Eliakim Coulibaly - The African dream

Young star Eliakim Coulibaly spoke to VAVEL about African tennis, racism he's faced and his goals for the future.

Coulibaly, 21, is the Ivory Coast's best player, and has been widely regarded as one of Africa's greatest young prospects.

On the struggles of African tennis

African tennis has always struggled compared to the rest of the world and is currently without a player in the ATP top 150.

Coulibaly believes there are various reasons behind these struggles.

"Not many Africans can play on the tour, because of many things.

"The sport is not really well known, but also the financial issues.

"We have had many players in the past that were great champions but couldn't continue excelling because of financial support," said Coulibaly.

The 21-year-old himself has struggled with the financial side of tennis which has limited his schedule throughout his career.

"Tennis is a really expensive sport.

"Right now I'm lacking money to travel to my tournaments.

"I need to be able to go to other countries, that's what will get my ranking up and get me to the top, but it's really difficult for me to be able to travel with the financial issues," said the youngster.

The lack of funding gives players like Coulibaly a lot more to think about than just playing tennis.

"In tennis if you don't win you don't earn anything.

"It's a lot of pressure for me because if I go play a tournament I have to say OK, I have to fight to win this tournament, so after I win, I can use that money to travel to another tournament," said the Ivorian.

Coulibaly believes that the continent could produce some elite tennis talent if the funding improved.

"I really hope that the governments, the countries, and the ministers of sport will try to find help for the African players.

"If they are able to do that, I think that Africa will have a lot of talent.

"There's other players like me, we are lacking financial help, and if we could get that financial help, it would make a very big difference in our tennis careers, and for the younger generations coming up," said the 21-year-old.

On dealing with racism

Coulibaly moved to Casablanca, Morocco from the Ivory Coast at the age of 13, a big adjustment for the youngster.

"It was really difficult to move to Morocco.

"You're living with different people with a different culture.

"Morocco is a Muslim country, a different culture, it was really difficult," said the Ivorian.

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Due to the differences in culture, Coulibaly dealt with a lot of racial abuse after his move to Morocco.

"Being black and being in an Arab country, there's a lot of racism and stuff like that.

"It really hurts, it's really painful.

"I don't wish that on anyone else," said the 21-year-old.

Coulibaly was joined in North Africa with a number of other tennis hopefuls from the Ivory Coast, something he was very thankful for.

"It was really good being with them, because in my tough moments I knew that I could count on them, that they would always be there for me.

"It was a lot better than being alone," said the world number 474.

Despite the abuse he faced, the youngster tried to take any positives he could from the experience.

"It was mental training for me.

"It helped me a lot with my mental strength, and in my way of seeing the world and everything.

"I can say that it was good, it wasn't bad at all," said Coulibaly.

On the Davis Cup

Coulibaly has spent the past few weeks competing in Algeria for the Davis Cup, a competition where he has won four of his five matches this year.

Whilst many believe the Davis Cup has lost some of the prestige it once had, Coulibaly still values the competition.

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"It's always an honour for me to compete for my country.

"The Davis Cup is a really tense competition, it's not like a normal tournament.

"You've got to play a singles match, a doubles match, and you have to stress when your number two is playing," said Coulibaly.

On the Wimbledon dream

Whilst African tennis success has been limited, one star who has shone is Tunisian, Ons Jabeur.

The WTA number seven has reached three grand slam finals, including a defeat in New York and two heart-breaking losses at Wimbledon.

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Just like Jabeur, Coulibaly dreams of winning on Centre Court.

"My goal, you can see it on my phone screen, I have the Wimbledon trophy, that's the tournament I want to win and I'm dreaming of it.

"I would be the first African to win Wimbledon and that would be really amazing," said Coulibaly.

The 21-year-old is well aware of what needs to be done to achieve his goal.

"We're working on it every day, that's what we're working hard for, that's why we play this sport, that's why we love this sport.

"It's going to happen one day," said Coulibaly.

On his goals for the future

Coulibaly, who is yet to play a Grand Slam match, was positive when asked about what he wanted to achieve in 2024.

"Winning a grand slam," joked the youngster.

After laughing off his slightly optimistic goal, the Ivorian presented his targets for the next 12 months.

"Yeah that's not realistic.

"Being able to play the qualifiers of a Grand Slam, that would be great," said Coulibaly.

The 21-year-old would likely need to boost his ranking to well inside the world's top 250 for a place in Grand Slam qualifying, but he believes he knows what he needs to improve upon to get there.

"I need to improve the mental toughness, because I'm mentally tough but tennis is all about the mental game.

"Being able to enjoy things even if things aren't going your way, you have to stay in there believing that you're going to do it and that you're going to be at the top one day.

"Also I need to be more aggressive, way more aggressive at the net, because that's something that I don't do enough.

"I'm working on it with my coach and hopefully things will get better," said Coulibaly.