Tennis Europe has announced a wave of development activities for December 2021.
Players and coaches from emerging tennis nations will be invited to Antalya, Turkey, for a 12 & Under Training Camp and two Category 2 Junior Tour 14 & Under events known as the ITF/Tennis Europe Development Championships.
The aim is to provide players from less developed nations with a taste of life on the Junior Tour, with all costs covered by Tennis Europe. In total, squads of boys and girls from 12 countries - Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Georgia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Turkey and Ukraine – will be invited.
Tennis Europe Development Manager Maciej Szymonski said, “Despite the difficulties posed by the pandemic, we have been working hard to support the development of our member nations. Our COVID-19 Emergency Fund and President’s Fund have distributed over €275,000 in direct financial assistance since 2020, while we have continued to press ahead with as many of our scheduled projects and programmes as possible. Working closely with the ITF, we have many tools for development at our disposal, including National Training Camps, coaches education and grants for performances or for projects like digitalisation. The activities planned for Antalya provide a unique opportunity for players and coaches to see first-hand how Tennis Europe supports them.”
Long-established as a highlight of the Junior Tour calendar, the Development Championships have given an early taste of international competition to players such as Victoria Azarenka, Jelena Ostapenko, Simona Halep, Grigor Dimitrov and Marcos Baghdatis, among many others.
The events will take place from 10-21 December, and will be hosted by the Turkish Tennis Federation.