Not to live life as a tennis hermit batting balls all day, every day, plus fitness and gym work while at home their friends are out getting happily blotto and ballooning.

It’s a slog grinding it out on the overseas tours in places such as Tajikistan and Tunisia for total prizemoney of $22,000. Our recent most likely woman, Jade Lewis, chucked it in last year.

Promising Kiwi tennis players are New Plymouth’s Ajeet Rai, a self-driven lad with a big serve, and New Zealand women’s champion Valentina Ivanov.

Rai, going on 20, is coached by his father Rakesh, whose family fled Uganda in 1973 when Idi Amin ran further amok and expelled the South Asians. Ivanov, 17, was Christchurch-born, but moved to Australia in 2003 with her parents, both of whom had represented Uzbekistan at tennis. It is odd that she counts Sydney as home.

Paige Hourigan from nearby Turakina is a hope, although she is now 21 and lost the NZ final to Ivanov and lost in qualifying at Auckland to Ivanov, but has won an ITF Tour title.

Some New Zealanders try the American university route, as Hourigan has done at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. Many I have known who went Stateside were often over tennis by the end of it and just drifted into civilian life.

It’s scary for Manawatu¯ Turbos rugby fans that while a coaching appointment is awaited, so many of the best players are off contract. The likes of Otere Black and Michael Alaalatoa might be vulnerable to raids from other provinces, especially if Manawatu¯ purse strings are tight.

Already, halfback Jamie Booth has signed for his fourth Super Rugby franchise, the Japan Sunwolves, and lock Liam Hallam-eames has joined San Diego Legion in the United States.

There are only about eight players locked in, of them, Nehe Milner-skudder is off to Toulon and the All Blacks will have first dibs on Aaron Smith and Ngani Laumape.