By Andreas Vou
CHARALAMBOS Vassiliou has been one of the top youth tennis coaches in Cyprus for a number of years, teaching up and coming talents the ins and outs of the game at the Herodotou Tennis Academy in Larnaca.
Andreas Vou caught up with him for his views on various key issues regarding the sport on the island.
How would you rate the standard of tennis on the island in comparison to other smaller nations?
“Cyprus has really raised its game in terms of coaching, and also the amount of new players entering the game. I would say from smaller nations we can boast a real talent pool, and getting silver in the small nations competition in tennis proves that we have come a long way.”
What are your thoughts on the development of the sport in Cyprus?
“Our facilities have improved with the construction of private tennis academies, the national centre, and especially the coaching. A coaching structure has now been put in place, as a few coaches in Cyprus will now become tutors to monitor the structure carefully, and really help coaches bring through new crops of players continuously. I would say tennis is developing year after year in Cyprus.”
What do you think about the support tennis receives from the national sporting body (KOA) and the Tennis Association?
“The support isn’t great, that’s true throughout all sports in Cyprus apart from football. A serious financial structure is required to help the best players in Cyprus to make an impact on the junior and professional tours. So far most of the costs are covered by parents and players, and if this doesn’t somehow shift, so that governing bodies are helping out a little more proactively then a lot of talent will be lost unfortunately.”
What more could be done to help improve the standard of tennis on the island?
“We definitely need more tournaments on the pro level. If we look at nations such as Egypt, Turkey, Israel which are nations close by, they have at least 100 futures tournaments between them. This makes it easier for homegrown talent to progress.”
We’ve seen the emergence of Petros Chrysochos in the last couple of years. How far do you think he can go in his career? Can he reach the heights that Marcos Baghdatis did?
“Petros Chrysochos is an exceptional talent and I would love to see him break into the top 100 in the world – I truly believe he has that capability. I don’t think we should compare Petros to what Marcos (Baghdatis) did. I feel that’s unfair pressure on a young athlete, in one of the toughest sports in the world. There is no guarantee that a player Top in juniors will be top at the Pro level. But all signs show that Petros has what it takes. If he continues to work hard, has a support team that he has, the sky is the limit.”
