Rob Reynolds will begin a United States tennis scholarship in May. Photo / Warren Buckland
Expect to see Hawke's Bay men's tennis No1 Rob Reynolds in the New Zealand Davis Cup team within five years.
That is the forecast from Russian-born professional Artem Sitak who has been in the Kiwi team since 2011. Sitak, 29, is in the Bay for a week-long training camp with Reynolds and his younger brother Finn at their Hawke's Bay Lawn club.
"Rob's four-year scholarship in the United States will be a big help to him. With good college coaching and lots of tough matches in that college system he will go far and with his good left-handed forehand Finn won't be far behind him," Sitak said, referring to Reynolds' scholarship with the Ragin Cajuns men's team at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
"I can't wait to get over there. I'm buzzing, it's going to be huge," Reynolds said.
Reynolds, 18, will link up with the Ragin Cajuns in May as one of three freshmen. He will be the only Kiwi on the team.
Sitak chose Hawke's Bay Lawn for his final training stint before the ASB Classic in Auckland and Australian Open in Melbourne next month because the club's new No1 court has the same surface which is used at both tournaments.
"The pace on this court is about the same I will get on the back courts in Melbourne. These temperatures are similar too," he explained, as sweat poured down his forehead after a gruelling two-hour session in temperatures between 28C and 31C.
Ranked 43 in the world for doubles, Sitak, was 18 when he turned professional. He listed a third-round doubles exit at the Australian Open this year as the highlight of his career.
In doubles play he has been in combinations which have beaten pairs with world No2 Andy Murray of Scotland five times. Sitak has played against Spain's world No 5 Rafael Nadal on two occasions and has had match points against him.
During a question and answer session with several of the Bay's top juniors, Sitak said the best advice he could give was the importance of taking care of their bodies when they are young so it will pay off later on. He also stressed the importance of staying strong mentally.
"There are so many good players out there. Some make it and some don't ... those who do are mentally strong."
This year Sitak played in 34 tournaments in 25 different countries.
"I train or play every day unless I'm tired and that's when I force myself to rest."
His preferred venue is on the grass courts at Wimbledon. This is where he had his toughest day at a tournament this year with a four-and-half-hour doubles match followed by a two-and-a-half hour mixed doubles match in temperatures which reached 42C.
Sitak told the juniors if he wasn't a tennis player he would be a professional golfer. Yesterday he tackled the Maraenui course with the Reynolds brothers' coach Simon Winter and Winter's son Adam, who plays off a three handicap.
"If I get under 100 I'll be happy," Sitak said.
Napier Boys' High School product Reynolds and Canterbury's Connor Heap retained their national under-18 doubles title in Auckland last week.
Heap beat Reynolds 6-3, 6-4 in the singles final.
"While I lost it was still a huge match and one which lasted one hour and 50 minutes," Reynolds said.
"This camp with Artem is going to be a big help for the future. The intensity is up another level to what I'm used to ... you have to be on your toes all the time," he added.
Fifteen-year-old Finn, who won the national under-16 singles and doubles titles this year, and the under-14 singles and doubles titles in 2014, was beaten by Heap in the under-18 semifinals.
A member of Tennis New Zealand's elite young player squad, Finn, has opted not to play in next month's under-16 nationals so he can focus instead on three upcoming International Tennis Federation junior tournaments.