Young Tennis players receive expert training

Several young Tennis players were last Tuesday afternoon the recipients of expert Tennis training from former Australian world ranked player Pat Cash.{{more}}

Cash was the guest of the one-year-old Grassroot Tennis Club, located at Haddon Tennis Courts at Murray’s Road.

In his one and a half hours with the aspiring Tennis players, Cash was able to impart some of his knowledge to them.

Cash paid special attention to their service and recognised that there was some obvious emerging talent among those in attendance.

The youngsters also had an opportunity to have a “knock up”, with the former Wimbledon Singles champion.

Cash won Wimbledon in 1987, when he beat the number one player then, Ivan Lendl.

Among those present at last Tuesday’s session was one of this country’s accomplished young players, Fabrice George, who acknowledged to SEARCHLIGHT that during the time spent in the company of Cash, he was able to garner new knowledge, especially about some of the recent techniques that have been developed.

Cash, after competing on the Junior Tennis circuit, turned professional in 1983, and in that same year became the youngest person to play in a Davis Cup final. He won the decisive singles rubber against Joakim Nyström as Australian defeated Sweden 3-2 to claim the cup. In 1986, he helped Australia regain the Davis Cup with a 3-2 victory over Sweden. Cash again won the decisive singles rubber, recovering from two sets down against Mikael Pernfors.

Cash continued to play on the circuit on-and-off through the mid-1990s, but a series of injuries to his Achilles tendon, knees, and back prevented him from recapturing his best form. He won his last top-level singles title in 1990 in Hong Kong, and his last doubles title in 1996 at Pinehurst with Pat Rafter.

Since his retirement from the tour, Cash has resided mainly in London. He has coached top players Greg Rusedski and Mark Philippoussis, and opened a tennis academy on the Gold Coast of Australia.

The Pat Cash Tennis Academy has been set up at the Harlequin Resorts at Buccament Bay here in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.( (RT)