Touring team make the most of springtime in Paris
The 15 players involved in the ITF/Grand Slam Player Development Programme touring team may leave Paris without any silverware to their names – but the experiences, both on and off the court, that the team have had during their time in Europe will certainly stay with them for years to come.
The touring teams allow players from developing tennis nations the chance to compete at the biggest junior events in the sport, as well as access to elite-level coaching and training camps. Touring team alumni include a host of top players, with Simona Halep, Jelena Ostapenko and Grigor Dimitrov just three examples of team-members who have gone on to play at the highest level of the sport.
“Being in the team, it's so nice,” Kenya’s Angella Okutoyi said. “You get to meet new players, new coaches. You get to learn new styles [of play], and new lifestyles, new languages… it’s really nice.”
Okutoyi is one of four players from the team who won a singles match in Paris. The 18-year-old – who became the first Kenyan girl to compete at a junior Grand Slam event since 1978 at this year’s Australian Open – enjoyed a good victory over Belgium’s Amelie van Impe in the first round, before competing well in a defeat to No. 1 seed Petra Marcinko in the second round on Monday.
“I would say I had some chances in the match,” Okutoyi analysed afterwards. “I wasn't able to dominate it. [Marcinko] really played well, but I know there's some things I need to improve to be able to be playing at her level. And I think when I go back home, I will really work on that.”
Okutoyi was joined in the second round by fellow touring team members Lucia Peyre, of Argentina, as well as Morocco’s Aya El Aouni, who came through qualifying before winning a main draw Grand Slam match for the first time. Both players exited on Tuesday, with Peyre falling to Denmark’s Johanne Christine Svendsen and El Aouni losing to French 16th seed Yaroslava Bartashevich.
“Yeah, I'm really proud,” El Aouni said after her match. “I'm playing good now and I hope it's gonna be good for the rest of the season.”
Among the boys on this year’s touring team, Paraguay’s Martin Antonio Vergara del Puerto was the only player to claim a singles victory. Vergara del Puerto defeated Liam Gavrielides in the opening round before running No. 9 seed Edas Butvilas close, eventually falling 6-2 3-6 6-4 in a match lasting two hours and eight minutes.
The Paraguayan is still alive in the doubles draw, and will hope that he and compatriot Daniel Vallejo, currently ranked at No. 2 in the ITF junior rankings, can extend their stay in Paris this week. The pair take on Hynek Barton and Aidan Kim on Wednesday, with a place in the quarter-finals up for grabs.
But regardless of results, the team spirit in the camp has remained high throughout the trip to Europe.
“It's my fourth time [on a touring team] and it's really good,” El Aouni explained. “The atmosphere is really good, the coaches are really good. We are working hard but outside the court we are laughing and we have good moments. We always cheer for each other.”
A group of teammates cheering you on is an unusual experience in an individual sport such as tennis. But it certainly seems to help the players who compete in touring teams, as well as motivating them to achieve their goals.
“I would like to thank the ITF and the GSPDP,” Okutoyi said. “I’d really like to thank them because they've helped me I think, since I was 10 years old. And I would say the team that I have here in Paris, it's the best to be honest.”