G the bar high
PHOTOSPORT she still has two more years as a junior.
‘‘We’ve based it on two years worth of data on where these players in the top 100 were at corresponding ages,’’ Rea said.
‘‘So we’re going from something that as a selection system has been subjective, opinion based and quite fluid, to something that’s very objective, based on data and science.
‘‘We’ve cross referenced our numbers with Tennis Australia, Tennis Canada, USTA, Swiss Tennis Federation and the feedback we’ve had from the ITF around athletes from smaller nations and what those ranking trajectories have looked like.
‘‘We’ve put it all in a pot and come out with a criteria, which we think is a searching examination, but for the players that meet the criteria and have proved they’re deserving of support, we want to support them really strongly.’’
To reach criteria, players need to be doing well at national and international tournaments and attain a high junior ranking.
Last year there were 10 targeted athletes but that number is expected to drop to just a few.
Ivanov, now 16, last week made herself unavailable for the New Zealand Fed Cup team for the tournament in Bahrain next month. She is based in Sydney and has had a significant amount of money spent on sending her to tournaments and training bases around the world, often travelling with Tennis NZ performance coach Marcel Vos.
That will end when her current contract with Tennis NZ expires at the end of the month and Rea says if she wants to get continued coaching support she needs to get that in New Zealand.
‘‘We would like to support her more comprehensively from a daily training environment point of view,’’ Rea said.
‘‘If she’s willing to commit to spending more time in New Zealand, where we feel we can do a better job of being more accountable, we will support her strongly on the domestic front.
‘‘She doesn’t reach criteria, so we’d like to put in place a support network around her domestically, that’s going to help her when she does travel internationally for her ITF events and get to criteria.’’
Given that Ivanov has a better junior ranking than any Australian player, there is that potential for her to jump ship, but Tennis NZ CEO Julie Paterson said they accept that possibility.
‘‘There could be a risk around that and we’ve considered that,’’ Paterson said.
‘‘But we need to be really clear around what our criteria is.
‘‘When you make a change, there is always going to be angst and there’s risk when you make a change.
‘‘We would hope that Valentina doesn’t go and play for Australia and she stays in the New Zealand programme and I’ve expressed that to her mother.’’