The resolution of the President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov, establishing the Olympic Tennis School at Tashkent is bound to put Uzbekistan Tennis to new league, according to the captain and the chief coach of the Uzbekistan Tennis team Lebed Petr.

Speaking on the sidelines of the US$125,000 Tashkent Challenger, Petr said that the new facilities at the centre coupled with the Uzbekistan Tennis Federation’s (UTF) policy of hosting major international tennis is bound to help players in their pursuit to achieve higher rankings.

"We are already planning for the next year, we are taking our team to practice in Thailand as it will be winter here, and the main thrust will be to improve the rankings of the players by participating in major events later.

Petr who has been with the team for 8 years now, took over the reins of the senior tennis team 6 years ago. Prior to this he worked as the coach of the junior team.

I’m happy with the men’s players performances, they are doing well, but I expect them to much better in the next season, I also expect our players to take Uzbekistani Davis cup team to the next stage, he added.

"My aim now is to make a strong Uzbekistan team, We have good individual players and young.Now the work is to gel the same players into a good team, and I’m sure Uzbekistan will be a power to reckon with at the Asia/ Oceania zone and also probably the world group, said Petr.

"Tennis in the Republic has changed quite a bit we took a conscious decision to drop senior players on the team 4 years back and start grooming young players and concentrate on them. We will surely see the dividends in the next season".

Petr added that he was very happy with the way players like Denis Istomin, Murad Inoyatav, Vaja Uzakov were performing. Istomin reaching top 120 and playing well last week is one of the reasons which make me confident, he added.

Petr claimed "We have about 10-15 players now who look to make it big at the international stage. We have lot of talented players like Djalalov Djakhongir, Sergey Shipilov, Roman Piftor, Pulat Babadjanov,Said Akhmedov and Ismailov who are in line to move to next stage".

Asked what made the difference, Petr said "we have now a good programme in place, we have a good talent scouting programme to choose talented players from the other regions like Andijan and Namangan, Samarkhand, Bukhara and Karshi apart from Tashkent.

He added, the selected players are then attached to the school, with the government supporting them with stipends, and the UTF with all the other help. Petr disclosed the system of younger players playing together with senior players is also helping; it also helps to boost their confidence.

I’m very pleased with the UTF’s initiative in organizing events like Futures, challengers and events like the Tashkent Open, Petr informed. Further he added our players are truly benefited; apart from the chance to compete at the events they also have opportunities to watch players of higher levels.

I remember when we had President’s Cup we had opportunity to watch players like Safin, Kafelnikov, and even top women’s players, which I personally feel helps players’ in developing their skills.

Petr also expressed satisfaction saying, that owing to challengers and futures young players have had an opportunity to earn their first ranking points in the country itself rather than having to travel abroad and face economic hardships like players from other countries who do not have events like these

Now we have perfect system in place, in terms of infrastructure, talent, a strong organization, a calendar full of events, an Olympic tennis school," now all that I’m waiting for is the results which will surely be icing on country’s tennis cake" Petr sums up.