Kazakhstan’s “Tennis Experience”

On the 24th October, in the quarterfinals of the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, Kazakhstan’s Rybakina defeated 9th seed Mboko in straight sets to advance to the semifinals. With this victory, Rybakina secured the final “ticket” to the ATP Finals in Riyadh, qualifying for the finals for the third consecutive year.

This remarkable victory has brought Kazakhstan, the country she represents, back into the public eye.

This Central Asian nation, once known for sports like wrestling and boxing, is now making tennis a new sporting highlight. The rise of tennis in Kazakhstan was not achieved overnight. In 2007, when Bulat Utemuratov took over as president of the Kazakhstan Tennis Federation, the association was practically at a standstill.

“The federation was heavily indebted, and its membership in the International Tennis Federation was suspended. We had to start from scratch,” Utemuratov recalled.

Under his leadership, Kazakhstan embarked on a systematic tennis development project.

For over a decade, Kazakhstan has invested heavily in building tennis courts, training coaches, and nurturing young talent. To date, Kazakhstan has built 39 internationally standardized tennis centers, covering almost the entire country, many of which are equipped with indoor courts to cope with the long, cold winters.

Bulat Utemuratov said that the Kazakhstan Tennis Federation has also established a national training team to focus on cultivating outstanding young players – and has developed a complete competition system for players of different age groups to ensure stable training and competition opportunities.

This system is now showing initial results.

Besides Rybakina, the Kazakh men’s tennis team has made numerous breakthroughs in the Davis Cup, while the women’s team has reached the Billie Jean King Cup finals multiple times. Furthermore, several ATP and WTA professional tournaments have been held in Kazakhstan, giving local players the opportunity to compete against top international players on home soil.

It was once believed that the rise of Kazakhstan’s tennis was mainly due to naturalized players, as stars like Rybakina and Bublik had previously represented other countries.

However, Utemuratov believes that the success of these imported players is inseparable from Kazakhstan’s nurturing efforts.

“Before coming to Kazakhstan, they hadn’t achieved any significant results. Rybakina was almost ready to give up her tennis career; we gave her the opportunity. She has also stated many times that her success is inseparable from Kazakhstan’s support.”

Kazakhstan is now welcoming a new generation of homegrown talent, including Zhukaev, who won the ATP Charlotteville Challenger in 2023, and 17-year-old Omarkhanov, who is just starting his professional career.

Omarkhanov said that tennis is becoming increasingly popular in Kazakhstan. “In the past, although there were people playing tennis in Kazakhstan, very few of them could enter the professional arena. Now, many of our players are able to make a name for themselves in youth tournaments.”

The development of young players relies on a well-established career path.

Omarkhanov said that Kazakhstan’s current tennis system helps players better plan their professional development. “Now everyone knows where to train and who to learn from. In the early stages, they can stay in Central Asia to learn tennis, and later go to Europe to improve.”

At the tournament level, Kazakhstan has also accelerated its internationalization efforts.

Since 2020, Kazakhstan has hosted ATP 250, ATP 500, and WTA 250 tournaments… These high-level professional tennis matches have become an important showcase for the country’s tennis development. “The tournament organization is very professional, and it’s comparable to similar indoor tournaments in Europe,” said Khachanov, the 2024 Almaty Open champion from Russia.

After more than a decade of continuous investment, Kazakhstan’s tennis system has taken shape, forming a relatively complete chain from venues and coaches to youth training and tournaments.

Bulat Utemuratov stated that they will continue to adhere to the long-term plan for tennis development. “The association has established a multi-tiered national team system. We will select ‘potential stars’ from players when they are very young and help them grow. We will continue to implement these practices, but this also requires long-term and stable financial support,” he said.

SOURCE: http://www.xinhuanet.com/sports/20251024/982ea5f5e09341dfae54a7029ae656c0/c.html