Kleybanova To Open Academy With Her Coach

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 17th October 2013

Kleybanova To Open Academy With Her Coach

epa02702413 Russia's tennis player Alisa Kleybanova in action during her match against Olga Govortsova of Belarus, 25th April 2011, at the Tennis Estoril Open 2011, in Oeiras, Portugal. EPA/MARIO CRUZ |

Alisa Kleybanova says that her main focus these days is getting enough matches in so she can possibly return to the top 20 someday, but the Russian, who had to battle cancer before launching a full scale comeback last spring, is also enterprising.

She and her longtime coach, Julian Vespan, are preparing to open a new tennis academy in Florida.

The Vespan Tennis Academy will feature 24 clay courts and eventually some hard courts. Kleybanova will train there and eventually coach there.

“We recruit good, serious players,” she told Sport Express. “We want to have wide coverage too: beginners, kids and adults. We have a good chance to do everything at a high level. We have traveled a lot, seen a lot of things, so we know how it works. I’ll take an active part in the life of the academy. In the future I plan to switch completely to work there. If something does not work out with my career or when I retire, I would like to continue as a coach.”

The 24-year-old Kleybanova says that she and Vespan make a perfect tandem and that they are like brother and sister. “ We are best friends for life,” she said. “I think it’s a great opportunity. We always support each other, and I have no doubt that we will succeed if we stick together. Not only in terms of tennis, but also in terms of the development of the academy. Rarely in life do you find people who you can trust more than yourself.”

Kleybanova added that the reason that they decided not to open the academy in Russia is her home country’s financial situation is more precarious, the weather isn’t nearly as good and because more people play tennis in Florida in general.

“In Florida, it’s almost everyone’s favorite sport,” she said.

Like many players say and have experienced, it is tough to find the right coach, hence the constant hirings and firings on tour. A coach is not just someone to hand out technical and strategic advice. Given how lonely it often is on the road, he or she is often a confidante.

“It is very difficult,” Kleybanova said. “There are good professionals, but it is necessary that the person is suitable. After all, you spend most of the days of the year with your coach. A lot of stress, difficult travel, and it’s with this person that you associate the most stressful moments in your life. Finding exactly the right person is extremely difficult. There are athletes who have a purely professional relationship with their coach, others have relationships outside the court. I will not name names, but I have seen many such [romantic] relationships.”

A two-time title winner on the WTA, Kleybanova says that young players must be careful when it comes to selecting coaches. She said that while there are some upstanding citizens in the coaches ranks, there are also some “charlatans” among them.

“They try to chase players who aren’t playing well, and promise them that everything right. We are a trusting people,” she said. “A lot of players are alone, and they have no one to turn to. And there are people who want to take the opportunity to grab a piece of you. When you start your career, it is easy to get into that situation.”

Kleybanova, who is still hovering outside the top 200, has only used three of her protected ranking tournaments, but needs to use up her other five by May 2014. She has already used up her sole Grand Slam allotment at the 2013 US Open and plans on using her two Premier Mandatory allotments at 2014 at Indian Wells and Miami.

Topics: 10sballs, Alisa Kleybanova, Grand Slam, Indian Wells, Julian Vespan, Sports, Tennis, Tennis News, US Open, Wta