A Coach’s View

Ganendran Subramaniam, who claims to have spotted Jithmie’s talents first when she was part of the SLTA junior squad, wished she could play in a Junior Grand Slam next year.

Subramaniam, who has himself featured in Junior Wimbledon in 1982, believes Jayawickrema is amongst the top of the modern era national level women’s players.

"I can say she’s among the top like Saranga Sangakkara, Lihini Weerasuriya, Vajira Premaratne and Upeka Wijeratne," said Subramaniam who has been coaching Jayawickrema since 2004.

"Jithmie has a wide array of strokes like slice, the flat shot and the top spin, which is her main advantage. The competition is getting fiercer. There are lots of disputes in today’s tennis as well. Amidst that, she has always to let her racket talk," said the former Davis Cup rep who is now and ITF Level-II coach.

Jithmie Jayawickreama is considered the most successful women’s tennis player of Sri Lanka during the last decade. That is, of course, in this highly restricted Colombo-centered sport.

Though she won her fourth successive women’s national singles title early this month, the sport in the island has a long way to go to come on par with at least the regional standards.

On such a backdrop, Jayawickrema, the 17-year-old and the highest ranked local at international level at the moment, spoke to ‘Sunday Island – Sportstar’ on her achievements, ambitions and on how she was going pay back her country one day.

A: I guess so (smiling). The results could prove that.

A: Nilupul Goonasekera and Amritha Muttiah. But I haven’t lost to Nilupul for the last two years. Throughout the last four years, I’ve been beaten by Amritha only thrice out of a lot of meetings.

A: I’m happy. But it gives you a lot of pressure as well because everybody expects me to win in all the tournaments.

A: There were good players like Amitha Arudpragasam and Thiyumi Abeysinghe those days when I began playing at this level. I used to give a good fight against them. But I don’t see the same amount of competition from the others over the last few years. That may be because of the way they train. And a lot of them participate only in local tournaments. They meet the same players in competitions all the time. But I can’t take blame for others’ failure.

Q: Saranga Sangakkara dominated women’s tennis here during the ’80s the way you’re doing these days. What can you say about her reign during those years?

A: I haven’t seen her playing. But she too could’ve had the same kind of opposition during those days and that may be the reason why she too has a similar record at the national level.

A: Yes. They wonder how I travel such a long distance everyday.

A: Most of the tennis players are based in Colombo. It’s very rare that a player from a distant place doing well in this sport.

A: Yes. There are very good players coming up from remote places, especially in the girls. They have to be encouraged. At the inter-school tournament this year, a Ratnapura girls’ school beat our school (Bishop’s College, Colombo). They don’t even have proper rackets. Talent looks to be greater in those areas.

A: I’ve never had any personal coaching. I’ve always been with the junior squad of the SLTA (SL Tennis Association). I’ve been coming to this place daily for nearly eight years. This is like my second home now. Ganendran Subramaniam is my coach (see box). He handled the SLTA junior squad. His assistant Sisira Sumith helps me a lot. Ranil Harshana helps is my physical training and conditioning coach.

Supremacy...

Q: As teenagers, friends and colleagues, many of the youngsters are exposed to an unnecessary antagonism in Colombo-based tennis. How do you observe this fierce competition involving the players, their parents and the coaches?

A: It’s sad. You should not be competing out of the court. There is a lot of backstabbing going on. My counterparts are my good friends. It may be the elders and the coaches who put us in various rivalries. That’s only to fulfill their wishes. I believe the players have to work as a team.

Q: How do you wish pay back to this country after reaching such great heights in local tennis?

A: One should be honest in helping others. I won’t do such a service for the sake of money. But none of the players who have done well in the past are doing such social services. Most of them are not involved with our tennis even a bit and many of them are living abroad. I believe it’s our duty to help Sri Lanka’s tennis reaches the next level in the future.

Q: For supporting other players, what are the things you are doing at the moment?

A: There is no proper podium for the local ITF players to share our experience with other juniors. But recently at Otters Club, my self, Harshana Godamanna, Amrith Rupasinghe, Guyanga Weerasekera and Amritha Muttiah spoke to some beginners and shared our thoughts with them. There should be more such events coming up.

Q: This is your last year as an Under-18. How do you look at your future from here?

A: I can play Under-18 till December 2009. I hope to play as many ITF Grade 1 and 2 tournaments as possible next year. All those years, I’ve played in only Grade 4 and 5. If I improve my ITF rank (she’s now 368) probably close to 100, I could to play in a Junior Grand Slam next year. Unless you develop up to that level, it will be hard to play in the WTA Futures (professional) Tourneys when you enter the senior level in 2010.

Q: How do you collect funds for all those international tournaments?

A: I depend solely on my parent’s expenses. I have a ‘Wilson’ sponsorship for my clothes and equipment. Other than that, there is no sponsor for traveling or anything. It’ll be extremely difficult next year to do without a sponsor when you have to travel for ITF Grade 1 and 2 tourneys.

Q: What are your ultimate goals in tennis?