LAWN Tennis Association of Malaysia (LTAM) president Datuk Abdul Razak Latiff is not only a man of action in the boardroom. He wants to do his talking on the court too.
He took part in last year's inaugural CEO & Celebrity Charity Tennis competition and did well enough to finish in the top 10.

Razak, 58, the group managing director of ARL Global Sdn Bhd, hopes to do even better in this year's edition on Dec 13.

And he is better prepared for it -- by sparring with national players and getting some tips from national coach S. Selvarajoo.

"Selvarajoo gave me a new Dunlop racquet for the tournament. I have not played for quite a while. He will be my coach and I will have the opportunity to stroke with the national players," said Razak yesterday.

"In last year's competition, I won four matches and drew one out of six. It will be tough to win the tournament this year as other participants will also be training hard. All I want is to do better than last year's results."

Razak picked up tennis at the age of 23 when studying at Universiti Malaya in 1974.
"I used to play a lot of tennis in my younger days but lost touch as I got older. I love the game," he said,

Razak is known for his hands-on approach in developing the sport. Since becoming LTAM president in 2005, he has managed to liven up the tennis scene in Malaysia.

In the last two years, Malaysia has been hosting several international tournaments and exhibition matches, including the recent ATP Tour's Malaysian Open.

"Tennis is booming in Malaysia. Parents are encouraging their kids to play tennis. Now, private coaches can't handle the sudden increase in players while public and private tennis courts are often fully booked.

"Even tennis equipment companies like Dunlop have recorded sales increase. Parents want their kids to be the next Roger Federer and Serena Williams. Let us hope it will not be long before we produce a world class player," said Razak.

The CEO & Celebrity Charity Tennis event, jointly organised by NSTP and Bursa Malaysia, will be held at the National Tennis Centre in Kuala Lumpur in conjunction with the ECM Libra Foundation and Lawn Tennis Association of Malaysia Junior Tennis Championships (Dec 14-21).