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South Africa’s tennis officials have claimed the country could be one of the best in the world if given more support.

Ian Smith, chief executive of the South African Tennis Association (SATA), called for more assistance from the Government after losing 5-0 to Germany in the World Group play-off in Stuttgart last weekend.

“We have a good junior base, and although we have good coaches, they’re not at the standard of others worldwide, because they don’t have the opportunities to travel,” said Smith.

“Our coaches have to base their prowess on local content and the ITF [International Tennis Federation] theory syllabus. They can’t learn much from what they see the best players doing on TV.

“So we need to get them on more international courses, and we need to give them more exposure to the international game on a hands-on basis.

“We also don’t have enough ITF Future events for the younger players, because it’s too expensive. But it’s also too expensive to send them overseas to play, because you can’t send them alone. They must have a support base with them.”

Smith revealed that a substantial amount of the federation’s funding comes from the Lotto Board, but he said it is not enough.

“We are talking to sponsors, and I must be clear that SASCOC [the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee] have been good to us,” he added. “The Lotto has been exceptional, and we’re appreciative of that, but I need to urge the Government to do more in the way of assisting our development.

“In the current economy, corporations are not in a position to sponsor us so we can build clay court facilities, have sports science testing for the players, and that sort of thing.

“And it’s not just tennis. Other sports are in the same boat because all the focus is on rugby, soccer and cricket.

“We know the Government don’t have a great deal of funds to spend on sport, but we’ve got to talk to them and discuss plans on how we’re going to go forward and bring some sponsors on board.

“SATA have a plan, and it’s working, but we need help if we’re going to take the sport to the next level.

“If we had the funding, I know we could produce some of the best players in the world. We’ve done it in the past from a small pool of players, and today, in the Rainbow Nation, all people are included and we can produce even more champions than we‘ve done before.”