Cayman tennis fans met with and learned from former top-ranked player Kim Clijsters, who visited the island last week.
Clijsters, from Belgium, was ranked number one in women’s singles by the Women’s Tennis Association for 20 weeks in 2003.
The Tennis Federation of the Cayman Islands, along with Apex Invest and The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman, hosted a tennis event on Friday, 11 April, where Clijsters worked with several local junior and adult players during separate sessions.
Speaking to Compass TV, she emphasised the importance of having the right coaching from a junior level as this is where a lot of skills and the mindset of players on the court is developed.
“It all starts with a strong foundation,” she said.
She said it was obvious from observing and playing with the local players that a lot of time and effort was being put into the sport in Cayman.
This was her first visit to Cayman, and she said, “I can’t wait to come back and play some more tennis here.”
Brian Walpole, of the Tennis Federation of the Cayman Islands, touched on the adult aspect of the event and highlighted the various tennis programmes and clubs on island that are aimed at improving and building participation in adult tennis.
“If you’re interested in getting involved in adult tennis, it’s a very friendly space,” he said. “It’s a great opportunity to get involved in some adult fitness activity.”
The Cayman Islands Tennis Club hosts a programme every Friday night that is open to non-members and he says this is a good place to start for those who have an interest in playing.
Elaine Anderson, of the Tennis Federation of the Cayman Islands, highlighted that the federation is a not-for-profit that is fully run by volunteers. She said the mission of the federation is to raise the awareness and support of tennis throughout the three Cayman Islands.
“This is really important because as you’ve just seen, there’s 12 top-class juniors who had exposure to Kim, her hitting partners and the other coaches here, and the juniors need to see there is something beyond Cayman,” she said.
She believes that this exposure will help shine a light on what Cayman’s players can do with tennis and where it can take them.
