Tennis Australia pushes gender equality agenda

Tennis Australia is launching a new initiative to foster more home grown talent in women's tennis, in the hopes of producing more top 100 players over the next five years.

Former tennis player Alicia Molik with some of Australia's youngest tennis hopefuls.

Former tennis player Alicia Molik with some of Australia's youngest tennis hopefuls. Source: SBS News

The gap between Australia's top ranked female tennis players and the next generation is getting wider, but Tennis Australia is investing additional resources into women's tennis.

The aim is to ensure Australian women are once again well represented among the sport's top players.

"There's a three to five year plan at the moment where we want 10 unique players inside top 250 and four of those players in the top 100," Tennis Australia's head of women's tennis Nicole Pratt told SBS News.

Currently, Australia has two female players ranked in the top 100.

Twenty years ago there were four players in the top 100, and 30 years ago six Australian women were amongst the best in the world.

Sam Stosur was the last Australian woman to win a Grand Slam, at the US Open in 2011. But Stosur's performance at the first major of this year - a round one exit - has prompted questions of retirement.

International recruit Daria Gavrilova has kept Australia competitive at the Australian Open, the Russian-born player just narrowly missing out on a berth in the quarterfinals.

Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley said efforts to foster more home grown female talent will be ramped up with new player pathway strategies.

"This is about taking it to another level, this is not about us having a review and saying we're not going to do enough," he said.

"I started at this company 10 years ago and I made it very clear that at the beginning when we were investing in girls and boys tennis it was going to be equal."
Tennis Australia is looking to recruit a women's professional tennis coordinator to identify new players from the country, and provide strategies to foster their careers.

"It's imperative that we widen the pool, and I think the greater the pool the quicker we can produce our next champion," former world number eight Alicia Molik said.

"We're in a real transition - there's no point in lying - there is a real gap between the top 50 in the world and then our next best and I think we have a really exciting group of juniors coming through."

And there are plenty of willing youing players with their eyes already on the top ranks.
Kim Davis, Alicia Molik and players from Tennis Australia's Super 10s.
Kim Davis, Alicia Molik and players from Tennis Australia's Super 10s. Source: SBS News
"I'm going to win the Australian Open in 2028," 10-year-old player Grace Darcy, from Tennis Australia's Super 10's tennis program, believes.

Fellow Super 10's tennis player Sasha Djurovic, aged 10, also intends on being a part of the new push for female talent.

"My first goal is to get into the top 50 and then make it down to number one and just have fun," she said.

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3 min read

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By Abby Dinham



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