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Stirling University interviewFrom April 2004:
At a time when the majority of elite athletes are media-trained into giving monotonous stock answers and saying plenty without saying much at all, a Stirling University tennis player who is willing to share his candid opinions makes a refreshing change.
Colin Fleming, who hails from Linlithgow, is a young man with plenty to say, and just maybe the mandarins who purport to run sport in this country should listen to some of the things he has to say.
Fleming, who started playing the game at the age of seven, recently won the British Universities tennis championships at Loughborough, and in the process boosted his world ranking to an all-time high of 1090th.
Not quite a Grand Slam champion yet admittedly, but the 19-year-old hasn’t stopped progressing yet.
“Its not about where I am now – its where I want to be that matters. And winning the University title has given me a huge lift.
“I feel good right now, which is important. If you’re not confident when you step onto the court, you’re in trouble.
“I work hard and take nothing for granted. Tennis can be a cruel sport to get involved in. But it’s where I come alive.”
Fleming’s world ranking was dramatically improved earlier this year when he reached semi-finals of an International Tennis Federation event and this weekend he has the chance to improve it further when he competes in the Scottish Open Championships in Edinburgh.
“I’ve got to get into the second round at least if I’m to add some ranking points. We’ll just have to see what happens.”
The flexibility of the Stirling system means that Fleming is able to take a gap year next year, putting his degree in Economics and Finance on hold for 12 months. However, he’s fully aware that this is no easy option.
“It will be the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I’m going to concentrate solely on tennis and hopefully I’ll move further up the rankings. But it will be difficult.
“I’m on a tennis scholarship programme which is backed by the Lawn Tennis Association. It’s a great help financially, but when I take time off university it means I’m on my own.
“I’ll be scraping to get some funds together, and I’m not talking about money to afford any of life’s little luxuries, I’m talking bare necessities.
“Let’s face it, we all need to eat and, in my case, travel as well, so some sort of sponsorship would be of great assistance.
Despite the hardship of life on the fringes of the international tennis circuit, Fleming doesn’t complain about situation, in fact he feels privileged to be given a chance to try and make his name in the sport.
“I’m one of the lucky ones. My dad was, and still is, into tennis, and so is my brother Michael who plays at county level. It meant getting involved in the sport was only natural for me.
“My family has backed me financially – as much as they can afford to. Other youngsters don’t have that luxury.
“Its often the case in Scotland that kids from built-up areas are just given a ball and told to play football. Its almost as if that’s the only sport there is.
“It makes me wonder, if they had been encouraged to play tennis instead and received the necessary backing, we might have a reasonable number of potential stars coming through.
“But tennis is still an elitist sport and while steps are being taken to make the game more open, maybe even more could be done.
“Who’s to say there aren’t any potential tennis stars out there in the more run-down areas? Maybe it time we got out there and found out. We’ll never know unless we do.”
Straight talking from a young man who evidently thinks and cares about his sport, and it’s that passion that may well propel him to future success. His cerebral approach, which befits a university student, dictates that his ambitions equal his ability, but he believes he can go higher, maybe all the way to Wimbledon one day.
Lets hope he doesn’t lose the candid approach on the journey there. That would really get Sue Barker, Barry Davies and the rest spluttering into their pimms.
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