Johannesburg — GREER Leo-Smith, who won one US Open mixed doubles title and two Wimbledon mixed doubles titles as Greer Stevens - partnering Bob Hewitt - yesterday claimed modern women's tennis was boring.

And women's tennis in SA was at such a low ebb because "kids today expect it all to come too easily".

Leo-Smith, who struggled with a bad right knee that had to be heavily braced for much of the latter part of her career, was recently elected to the board of the South African Tennis Association (Sata) with the portfolios of "junior high performance" and coaching. Having moved to Johannesburg after 20 years "in the bush" as a farmer's wife, the gutsy former right-hander with the lethal forehand has become much more actively involved in tennis.

Joining the debate about the constantly changing No 1 position in the women's rankings, she said: "The modern women's game is devoid of flair. All the players play the same kind of game. There is no variety and they all know each other backwards; that's why the ranking is changing all the time. They are all clones of each other. Big hitters standing on the baseline."

Leo-Smith said SA's FedCup fortunes had gone backwards because South African kids were not tough enough. She also blamed the lack of programmes, overseas exposure and money.

"Our women's tennis is nowhere for many reasons, but one of the key things is that we are not tough enough. The kids, when they do get a chance to play overseas, are intimidated by what they encounter."

She said attending the junior qualifying tournament for Wimbledon at Roehampton last year had been a huge eye-opener.

"The Russians are so tough - and their coaches teach them to cheat. We had two of our kids in key positions to win matches there, and with no umpires on the lines, they were robbed by dishonest line calls. I even saw fisticuffs, and coaches shouting at each other. Our kids can't cope with that."

At risk of sounding like "an old fogey", Leo-Smith said young players needed to toughen up. "They travel with entourages, they have coaches, they can blame others when they don't do well."

It was different in her day. "I remember any number of nights, on my own in another country, crying myself to sleep I was so lonely. But I would get up the next day and play. We learnt to cope without those support systems and I believe it made us tougher."

Leo-Smith said she felt a five-year programme - involving more international tournaments at home, more exposure for local players abroad, and intensive coaching - needed to be put in place. Sata would be discussing the issue at a big board meeting on November 22. "But we need funds as well if we want to turn things around," she said.

On a more optimistic note, Leo-Smith said she had noticed of late that juniors were being coached to bring far more variety into their tennis, and that would be good for women's tennis."

"You only have to watch a player like Andy Murray - see the amount of variety he brings into his game. He uses drop shots, he volleys, he changes the pace. He plays a more all-court game and I believe I am seeing that coming back into the junior ranks, which is really great."