Denmark has decided to cut tennis funding to the Danish Tennis Federation for the development of tennis talent in the country. The budget for next season is only 150,000 Danish Krones, and that is enough to support Caroline Wozniacki’s spot at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Funding Cuts
This year, the Danish Tennis Federation received 1.1 million Danish Krones in funding. However, the lack of success has resulted in a massive funding cut. As of now, only one Danish player, male or female, currently sits inside the top 20 of the world. That player is former world number one and Grand Slam finalist Wozniacki.
Outside of Wozniacki, no other Danish woman sits inside the top 500. Karen Barbat is currently the second-ranked Danish female at 564 in the world but is only two years younger than Wozniacki so her time is extremely limited in finding success. Emilie Francati on the other hand is ranked 816 but is only 18 years old so she may be one to look out for in the next few years.
On the men’s side, the highest ranked male sits outside the top 300. Frederik Nielsen is ranked 380 in the world and is 32 years old. The next two highest ranked Danish players are ranked nearly 600 spots below Nielsen. Mikael Torpegaard and Soren Hess-Olesen are ranked 927 and 973 respectively.
Team Denmark Director Lone Hansen commented, "We have had a common goal with the Danish Tennis Federation to strengthen talent working since 2009. We have worked hard for that. But we must unfortunately note that together we have not achieved the objectives of providing juniors in the top ten in the world ranking or senior players on the way to the top 100. Therefore, we have to focus on Caroline's Olympic preparations, and we're not going to cooperate on the development of talent in the coming year".
Tennis Not The Only Sport Getting Funds Cut
Three other sports other than tennis had their funds cut as well. Fencing, gymnastics, and skiing also lost funding in the upcoming year. Meanwhile, sailing, shooting, and hockey all received more funding for the new year.