Professional level tennis training is here to stay in Bali with Liga.Tennis Centre and Academy, where sunny weather, high-end facilities and an individual approach to the game makes everyone a winner. Words: Stephanie Mee.
Liga. Tennis Centre & Academy officially opened in May 2019 with the mission of creating happier and healthier lives through tennis. Located in Umalas, this world-class centre has six professional ITF-standard courts, fully-equipped classrooms, an after-school junior academy and individual and group lessons for all ages. We caught up with founder and CEO Dmitry Shcherbakov to get the low-down on what’s shaking on the courts.
Hi Dmitry. So it’s been a few months since Liga.Tennis Center & Academy opened its doors. How things are going?
To be honest we were hoping for success, but the results have gone far beyond our expectations. It’s hard to believe, but since we opened on May 26th we now have a fully completed facility with six tennis courts including four covered courts, we’ve established comprehensive tennis programs for juniors and adults, we’ve put together a great team, and we’re getting rave reviews from satisfied clients. We also organised the Liga.Tennis Open 2019, the largest tournament in Bali in the past 10 years.
Wow – the largest tournament in Bali in the last 10 years? Can you tell us more about the Liga.Tennis Open 2019?
It was an exciting nine-day event with 168 participants playing in 284 matches to compete for IDR100 million in prize money. Among the pro players were Singapore’s Ng Hao Yuan, Malaysia’s Christian Chin, Qatar’s Rayane Alami, top Indonesian athletes and Marinko Matosevic from Australia. Of course the tournament wouldn’t have been possible without the great support from our sponsors. We want to thank the various local and international brands that supported us and give a special thanks to PELTI (the Indonesian Tennis Association) for helping to organise the event.
Does that mean you’ll be planning another Liga.Tennis Open next year?
Of course! We’re planning to host the tournament annually. For 2020 I believe we can get some current pros to join. If we invite famous players, it will definitely increase the interest in tennis and an active lifestyle in Bali and Indonesia. Really that’s what we’re all about. Our mission is to encourage people to live better through sport, and tennis is one of the healthiest sports on the planet.
Marinko Matosevic is a household name among tennis fans. We hear he’s now part of the Liga.Tennis team. Can you tell us a bit more about that?
Indeed, Matosevic is a former World No. 39 ATP professional tennis player and he has joined the Liga.Tennis team here in Bali. During his career he’s defeated top players including Dominic Thiem, Milos Raonic, Marin ?ili?, Nikolay Davydenko, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Lleyton Hewitt, Nick Kyrgios, Daniil Medvedev, John Isner, Richard Gasquet, Fernando Verdasco and Tommy Haas, to name just a few. He’s also a former Davis Cup player for Australia. Moreover, Marinko is just an incredibly nice person and is very serious about developing tennis here in Indonesia. We’re glad to have him on board!
It sounds like the Pro Tennis Academy is shaping up to be an internationally recognized institution. Do you see it being on par with other institutions like the Rafa Nadal Academy or the IMG Academy?
Absolutely. We have everything here to compete with these giants including a great location in Bali, high-end facilities, sunny weather and a professional team. What makes us stand out from the rest is we ensure an individual approach for everyone, as our Pro Academy consists of only 16 students. Each of the students is in touch daily with our professional coaches including Marinko Matosevic. Now you don’t have to go far, say to Europe or the USA, to train tennis professionally.
Looks like you’re guys are knocking it out of the park. What’s next?
Our developments are huge and going far beyond just the tennis centre in Bali. We’re currently working on establishing a talent agency, new tennis centres under our brand across the country, a series of junior tournaments around Indonesia, nationwide junior programs, a new sportswear brand called Liga.Fit, a virtual reality platform and, of course, the Liga.Tennis app, which keeps growing on all continents.
Where do you get the investments for such global growth?
Good question. As you can see, Liga.Tennis has become a group of companies with different specialisations, but all related to tennis and sport. That’s why we’ve incorporated Liga.Management in Singapore, a holding management company for all the Liga.Tennis companies worldwide. At the moment we’re open and looking for investors. The details can be found at www.liga.tennis/invest.
Sounds like a winning match. Thanks!
