Well I had to go didn't I? On my hols in Budapest for 6 days, not a bat or ball in sight - apart from the poster in the hotel foyer advertising a weekend legends exhibition starring Becker, Wilander, Noah and co - so I decided to check out one of the city tennis clubs on my final day and picked one at random from my guide book.
Ok, I admit, I picked the one that the book said was the best and I took a taxi for the only time all week. Had forgotten how well my legs still worked with all that walking, but the Varosmayor Tennis Academy was way out in Buda (other side of the Danube from where we were staying in Pest). Not sure what I was expecting but was delighted to be able to walk straight in (no questions asked) and find a coach who spoke pretty good English.
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It turned out that the facility (ten clay courts and basic two-storey clubhouse with small bar, two pool tables and a pro shop for racket sports) belongs to the City of Budapest and is open to all. There is no membership - you just pay a court fee every time you want to play. That's about £8 an hour during the summer season but when eight of the courts are bubbled (mid Oct to mid March), the cost is double - £16. That's not dissimilar to indoor court hire over here and a reason why tennis is very much a middle to upper class sport in Hungary.
The tennis facility is in a leafy street, within walking distance from tube and bus stations, and next door to a double-domed hall which houses the City volleyball and table tennis clubs. The structure is pretty tired looking and divided by a blue plastic curtain - very basic but totally buzzing.
On the table tennis side, there were 18 tables (all in use) with a coach and about 60 players. There was also a training table with a ping pong ball machine spraying white pellets everywhere. It looked like something out of Caractacus Potts workshop (remember him from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang?) but it was wonderfully functional. I stood and watched for about fifteen minutes and was delighted when someone asked me, "do you want to play?” I didn't, but it was nice to be asked! I got the feeling this was very much a community facility - and welcoming to all.
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There was a volleyball training match on the other side of the curtain. Further up the street I found the City basketball club but couldn't find a way in. Probably saw me coming :).
According to coach Dusan Panscics, there are about 200 regular players at Varosmayor. 160 "amateurs" and 40 "tournament players.” That's not very many for a 10 court complex. The "amateurs" tend to play in the mornings and evenings and the "tournament players" train in the afternoons.
When I got there around 5pm there were only 3 "tourney" players (aged 16-19) on court though 5 courts were being used by punters. Panscics is employed by the City, he is one of 5 coaches at the club and amateurs pay him directly for lessons and "tournament players" just pay the court fees, their coaching is covered by the City.
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There are 5-6 decent clubs in Budapest apparently and some mini tennis goes on in schools, small clubs and sports centres but there is no link between that and the clubs there is no feeder club system. There is no money to develop the game in either the City or the country, "it’s a very poor country" and Panscics reckoned they need 3-4 national centres across Hungary if they are to have any chance to produce quality players.
At the moment, only those with money or access to money have any hope. That said there are 2 Hungarians in the WTA top 50 - Melinda Czink (40) and Agnes Szavay (47) - Czink has been based in USA for about 6 years and Szavay trains mainly in Austria now, their best guy is Adam Kellner at 377.
No money, no structure but two top 50 players. Where there's a will, there's a way!