Mirny’s next generation
By Yuri Kovalev
The site is far more than just a tennis complex. Besides indoor courts (three out of five are standard plus two mini courts for children aged 5-7) it offers halls for dancing, fitness, aerobics and yoga. Moreover, the centre boasts a beauty salon and a medical centre with the most modern equipment.
“The idea of building such a sport centre came after our team’s bright wins in the Davis Cup,” explains Max Mirny. “The initiative found support and the first visitors arrived on 1st March. Financing was my responsibility but it wasn’t money that drove me to set up the centre; there are much faster and more profitable ways to make money. Tennis is part of my life, so I want to stay in this world even after retiring from professional sport. Saying that, I’d like the centre to pay for itself; depending on its success, we have further plans. Initially, we aim to build open courts (we are working on the site already) and mini golf courses.”
“Already, the fitness centre is very busy; the halls are never empty and events can be overcrowded. We have tennis classes for adults and children. Since January, we’ve had about 400 children aged 5-10 training. Our objective is preliminary preparation: our centre practices a unique training programme for children, popular in many leading tennis states. Children aged 5-10 play on mini courts with shorter rackets and softer balls. From next year, world ranking children’s tennis events will be hosted on such mini-sized courts,” adds Max.