Tennis player from El Salvador, Rafael Arevalo, makes history in the XXIX Olympic Games Beijing 2008

Players from developing nations emerge with help

The fruits of some of the development work done by the Olympic and international tennis communities were in evidence on Tuesday night at the Olympic Tennis Centre.

Rafael Arevalo put El Salvador on the tennis map when he was rewarded for a three-sets win over Lee Hyung-Taik (TPE) with a high-profile match against the world No. 1 Roger Federer on Centre Court. And the 22-year-old far from disgraced himself, picking up six games in Federers 62 64 win.

Yet players from countries like El Salvador who have little or no tennis tradition do not just materialise on their own. They need assistance, both practical and financial, and Arevalo is a case of where such assistance has really helped the player to progress.

There are many organisations who contribute towards developing tennis talent from emerging countries. Through Olympic Solidarity, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) works with athletes, coaches, sports administrators, National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and International Federations to support the worldwide development of all sport. Olympic Solidarity is the part of the IOC that distributes television income from the Olympic Games to the NOCs. In addition, there is the Grand Slam Development Fund (GSDF) which is administered by the International Tennis Federation, in addition to the ITF’s own development programme initiatives and the support of the national federation.

Since 2005, Arevalo has received US$80,000 through the Olympic Solidarity Training Grants for Young Athletes programme, after the ITF development department nominated him as a future talent. This funding enabled him to make the difficult transition from junior to professional player by being based at the ITF Spanish centre for two years. He has also received US$12,500 in travel grants from the Grand Slam Development Fund, which have helped him to travel to tournaments. In addition, as a junior, he was a member of the ITF/Grand Slam Touring Team programme, another initiative which facilitates the transition of talented players through regional and international junior competitions and where possible on to the professional ranks.

At 447 in the rankings, Arevalo still has a way to go before his full talent is realised, but his experience in Beijing this week will certainly have helped. Far from looking fazed before his goldfish bowl encounter with Federer, he appeared remarkably relaxed, took his time, and showed considerable inventiveness during the 77-minute match.

He was given a taste of the gulf in class between him and the great Federer in the first game. He should have put a short forehand away, but Federer’s speed around the court allowed the Swiss to turn defence into attack with a scintillating running forehand winner. Instead of 40-15, Arevalo was at 30-30 and promptly dropped serve.

But he wasn’t knocked off course. He earned his first game thanks to a precision defensive lob, and though never in Federer’s class, he never seemed out of his depth. With more experience he will play more rallies closer to the baseline, and will learn to expect more of his ‘winning’ shots to come back.

But it was a confident performance which will have warmed the hearts of all who have helped him – including those who have pushed for the ‘Tripartite invitation’ from which Arevalo profited: the wildcard given to players from countries underrepresented at the Olympics. Arevalo was one of only 11 in the El Salvador team, and he did his country proud.

Published by the International Tennis Federation

Newer Post Older Post