President of the Russian Tennis Federation (RTF) Shamil Tarpishchev regrets that he did not go to football at the time.

On Tuesday, March 7, Tarpishchev turned 75 years old.

– I finished in team competitions: I don’t appear there anymore. I won seven tournaments with me: three Davis Cups and four Fed Cups. I am No. 1 in the world for these indicators, and for other parameters I get into the Guinness Book of Records. Now my work is very interesting. There is enough knowledge, but a team of coaches works with me with these children. Today, seven coaches will go to training camp in Bodrum, Turkey. We carry out technical and tactical tasks. Those people who will have the knowledge to work as full-fledged coaches at the Davis Cup and the Fed Cup have already matured for a really long time. Vice President Yevgeny Kafelnikov, former players who recently retired.

Is there a sense of irreplaceability? There is no such feeling. There are always people who can be taught and who will be better than you. This is what I am trying to do. I always regret that I didn’t go to football, my favorite sport. Now, probably, he would have been retired from football. Everything in life happened against my will: where I didn’t want to, I ended up there. I have lived an interesting, meaningful life today. When hobbies and work coincide, of course, I am happy. Because I have no fatigue: I can work around the clock, traveling all over the world. For what? For the sake of us being better and better,” he said to the “Championship”.

Tarpischev has served as president of the FTR since 1999.