AS far as former French Open champion Michael Chang is concerned, playing only in Malaysia, Asia or only one continent is just not enough to develop a world class player.
Chang, who is currently co-coaching Japan star Kei Nishikori alongside Dante Bottini (Argentina), stressed the need for youngsters to be exposed to a plethora of top level international tournaments on a consistent basis to develop an all rounded game.
“There is no real secret to doing it (developing a top player) or even a specific coaching technique as everyone is unique with their own strengths and weaknesses,” said the American, when met at the ATP Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
“Obviously you need a good coach and support team but I feel that you also need to take advantage of playing tennis around the world.
“You cannot just play tennis here in Malaysia and Asia. You need to play in South America, Europe and (North) America as well and be exposed to the different styles of play.”
Chang, whose Taiwanese roots saw him garner a strong following in Asia in the late 80s and 90s, added that players can be given such exposure from as young as 12.
“There are a lot of ITF tournaments nowadays where you can compete against the best players (from around the world) from a particular age group and that helps.”
Chang added that Nishikori had moved from Japan to the Bollettieri Academy in the US at 14.
A keen student of the game, Chang’s input has helped Nishikori break into the top 10 this year and create history as the first Asian man to reach a grand slam final at the recent US Open.
Meanwhile, the opening round of main draw matches at the Malaysian Open yesterday saw sixth seed Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay clinch a hard fought 6-4, 7-6 (7-1) win over former top-10 player Jurgen Melzer (Austria) at the Putra Stadium.
Cuevas will now play Croatian Ivan Dodig in the second round after the latter progressed with a 7-6 (8-6), 6-1 win over Hiroki Moriya of Japan.
RESULTS, IST RD — Singles: Pablo Cuevas (Arg) bt Jurgen Melzer (Aut) 6-4, 7-6 (7-1), Ivan Dodig (Cro) bt Hiroki Moriya (Jpn) 7-6 (8-6), 6-1, Filip Krajinovic (Srb) bt Taro Daniel (Jpn) 6-2, 6-4.
Doubles: Scott Lipsky (US)-Rajeev Ram (US) bt Pablo Andujar (Spa)-Philipp Oswald (Aut) 4-6, 6-3, 12-10.
Today — Centre Court (1pm): Omar Jasika (Aus) v Rajeev Ram (US), Gregoire Burquier (Fra) v Pablo Andujar (Spa), Jarko Nieminen (Fin) v Philipp Oswald (Aut).
Not before 6:30pm: Bernard Tomic (Aus) v Pierre-Hughes Herbert (Fra); Not before 7:30pm: Nick Kyrgios (Aus) v Marinko Matosevic (Aus).
Court No 1 (1pm): Go Soeda (Jap) v Kento Takeuchi (Jap), James Ward (Eng) v Philipp Petzschner (Ger).
Men’s doubles 1st rd: Jurgen Melzer (Aut)-Philipp Petzschner (Ger) v Pablo Cuevas (Uru)-Santiago Gonzalez (Mex).