KEY POINTS:
It has been several years since New Zealand registered more than a blip on the international tennis circuit.
Since world No 32 Brett Steven's retirement in 1999, it's been tough going but Tennis New Zealand's new boss, Steve Walker from Melbourne, has plans to change that.
Walker, who
replaces Don Turner as chief executive next month, has since 2002 spent four years at Tennis Australia running the Australian Open junior grand slam, and before that four years at Tennis Tasmania. He likes a challenge, which is just as well.
TNZ is streamlining its organisation. What was an unwieldy 25 associations is being turned into six regions - Northern (from North Harbour up), Auckland, Waikato Bays (taking in the Bay of Plenty-mid-North Island areas), Central (Wellington-based), Canterbury and Southern (Dunedin-based).
By the year's end associations have to decide which region they are throwing their lot in with. At which point it's full steam ahead to inject some oomph into the game here.
Walker talks of "getting the governance side right and really seeing if we can put some plans in place that will address our main need areas", which include developing good players and coaches, getting more people to play and raising the sport's profile.
"If we can put some strategies in place that not only address it but attack it, I'll be pretty thrilled," he said.
Walker's brief includes the business side of the sport, but he indicated the playing side was more of a focus.
"Strictly speaking, I'm about getting people on court, giving them more opportunities and wanting them to come back for more and telling their friends about it."
Walker is leaving Baseball Victoria to come to New Zealand. He made a living as a tennis coach and reckons he was "a half-decent club player" who won "the odd regional or club championship".
Sorting out a top priority in his first year, Walker speaks with zeal about something which is part mental, part physical.
Rowing's Olympic and world championship success in recent years has inspired a legion of teenagers to follow Mahe Drysdale or Georgina and Caroline Evers-Swindell, as last month's Maadi Cup national secondary schools regatta showed at Lake Karapiro. It doesn't follow that they will emulate those epic achievements, but at least they're in the water giving it a crack.
New Zealand's young tennis players once had Onny Parun and Chris Lewis in their sights. Parun won five ATP singles titles; Lewis three. Parun made the Australian Open final; Lewis faced John McEnroe for the Wimbledon title. Both reached No 19 in the world. It seems an age ago.
Walker wants to raise young players' self-belief that they can cut it in the big time.
"When there hasn't been a Kiwi on TV playing, people start to ask questions. It can become a self-fulfilling prophecy if the message the players are getting is that New Zealand can't produce a player any more.
"So we've got to get the right strategies in place, provide opportunities and get our up-and-coming players into the right situations. If that means they need to spend more time in Europe playing on clay courts, or we need more academies, we've got to identify what it is that's going to provide them with confidence.
"Obviously Marina [Erakovic] has got it and I believe [Auckland teenager] Sacha Jones has. But there's got to be a more generic feeling that New Zealand can produce competitive players that can live on the [international] tours."
Walker was at yesterday's Davis Cup tie, so he knows it won't happen overnight. But he sounds ready to roll up his sleeves, which is a good start.