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Junior tennis players from around the Western Bay of Plenty are getting a few tips and hints from New Zealand’s top tennis players today.
Members of the New Zealand Davis Cup team are taking time out from their training schedule in the lead up to next weekend’s Davis Cup Round One tie against Uzbekistan at the TECT Arena to meet with competitors of the Junior Classic tennis tournament in Papamoa.
Junior tennis player Dominic Culpitt, 14, gets some pointers on how to serve from Davis Cup New Zealand team member Dan King-Turner at the Gordon Spratt Reserve.
The four players, and coach Marcel Vos, arrived at Gordon Spratt Reserve at 10.30am to present medals and answer questions from players in the junior tournament, on February 4 – 6.
Papamoa Tennis Club’s Rob Naumann says this is a great opportunity for the young players to learn about what is required to reach international levels.
“This is an opportunity to have the best players in New Zealand tennis give these young people some advice.
“It’s about informing them of the effort involved in becoming a pro-player, the regime they have to follow and the fitness and training they put in.”
When asked how hard the team train, Davis Cup NZ team member Dan King-Turner says players each train for about five hours a day.
“I would recommend you train about five hours a day to get to international level, we have a pretty strict regime.”
NZ team physiotherapist and trainer Murray Hing says players are given a strict diet of five small meals a day featuring a balanced diet of protein, carbohydrates and vegetables.
“They drink a lot of electrolyte drinks, protein shakes and supplements. We make sure they have carbo shots so they have enough fuel to play the game.”
After taking in the advice from Dan and fellow NZ team players Artem Sitak, Michael Venus and Rubin Statham, junior players got a chance to hit a few balls with the pros before getting back to competition.
The Junior Classic is open to all players under the age of 18-years-old and features four different age groups the Under-8, Under-12, Under-14 and Under-18.
This is the first year the competition has run, with the opening of the new Papamoa Tennis Club facility at the reserve, and Rob says the tournament has attracted more than expected entries.
“It’s fantastic, we have had more entries than we thought. We have some really great tennis being played here, the courts here are quite fast so we always produce good play.”
The Junior tournament is also an opportunity for junior players to score Top Dog points, which are needed to advance into higher tier tournaments.
“It’s a computer based system where the kids get so many points for a win, draw. Then once they get a certain number of points they will go into the next level of competition.”
The NZ Davis Cup team players will be in Tauranga this week training for the Davis Cup tie at the TECT Arena, Baypark, on February 10 – 12.
Junior Classic organiser Rob Naumann with New Zealand team coach Marcel Vos, and players Artem Sitak, Dan King-Turner Michael Venus and Rubin Statham.
Under-16 competitor Michael Jones at the Junior Classic.
Under-18 player Anna Mahon about to serve.
Under-16 player Joel Peddle from Otumoetai.
Papamoa Club player Claudia McKeown, 10, serves at the Junior Classic.
