Drop in standard worries official

Oceania Tennis Federation members need to improve development pathways as the standard of tennis across the Pacific continues to decline, says tournament referee David Smith.

Smith, who is officiating at the 119th Fiji Open Tennis Championship at the Denarau Golf and Racquet Club this week, said the standard of tennis in the region was no longer at previous levels.

He has served as referee at the Fiji Open since 2003, except during the COVID-19 years.

“The standard in tennis generally, not only here this week but across the wider Pacific Oceania region, is nowhere near what it used to be a few years ago,” Smith said.

He said one reason was the closure of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) House in Lautoka, where top junior players from across the Pacific once trained and studied together.

“In the early days before COVID, we had the ITF house in Lautoka where the best juniors from across the Pacific trained together,” Smith said.

“The number one players from places like the Solomon Islands and Tahiti were all based in the same venue. They did their schooling there and trained together every day through drills, skills and matches.

“They don’t get that level of competition now. The top players need to be among others of similar quality to improve, and that is one of the biggest challenges facing the region.”

Smith said the OTF board needed to prioritise rebuilding elite development programmes.

“We’re losing really good players over the last three to five years,” Smith said.

“You can see that in the Davis Cup. A few years ago, the Pacific Oceania team was playing in the playoffs to get into Group One. Now they are in Group Five, the lowest level.”

He said similar struggles were evident in the Junior Davis Cup and Junior Billie Jean King Cup competitions earlier this year.

“The teams they should be beating from the wider Asia-Pacific region, they are losing to,” Smith said.

“There is still a lot of work to be done. The OTF board needs to make this a key focus and find solutions to develop elite programmes. Linked to that is also the standard of coaching across the Pacific.”

The Federation consists of 20 member nations, including Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Tahiti, the Cook Islands, Guam, Palau, the Northern Marianas, Federated States of Micronesia, Australia and New Zealand.

Meanwhile, rising junior player Liam McDonald has impressed officials with two wins so far.

McDonald, who turned 15 last week attends Fiji Agape Mission School.

“I’ve been playing tennis for about four years,” he said.

He defeated Dhairya of Suva 6-1, 6-2 in the U16 division and Henry Kumar of Lautoka 6-0, 6-0 in the U18 competition.

“I have represented Fiji at the Pacific Oceania Junior Championships,” McDonald said.

“Later in the year, I’m looking forward to possibly playing in the Suva Open.”

The semifinals will be played tomorrow followed by the finals on Sunday.

Smith said the Fiji Open remain one of the few tournaments in the world to cater for all levels of competition at one venue.

“This is one of the very few events in the world where, at the same venue and at the same time, you have open events, A and B grade men’s and women’s events, masters age-group events, social grade events and junior divisions,” he added.