PARIS, France - Three of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour's brightest stars have signed up at one of the most world-renowned tennis academies around, the Mouratoglou Academy, as Jelena Dokic, Sorana Cirstea and Aravane Rezai recently joined the fast-growing Parisian establishment.
All three players had breakthrough results in 2009, Dokic making the quarters of the Australian Open and, in the fall, winning two big ITF Circuit titles; Cirstea reaching her first Grand Slam quarterfinal at Roland Garros and nearly cracking the Top 20; and Rezai winning her first two Tour titles, at Strasbourg and the season-ending event in Bali, and also approaching the Top 20.
"Jelena Dokic is a player we all know has already reached a Top 5 ranking," said Patrick Mouratoglou, founder of the academy. "It is a real challenge today to help her come back to a very high level, which I am sure she can do. She has a high motivation and the spirit of the champion is still alive in her.
"Sorana Cirstea is one of the most exciting young players. Her personality and game are brilliant and her success would be fantastic for tennis.
"Aravane Rezai is different from almost all players on the Tour. Her story, her religion and her attitude make her see this profession through a different angle. She has the fire in her racquet and loves to compete."
The Mouratoglou Tennis Academy is recognized as one of the best tennis academies in the world. Founded in 1996, it offers personalized, tailor-made training for each of its players. The academy has an impressive roster of alumni, including Tour players Julia Vakulenko, who shot up from No.120 to No.33 within six months of starting there; Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who trained at the academy from July 2007 to August 2009, a period that saw her as the youngest player in the Top 100 and eventually crack the Top 30; and now Dokic, Cirstea and Rezai. Mouratoglou himself is currently coaching Rezai.
"The philosophy of the Academy is to select the most promising players and give them the opportunity of getting a very high standard and professional structure. We work in a very friendly atmosphere as I want the academy to be a kind of second family for everyone. I know that it looks a bit idealistic, but I think that we succeed quite well in this area."
ATP World Tour players Mario Ancic, Paul-Henri Mathieu, Gilles Müller and Marcos Baghdatis have also trained at the academy.
"I created the Academy in 1996 with a goal that is still alive. When I started, it looked like we were very far, but since then we have been improving and getting closer. The first breakthrough was with Marcos Baghdatis, who I worked with for almost 10 years and who reached the final of the Australian Open and the semifinals of Wimbledon. Marcos gave us a taste of what we expected and we are constantly working to become more and more efficient."
The academy is composed by two groups of players: the Elite Pros group brings together Grand Slam junior champions already on the pro tour, trained by a team of elite coaches; the Rising Players includes younger players hoping to become some of the best juniors in the world. Junior stars include Grigor Dimitrov, Daria Gavrilova and Yulia Puntintseva.
"We have a fantastic group of players in the junior and in the professional tour, as I believe that they have a huge potential of development."
