Last weekend, without a single player from the ATP top 100, Switzerland won an anonymous Davis Cup match against Peru. The opportunity for Sport Dimanche to look at the next generation of this sport in our country.
Ten years ago, Swiss tennis could puff out its chest. Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka were at the top of their game and won the Davis Cup. At the same time, Timea Bacsinszky was radiant and Belinda Bencic was gently showing her face.
Today, after the worst Grand Slam season in nearly 40 years, no Swiss are in the ATP top 100 and in the absence of Bencic, who has become a mother, only one Swiss woman (Viktorija Golubic) is in this caste at WTA level. A bleak plain? Not necessarily, according to Swiss Tennis and the specialists.
“The next generation base is much stronger than it was 6 or 7 years ago.“, notes Severin Lüthi, Davis Cup captain and former legendary coach of Federer.
“We need to invest in coaches and I would have been stupid if I hadn’t anticipated this.“, smiles René Stammbach, the boss of Swiss Tennis. Before continuing, to reassure: “In 3 to 5 years, there will be a few Swiss people able to enter the top 100.”
This can be seen in this Sport Dimanche topic.
Subject David Berger (web adaptation: ace)
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