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John Newcombe can’t see Australian men’s tennis reaching any great heights in the near future – and believes it will take more than just Pat Rafter to fix it.
The Australian Davis Cup team hit rock bottom this year when it was condemned to a fourth straight year outside the World Group after a disappointing playoff loss to Belgium in Cairns.
And with world No.54 Lleyton Hewitt the only Australian ranked inside the top 100, Newcombe admits he can’t see any joy soon for the 28-times Cup champions.
It’s a far cry from a decade ago when Rafter was a back-to-back US Open champion and Hewitt spent 80 weeks as world No.1.
“There’s a long way to go before we can get back to there again,” Newcombe told AAP.
Newcombe praised Tennis Australia’s decision to bring golden child Pat Rafter back into the set-up as Australia’s Davis Cup captain, but warned the public not to treat the former world No.1 as the saviour.
According to Newcombe, the job of saving Australian tennis cannot be solely left to Rafter.
“It’s fantastic that Pat is in the position he’s in, but he is not in any position to be seen as the saviour of Australian tennis,” Newcombe said.
“With Pat and Tony Roche being in charge there, I think that’s a very positive step.
“Pat has the experience to bring a lot to the Davis Cup team. He started playing his Davis Cup matches with Tony (Roche) and myself way back in 1994, so he knows what it takes to win in that environment.
“We had seven successful years together, so it’s great to have him back. Just to have his face there as someone the fans can identify with is a plus.”
But while a successful Davis Cup team and positive results on the international circuit will be important to tennis’ rebuilding process, Newcombe believes the key is identifying young talent – and he hopes Cup coach Roche and Rafter can contribute to that process.
“And that’s why we can’t view Pat as the saviour. He’s not there to develop the 12-year-olds – and that is what we need to be doing,” he said.
“What I’d like to see Tony and Pat do is make a five-year plan and grab some of the 15, 16, 17-year-olds and really work them through.”
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