In between the lines
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Australian tennis gets political
The ugly side of Australian tennis politics has resurfaced with former world No. 8 John Alexander lashing his former employer, Tennis Australia.
A long-time director of TA's junior development program and a Fed Cup captain, Alexander slammed the reappointment of Davis Cup captain John Fitzgerald and Fed Cup skipper David Taylor.
According to a report in Sydney's Sun Herald, Alexander believes there is a direct correlation between the drastic decline in Australia's playing stocks and the reduced role of the Davis Cup and Fed Cap captains in player development.
With world No.22 Lleyton Hewitt the only Australian in the top 50, Alexander says Tennis Australia should require Fitzgerald and Taylor to spend more time on the road with players. He's also adamant their positions should have been up for grabs.
"Their contracts have been renewed this year with no processes, no questions asked and no invitations for applications," Alexander said.
"It's nothing against Fitzy or David Taylor. It's about Tennis Australia's vision for these jobs. "The Davis Cup and Fed Cup captains should be the two elite coaches in Australia.
"When they're not travelling with their players and the personal coaches of those players, they should be the head coaches at the training academies.
"They should be overseeing player development across the country. "They should be running the show and they should be full-time." Fitzgerald's team made it through to the second round of the Davis Cup Asia-Oceania zone group with a 4-1 win over Taiwan in Kaohsiung.
The Aussie pair came from two sets down to beat the Taiwanese combination of Yen-Hsun Lu and Yeu-Tzuoo Wang 2-6, 6-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2.
The ignominy of having to go through zonal qualification continues when Australia play either Thailand or Kazakhstan in Townsville in April. Australia have fallen so far they need two more victories to reach a play-off for re-entry to the world group.
Taylor's Fed Cup failed to reach the zonal play-offs two weeks ago.
by Bob Larson