Ireland does not need to be tennis backwater, says Dave Miley
Dubliner Dave Miley's terraced two-storey house in Wimbledon bustled like a tennis world train station last week, predominantly filled with young players from Kazakhstan rather than Ireland, which was originally the idea.
Miley once tried to sell Tennis Ireland (TI) a vision of a country which could develop young talent which could also prosper at Grand Slam events, but his message was rejected. Instead he packed himself off to central Asia — while keeping his London base — and has enjoyed considerable success as director of the Kazakhstan Tennis Federation.
Kazakhstan will have former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina and Alexander Bublik among the favourites to lift a title at the All England club this year. They came through the Russian system before changing nationality so Miley doesn't claim the credit, but there is plenty of evidence that Kazakhstan can provide future champions of their own in some parts down to the effort of Miley, who has been based in the capital Astana for five years now.
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