In brief
Kazakhstan’s tennis federation, led by former player Dias Doskarayev, says it now runs 412 courts and 700 coaches, and hopes new players like Amir Omarkhanov and Zangar Nurlanuly will join the ATP tour. After creating a national academy in 2008 and cutting lesson costs, the federation aims to shift the country from importing stars to developing its own.
Almaty, Kazakhistan – At the ATP Almaty Open last month, former player Dias Doskarayev struggled to remember the early days when he and his brother had to fight for scarce court time. He now sits as vice president and acting CEO of the Kazakhstan Tennis Federation and is pushing a new vision for local champions.
Xinhua reported that the first phase of the country’s tennis revival began in 2007 when businessman Bulat Utemuratov took the federation’s helm. The program focused on building infrastructure, coaching and competition to replace what had previously been a “rich man’s sport.”
The federation’s statistics illustrate the progress. Courts have grown from about 55 to 412 across 19 regions, and qualified coaches have risen from around 20 to 700. The federation now runs roughly 300 national tournaments and more than 50 international events each year.
In 2008, a national tennis academy opened in Astana to bring promising youngsters together under one roof. The institution has linked with overseas academies to advance coaching standards.
Doskarayev said that regular tennis lessons now cost families an average of US$50 to 60 a month, a huge drop from the US$150 per hour he paid as a child in Shymkent.
While international stars such as Elena Rybakina and Alexander Bublik have brought Kazakhstan recognition, most of them were trained outside the country. Doskarayev notes that this has turned country needs to “produce elite professionals through Kazakhstan’s own development system.”
The federation now looks to bright prospects such as Amir Omarkhanov and Zangar Nurlanuly as the next generation of homegrown players. Their performances have already begun to feed into the ATP Tour circuit.
Doskarayev reflected on the early obstacles in a quoted conversation with Xinhua. He said,
"We would wake up at 5:30 because we were only allowed to play from 7 a.m. till 9 a.m. There were around 100 kids on two courts, if you can imagine. It was a rich man's sport back then."
With expanding facilities, more coaches, and lower entry costs, the federation believes the next phase of its strategy is landing the country a top‐tier tennis nation that can produce its own champions.
