Simply, we do not have the tennis stars of the calibre we once idolised. No one such as Kelly Evernden, Brett Steven, the Simpson brothers or Onny Parun, and certainly no one likely to follow Chris Lewis on the road to a Wimbledon final.
Worse, youngsters inspired by the summer's tennis to join their local clubs, and who have the talent to be among the world's great players, are less likely than ever to make it on to the champions' circuit because of what its critics say is a crisis in New Zealand tennis management.
Brenda Perry has a unique vantage point from which to analyse what has become the tortured journey of New Zealand tennis.
She was one of the best women players to come out of this country, is a top official on the international women's tour, spends at least six months a year travelling worldwide, helping to organise tournaments from Wimbledon to Stanley St, and mentors 15-year-old G.D. Jones - one of the best New Zealand prospects for many years. She thinks that when it comes to encouraging elite players, New Zealand Tennis, the national body, is hopeless.
For a start, tennis is not attracting young people from all walks of life on to the courts and seems to be "exclusive rather than inclusive". Only those from wealthy, supportive backgrounds have the remotest chance of success at the top, she says.
If you come from a "Mr and Mrs Average" or lower socio-economic background, you've got no chance. The lucky ones will succeed despite New Zealand Tennis, not because of it, she believes.
New Zealand Tennis general manager Patrick O'Rourke takes issue with Perry, saying that a survey last year clearly showed the organisation was reaching all ethnic groups. But he admits it is difficult for the less affluent parents of children who are considering competitive tennis. He insists there are development and competition opportunities available in New Zealand without spending excessive amounts of money.
Perry emphasises that her comments are confined to the production of elite players. Nourishment of tennis in other areas requires different answers.
She also has a hard-headed motive for speaking out, hoping New Zealand Tennis will start giving Jones some backing to help him get more vital top-class experience overseas. And if it does, that in turn will provide a guiding light for how other elite players can be helped.
"New Zealand tennis is fragmented, totally uncoordinated and decentralised. Elite players and coaches are wandering around in the wilderness. They feel lost and bewildered," says Perry.
"There is a lack of strong leadership and appropriate funding. Right now it is in dire straits ... a terrible cross between socialist and user-pays systems.
"It is socialist in that there is no special attention paid to the elite. And it is user-pays in that players are left to do all their own funding. The system gives you any backing only if you get the results first, but if you can't get the coaching and support in the first place, how can you get the results?"
O'Rourke, though, points to the problem of knowing who to invest in. "There is a perception that New Zealand players are behind the eight ball because they don't have the same amount of money invested in them. New Zealand Tennis did in the past invest quite a lot of money in a number of players, none of whom got into the top 100 in the last six or seven years.
"It's like a gamble, and you're gambling with the association's money. New Zealand Tennis has decided to provide the opportunities in a different way, and provide assistance to those who perform rather than to those who are hoping they'll perform in the next few years.
"What we're doing is helping to prepare players and giving them a pathway to become a professional tennis player, which then has the potential to earn them millions of dollars if they're good enough.
"There has to be some care taken in how much direct financial assistance you give to a person to eventually line their own pockets."
Perry is unconvinced. "What is happening in New Zealand tennis absolutely astounds me," she says. "Would you possibly think that Australian tennis never put one cent into Lleyton Hewitt when he was aged between 13 and 15?"
Perry agrees that the development of elite players is risky, and for every Hewitt, Australian tennis would have had its share of failures. But that is the name of the game, and the benefits of producing a world star are many - including attracting a wider range of youngsters and so increase the chance of producing future stars.
She also says it's not just about money. Guidance and leadership are also vital.
" Individuals don't even know where to go for guidance. There is no national coach, no national director, and no national squad, apart from the odd one-off exception."
O'Rourke considers this an "extreme interpretation" of the New Zealand Tennis structure, which had consciously moved away from imposing a coaching structure in favour of allowing players to choose their coach.
Instead of a national coaching manager, a tennis operations manager has been appointed this year to coordinate development around the country and help introduce a coach education programme.
To balance the movement away from a centralised coaching programme, New Zealand Tennis is providing playing opportunities within New Zealand, Australia and Fiji after an Oceania Tennis Federation report last year concluded the region did not provide its juniors with enough international tournament experience.
O'Rourke says Tennis New Zealand had responded by introducing a tournament circuit taking in Australia and New Zealand next month and another Oceania circuit in July.
He hopes to confirm an Oceania championship for players aged 18 and under after a meeting in London next month. The championship would match those held in each other region around the world and provide international ranking points.
Yet our most recent tennis star, Brett Steven, worries that rising stars such as Simon Rea, James Shortall and Jacob Olsen might have already missed the boat in their bid to enter the tough world of professional tennis.
Steven, who reached a career-high ranking of 32 before stepping off the tour merry-go-round in 1999, says players in their late teens who expect it to just happen will almost certainly fail.
"Winning the New Zealand 18s title as an 18-year-old may be too late a launching pad to go on to the ATP [the men's international tour]," says Steven who, as a television commentator, has seen many of these budding pros in action at this week's Heineken Open.
"To show that you have got what it takes to succeed at this level, you probably have to be good enough at 15 or 16 to win the national under-18 title. If you are not two years ahead of the scene, you could find you are not good enough."
There are 16-year-olds around the world who have already picked up ATP points. Worldwide, there are many outstanding 14-year-olds.
"But to have good players at 14 we have to get them at 7 or 8," says Steven, who first hit a ball at 4 and by 8 was playing regularly.
Steven says that once 7- and 8-year-olds have been identified they need to become part of a development programme involving the national body and the associations around the country.
"Mostly, those early years need to be an instructional period. Talent identification does not come totally from results. There are physical and emotional issues that too have to be addressed.
"The whole coaching programme has to be coordinated from the top down with an emphasis on ensuring the best coaches work with the most promising young players.
"The tennis industry in New Zealand is small. When I was playing fulltime it was totally for myself. Now, in a coaching role at a club, I don't have the opportunity to work with these top youngsters, as often private tuition is beyond their means," says Steven whose coaching role at the Blockhouse Bay club is 95 per cent with beginners.
He has had parents bring along children they consider a budding Pete Sampras or Jennifer Capriati.
With coaching fees of around $50-70 an hour, it is not cheap. Some coaches happily take the money even if they have doubts about the ability of the players they are coaching. If they were honest with themselves they would tell the parents to cut their losses and save their money.
"I have cost myself money by being honest," says Steven. "Even with the best of the younger players, I as a coach can only do about 10 per cent. The other 90 per cent is up to them."
He remembers that when he was an ambitious young player, "I set my own goals. I learned the demands of what playing at that level meant from Jeff Simpson. He was instrumental in opening my eyes to what was required to succeed.
"To make your way on the circuit you need a guiding light and, preferably, solid financial support."
Perry says the problems are best illustrated in the story of G.D. Jones. The youngster not only has talent and "a passion for the game," but a lot of luck.
His family has, so far, been able to finance his career. But Perry estimates that to do things properly, it costs about $100,000 a year to back an elite teenage talent, and Jones is going to need more outside support in future.
Perry has been friends with Jones' mother since before the boy was born, so she has offered guidance others would struggle to find. Chris Lewis happened to be a neighbour of Jones' family years ago, and gave him free coaching hours when he was aged from 7 to 11.
Jones' school, Kings College, has also accommodated his tennis career around studies.
"Kings College has shown more support than New Zealand Tennis. New Zealand Tennis don't even make contact with him through a phone call," says Perry.
Jones was part of a national development squad from the age of 11 to 13 under the guidance of Peter Langsford and Jeff Simpson, but that has since been disbanded.
Former New Zealand representative player Amanda Trail has coached him on and off over the years, and Brett Steven has coached him for the past three years, during which New Zealand Tennis has not contributed anything to his fees.
"I find it absolutely inconceivable that between the ages of 13 and 15, our best tennis talent has not received one cent of his coaching from New Zealand Tennis," says Perry.
Jones is ranked 116 on the international 18s ladder, with just four 15-year-olds above him.
If he does qualify for the Australian Open this year, he will get just $1100 from our national tennis federation. The only constant official support Jones receives is from Auckland Tennis, which keeps regular contact and gives free court time.
Last year he received just $600 from New Zealand Tennis towards playing in an Asian tournament where he could gather a few international points, a trip that cost $10,000. When you take into account the weak New Zealand dollar, it is an uphill battle that even a player from a wealthy family must find daunting.
Jones, who has won the Australian under-12 and 14 titles, will become our youngest Grand Slam contestant if he makes the Australian Open junior event. But he will be without Steven at his side because his coach must concentrate on work back here that pays.
"We're never going to have the great numbers. But right now the only way someone will succeed is if they have good luck, and through their own striving completely outside the system," says Perry. "At the moment New Zealand Tennis says, 'See how long your family and you can survive out there in the wilderness and not get depressed, knowing there is only a little carrot at the end."
In the present environment, is it still possible to develop another Brett Steven, Chris Lewis or Kelly Evernden in New Zealand?
"Again, it is about timing," says Steven. "It is too hard to expect our 16-, 17- or 18-year-olds to make the required changes to technique and attitude. That has to be done at a much younger age.
"The limited resources within the game in New Zealand need to be spent in a more specific way with the emphasis on our potential stars. It is a big step from playing in age group tournaments or something like Caro Bowl to the ATP."
Steven says that even G.D. Jones, with whom he has worked for the past couple of years, is going to need more than he can offer.
"He is outgrowing me very quickly. He needs to travel and play a lot internationally. I can't continue that close association.
"You can't expect one coach to start with the young players and take them all the way. You have to be prepared to pass them on. At each step the emphasis changes. That is why the whole coaching programme has to be coordinated.
"I would like to see a nationally integrated coaching and development programme, ideally managed by New Zealand Tennis and involving all regions and age groups from 10 years up. To have any chance of making the grade, our 16-, 17- and 18- year-olds have to be a lot better prepared," Stevens says.
The problem, concludes O'Rourke, is that tennis is frequently compared with the success that New Zealand had in rugby and netball, "which aren't truly worldwide sports but are the biggest sports in New Zealand".
- Additional reporting by Josie Clarke
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