Twenty-nine players from 20 nations have been selected to receive the 2019 Grand Slam Player Grants. Reporter Tumaini Carayol caught up with some of the players to benefit from the initiative this year at the Australian Open in Melbourne.

“I traveled two years by myself to all the tournaments. When you play against a girl who has a team, mentally you lose,” sighed Valentini Grammatikopoulou. “When you do it alone and you lose, you say ‘maybe it’s not your tennis, maybe it’s not your life, maybe it’s better to quit?’”

Grammatikopoulou, ranked 173rd, was describing the mental burden of traveling the world solo and battling alone against opponents flanked by coaches, fitness trainers and supporters. With her father working at a street market in Greece, a country wracked with economic instability, for much of her professional career this has been her only option.

But in 2018, Grammatikopoulou was a recipient of a $25k International Player Grant financed by the Grand Slam Development Fund (GSDF). This year, she is once again one of the 29 developing young players who will receive the grant, funds that have allowed her to relocate from Greece to the Netherlands and to finally travel regularly with her coach.

“It’s amazing actually, because since I was young I was doing everything by myself to play tennis,” she explained. “I’m from Axioupoli, where 4000 people live and we made tennis courts from basketball courts. Now, in Holland, we can have better indoor courts, gym, a mental coach and physio. This year, it’s even better and I travelled to the Australian Open with my coach for the first time.”

The sentiment echos from many of the other recipients. Serbia’s Ivana Jorovic rose to #1 in junior rankings in 2014, yet her transition onto the professional circuit has seen turbulent results. It has taken four years to arrive on the cusp of the top 100, a reflection of the increased depth in the sport, making the journey from juniors to the top more ardent with every year.

Serbia’s rich recent tennis history has offered 117-ranked Jorovic little access to the funds required to sustain a professional career beneath the top 100, but her grant has allowed her to build her team without stress. She now trains at Janko Tipsarevic’s academy in Belgrade, where Tipsarevic has become a mentor for the 21 year-old.

“Janko had the same story because also when he was young, he didn’t go straight to the ATP because he also needed that [transitional] period,” she explained. “He didn’t have the game for top 100 so he also needed that time. He’s always saying ‘just keep working, just be patient and everything will come.’”

While Jorovic decided to remain in Serbia, her countryman and fellow former junior #1 Miomir Kechmanovic, 19, left for the IMG Academy in 2013. For the youngster, the grant has allowed him to travel with a fitness coach as he attempts to built his base on foreign soil, something he deems vital to his development.

“I think the [Serbian and American] mentality is a lot different -- it’s two different sides. For the first part of your career, where you learn stuff, the Serbian mentality is good. But then the more tactical standpoint, I think the US has the benefit.”

For Alexander Bublik, a popular Kazakh 21 year-old, the grant has acted as a stabilizing force, allowing him to increase his team and peace of mind as he attempts to climb back up the rankings from his current spot of 164.

Bublik chuckled as he described learning of his grant. “I didn’t know there was such thing [as the GSDF]. I went to my laptop, I had an email, I was like ‘Ok, what’s that?’ My manager said: ‘You’ve got this $25k for your tennis expenses.’ I was like: ‘Oh, great. Now I can bring a fitness trainer with me because it’s a very expensive sport.’ I was so happy, it’s gonna help me a lot.”

The effect isn’t merely practical though. In a sport that often seems to pit these players against the world, and where loneliness is a constant, even the thought of people out there, somewhere, checking on and rooting for them can have a transformative effect.

“I really appreciate every cent and every person who believes in me that I can really do this,” said Grammatikopoulou. And then she smiled.

“They selected me and not somebody else. And I think they made a good selection because I think I can show them that this what helps me will bring them back something as well... Without you guys, I wouldn’t be here. Because I don’t have anybody except you.”

The players receiving Grand Slam Player Grants in 2019 are:

Men

$25,000 - Alexander Bublik (KAZ), Chung Yunseong (KOR), Miomir Kecmanovic (SRB), Duckhee Lee (KOR), Kamil Majchrzak (POL), Sebastian Ofner (AUT), Zsombor Piros (HUN), Jurij Rodionov (AUT), Camilo Ugo Carabelli (ARG), Mate Valkusz (HUN), Wu Yibing (CHN), Mikael Ymer (SWE)

$12,500 - Roberto Cid Subervi (DOM), Moez Echargui (TUN)

Women

$25,000 - Magdalena Frech (POL), Valentini Grammatikopoulou (GRE), Ivana Jorovic (SRB), Kaja Juvan (SLO), Fangzhou Liu (CHN), Andreea Amalia Rosca (ROU), Elena Rybakina (KAZ), Viktoriya Tomova (BUL), Xu Shilin (CHN), Karman Kaur Thandi (IND) Katarina Zavatska (UKR)

$12,500 - Victoria Bosi (ARG), Sandra Samir (EGY), Abigail Tere-Apisah (PNG), Renata Zarazua (MEX)