Boost of $500k for Lewis’ career
NEWZealand’s big tennis hope Jade Lewis will receive about $500,000 of funding over the next three years to help her get to the top.
The 18-year-old has received significant investment from the Seed Foundation, an independent organisation set up to fund promising tennis players from this country.
Lewis appeared on most people’s radar in January when she pushed Venus Williams at this year’s ASB Classic, losing 7-6 6-2 to this year’s Wimbledon finalist. After that, she spent five months at Louisiana State University where she excelled, making the All American singles team, and finished the college season ranked 17.
After that, the Seed Foundation decided to back Lewis.
‘‘This is such a big commitment for us, so we’ve got to be as sure as we possibly can,’’ Seed Foundation chairman Alan Chester said. ‘‘Our selectors made a recommendation to us that we really should get behind her.
‘‘She’s obviously got good pedigree, she’s got the talent, the determination on court and so now it was about getting some money behind her and giving her the opportunity to see whether she can fulfil that potential.’’
The current selectors for the Seed Foundation are former Davis Cup captain James Greenhalgh, ex-professional Shelley Bryce (nee Stephens) and former top junior William Ward. Chris Lewis, Jade’s uncle, is no longer a a selector.
Unlike Tennis NZ, which supports a wider number of players to a lesser level, Seed has always existed to back just the very best.
To make it to the top in tennis is an expensive proposition, especially for a player from New Zealand where travel is always a significant extra cost. With the foundation getting behind Lewis, she has a far greater chance of becoming a top professional.
‘‘We do budgets and we have her programme and we expect it to come to between $160,000 and $170,000 a year, for probably three years,’’ Chester said.
‘‘Hopefully it’s not that long, but we’ve got to be prepared for the long haul and a big cost in it is a travelling coach.’’
Jade’s father David, who was a former professional and Fed Cup captain, had wanted Tennis NZ’s high performance director Simon Rea to be heavily involved in coaching his daughter.
But Rea has to spread himself among all the country’s top players, so Lewis will be coached by Russian Evgeny Korolev, a former world No 46 and cousin of Anna Kournikova.