Tennis Month: Zina Garrison Interview – Part 2

by Zina Garrison & Jason Brown

USTA.com: You made it all the way to the top of the sport. What are some of the greatest obstacles for kids aspiring to become a professional player?

Zina Garrison: I still think tennis is a wealthy sport. Even though we’ve created more opportunities, many people still can’t afford to join a club or get lessons. I think the USTA has done a good job of building community tennis and getting the word out to get more people to play in a public facility.

USTA.com: Parental support is so important in kids’ involvement with the game. Parents use various approaches to guiding their children. Some push their kids hard to succeed, while others are laid-back. Is there a right and wrong way for parents to support their children playing tennis?

Zina Garrison: I think the first introduction for parents is that tennis is a great family sport. If you do know how to play and have the opportunity to take the kids out and get them involved, that’s a great way to figure out if the kid likes it. The hard part is figuring out when to take a step back. I think that’s the most difficult part for the parent – stepping back and allowing the kid to have a different type of coaching that can take them to the next level. A lot of times you read about all of these parents that have done it, but at some point, even those parents have stepped back at some point in time for a professional coach. Parents need to be comfortable letting a coach help develop a kid. I think it’s absolutely ridiculous when parents jump around from coach to coach working on the forehand and the backhand and the volleys – the kid becomes so confused.

USTA.com: While most parents turn over the coaching reigns to professionals, several current pros have stuck with their parents as coaches throughout their career, notably, Serena and Venus Williams.

Zina Garrison: I think it works for some people, but I don’t think that it works for everyone. I think that’s the tough part sometimes. I think its exceptional when you take a look at the Williams sisters – what they have accomplished with their family is amazing; to take two women and become No. 1 in the world being coached by their mother and father. I think Richard and Oracene did a good job of instilling in them good values and allowing them to still be kids. I think a lot of times, tennis players have no sense of a social life on the outside, and I don’t think that’s right.

USTA.com: Like you said before, often the perception is that tennis has always been a wealthy sport. Do you think that the USTA as an organization is doing a good job of breaking down some of those barriers and introducing the sport to kids that wouldn’t have the opportunity to play tennis otherwise?

Zina Garrison: You have to remember where I came from, 20-something years ago. From where it is now from where it once was, is amazing. We are making strides – look at our Fed Cup team, it’s very diverse. So it’s possible, and it’s happening.

USTA.com: Have you ever thought about what your life would have been like without tennis?

Zina Garrison: I think about it all the time (laughs)! For me I would have probably been doing something to help somebody. But on the other end, I was so stubborn, that I think that my life would have been a lot tougher without tennis, because I picked up so many positive things from the sport. I’m not sure that an average job would have allowed me to grow and evolve as a person the way that I have been blessed to grow. It’s funny, I was just watching the movie, “The Queen,” and I was thinking, ‘wow, because of tennis, I got to meet the Queen of England, I got to meet Princess Diana and some unbelievable people and its all because of tennis.’

USTA.com: We recently held a Tennis Month web chat with James Blake and he was asked a similar question: Who are all of the famous people that you have met because of your tennis celebrity? He said his most memorable encounter was with Michael Jordan, who was his idol growing up.

Zina Garrison: Mine definitely would be Maya Angelou and also Oprah. I never would have met those people without tennis!

USTA.com: Is Oprah a tennis player?

Zina Garrison: Oprah doesn’t play, but her steady boyfriend is a huge tennis fan. I’ve known him for years. He brought her to some of our matches in Chicago and I met her then.

USTA.com: Just a few weeks ago, you led the U.S. Fed Cup team to a victory over Belgium in the quarterfinals at the Delray Beach Stadium & Tennis Center. Are you proud of what the team accomplished?

**Zina Garrison: I’m very proud of the young women. Starting with Serena, I knew it was going to be tough for her having just pulled a groin muscle. For her to go out and play that match (http://www.usta.com/news/fullstory.sps?iType=921&inewsid=421291) made me extremely proud. She stepped up and did what she had to do. Venus is always great, such a team leader. She loves the atmosphere of Fed Cup and gets involved with the young girls that are there. Lisa Raymond was excellent. I asked her if she could teach Vania King as much as she could about doubles and drills and I think that helped Vania win that match. She hadn’t won a match in a long time and she wasn’t afraid to come in to net during her singles match and volley. Because of that work that she put in, she was able to step up to the plate and pull that win off.

USTA.com: You have several options now looking forward to the next round, a semifinal home series against Russia, July 14-15. Obviously, you’d probably prefer to lead with Serena and Venus, but you’ve accumulated some nice depth to the team that will give you some options to choose from.

Zina Garrison: I like to use that fourth spot – have the young players all bid for it. I thought that Vania did a great job, not to mention in Germany last year. But you know, Jamea Jackson was the young hero then, so I’m waiting to see how she does when she comes back. If I was a young player, I’d want to be on the same team as Serena, Venus, and Lisa. I would be fighting to get that spot and that’s kind of the spirit that I’m trying to get from those young ones. I tell them to do what they have to do to make a permanent spot on our team.

USTA.com: That’s so true. I remember speaking with U.S. Davis Cup captain Patrick McEnroe a few years back about the Bryan brothers and he said the same thing. He wanted them to prove that they deserved a permanent place on the team.

Zina Garrison: And now he doesn’t know what he’d do without them (laughs)!

USTA.com: The site for the Fed Cup semifinal in July is expected to be announced soon. Although you don’t know exactly where in the United States it will be held yet, you have to feel good about your chances playing at home again, right?

Zina Garrison: I’m just ecstatic about the possibility of playing two straight matches at home. In four years as Fed Cup captain, I’ve only been at home once. So for me it doesn’t matter where we play, just as long as it’s on our home soil.

USTA.com: Do you keep tabs on your players during the year?

Zina Garrison: Yes. I saw that Serena had to withdraw from a clay tournament. In fact, she even left me a message about it. I’m looking for Venus to have an exceptional summer. I cannot believe how hard that girl has been working. I’m hoping that Vania will click on and I’m sure Lisa will do great as usual.