Search of new star
body has come a long way over the last 12 months.
‘‘She’s now completed the grand slam of titles, with the 12s, 14s, 16s,18s and nationals.
‘‘She was a good junior, without being elite and she’s got to find a way to bridge the gap between those juniors who were elite and performing and going deep in the junior grand slams.’’
As for Erakovic, who proved to the exception rather than the rule, she came through with the help of Chris and Mark Lewis and also received funding from the independent Seed Foundation to support her on the road.
She believes a number of factors need to be in place before New Zealand has another top 100 singles player.
‘‘For me, it’s a combination of things,’’ Erakovic said.
‘‘The big one is money to support them. You need to get the kids to play tournaments, to go overseas and that costs money. We are not Australia or America, we don’t have a structure or support network. We’re small and we’re far away.’’
Erakovic says there also needs to be a culture shift in New Zealand, where young players are willing to put in the hard work. ‘‘With a lot of kids, once they realise what it takes training wise, where you have to be alone and independent, it’s not attractive and they’d rather hang out with their friends and play soccer or cricket,’’ she said. ‘‘So getting more tournaments here, seeing more tournaments on TV will inspire youngsters.
‘‘There also needs to be more unity amongst the tennis community in general, having similar goals and sometimes we don’t think about the big picture, we think a little too small, but we need to get together to support youngsters to play.’’ That unity still remains an issue. While it’s less divisive than it used to be some who declined to speak on the record felt that Tennis NZ was still too Auckland focused with its player development.