Mildura semi-finalist urges tennis funding revamp

MILDURA Grand Tennis International semi-finalist Scott Puodziunas has called on tennis officials in Australia to look at the funding model for tournaments in Australia.

Puodziunas, 30 who will head to Europe for four months in the middle of the year, said the model favoured players at the “top end” and more had to be done to support those at the lower level.

“Look at the first-round prizemoney this year at the Australian Open – $90,000, the year before that $75,000 and the year before that I’m not exactly sure what it was, but maybe $50,000,” Puodziunas said last week after his shock win over No.2 seed Luke Saville in the men’s singles round of 16 at the Mildura Grand Tennis International.

“It has gone up that much and that is 128 people with men and women getting that extra 25 grand – imagine putting that back into some Futures (tournaments) here or Challengers or even funding some of the players who don’t necessarily get any funding from TA (Tennis Australia), instead of just that select few.”

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Puodziunas’s concerns are not anything new – many current and past players have echoed the sentiment.

He believes there needs to be more tournaments played in Australia like the Mildura Grand Tennis International and used the model Italy has in place as an example of what could be done in this country.

“I think we have maybe 12 or 13 (Challenger and Futures) tournaments a year and then you compare that to Italy, who have 45 tournaments – there is no real comparison really,” Puodziunas said.

“They (Italy) basically have a Challenger and Futures every week. 

“There is absolutely no excuse for us – we could easily have at least another 10 tournaments, but what can I do, it’s not up to me – there are a bunch of people who bring these issues up and I don’t know who makes the final decision, who the group people are who decide how many tournaments there are going to be in Australia.”

Puodziunas’s concern, like many other people involved in tennis in Australia, is too many talented players are being lost to the game because they cannot afford the costs associated with playing at the higher level.

Since introducing more Challenger and Future tournaments, Italy has a seen a resurgence in the game.

It now has more than 10 players ranked inside the men’s top 10.

Puodziunas said there was a fine line between making it as a professional player and not. 

“Brydan (Klein) and I played Luke Saville and Max Purcell at the end of last year in a Challenger final and we lost 7-6, 6-7, 10-8 and they just made final of the (Australian) Open doubles,” Puodziunas said.

“The level is not that different, it’s just getting there – once you are there you can stay there, but you have just got to get there and that’s tough.”