“My Dream Is to Produce Top Professional Tennis Players of the World from Chandigarh,” Portuguese Tennis Coach & Ex Davis Cupper Marco Seruca

Plans to Meet UT Administrator for The Establishment of a National Centre of Tennis Excellence at Chandigarh
 
Says Chandigarh' s Local Association CLTA Needs to Be Proactive, More Professional and Transparent
 
Chandigarh, September 8, 2025: Former Portugal Davis Cup player Marco Seruca who is a renowned figure in the region due to his achievements in the field of ‘tennis coaching’, has said that Chandigarh has potential to produce tennis players who are world beaters. “It is my gut feeling that Chandigarh has what it takes to become India’s tennis hub,” said Marco Seruca while interacting with reporters at Chandigarh Press Club here.
 
“When I came to Chandigarh three years back and got in touch with budding tennis players, I immediately realized that there is no dearth of tennis talent in the ‘City Beautiful’. What is required is a proper-international level tennis training programme to groom them. Unfortunately, only little efforts are being made in this regard. I came to Chandigarh to work on player development and my dream is to produce top professional tennis players of the world from the city,” said Marco.
 
Marco said that he is ready to create a National Centre of Tennis Excellence at Chandigarh, provided there is an ecosystem that supports positive interventions. “I will soon be meeting Punjab Governor and UT Administrator Mr Gulab Chand Kataria to share my vision with him. I am sure that with his support and guidance, me and my team will succeed in establishing the centre soon,” he said.
 
It is worth noting that Marco, an ITF-certified mentor, for over the last three years has been training young talents in his MS Star Academy in Chandigarh with the help of his high-performance training methodology that mirrors the professional systems used across Europe. It is under his mentorship that Chandigarh’s newest tennis prodigy Ribhav Saroha was recently crowned as India’s No. 1 Under-16 tennis player.
 
Marco, who was joined by Roshan Lal, Head Coach, and Satish Kumar, Coach, at the media interaction, revealed that the Chandigarh Lawn Tennis Association (CLTA) management was never serious in their ways to promote talented tennis players, which forced him to quit CLTA as its Technical Director of Coaching.
 
He, however, now wants to show the way and is ready to create a National Centre of Excellence at the Sec 10 tennis stadium  if given a chance. “But I can offer my services to create a national centre of tennis excellence at the tennis stadium in Sec 10, only if there is a change of guard at the Association.”
 
Notably, Marco’s offer of setting up the centre at  the Sec 10 tennis stadium comes at a time when the members of the local Association - CLTA's management are under tremendous pressure due to lease violations committed by them. The Chandigarh Administration has already issued show cause notices, and their replies have been found unsatisfactory. As per sources there is a strong possibility that the Administration may cancel or refuse to renew CLTA’s lease, which expires on 10.9.2025.
 
Meanwhile Marco said, “The infrastructure at the tennis stadium is strong. If matched with a structured player development plan and ethical governance, it can be the ideal national hub for tennis,” he said, adding that the foundation of player development must begin at the earliest stage, ensuring technical soundness from the very beginning.
 
“We at MS Star Academy have proved that a well thought out and intense tennis training module has ushered in an era where we now have players with promise coming out of Chandigarh,” said Marco, who first arrived in Chandigarh in 2022 to work with the Chandigarh Lawn Tennis Association (CLTA).
 
Marco also unveiled salient features of the unique tennis programme that he has brought in. “We focus on building the basics right—footwork, balance, variation of speed, and consistency. From there, we take players step by step, building level by level,” said Marco.
 
Marco added, “On the structural side, I believe in creating a holistic programme where every aspect of training - technical, physical, tactical, and mental feeds into the other. Each element of training reinforces the other, and that is how we can create players who can compete globally”
 
“It must be organised like a true academy, with a clear philosophy and structure that supports players to grow seamlessly and develop a capability to compete at high international levels,” said Marco.