next »

[Philip]

What I just discover is that if we lose against Turkey in July then we will drop to the lowest division possible in Tennis.  Incredible.  All the past GB GS winners will turn in their graves.

http://www.sportinglife.com/tennis/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=tennis/10/03/07/TENNIS_Davis_Cup_Lead.html

Britain must now beat Turkey, who lost to Ireland this weekend, in a relegation play-off in July to avoid dropping to Europe/Africa Zone Group III - the lowest tier of the competition.

[Sir Panda]

The world is not only laughing at us over the Davis Cup but over Grand Slams, as well.

Did you not notice how Federer had the crowd in hysterics when he won the Australian Open when he said that he felt sorry for Andy for the pressure he is under from his fans when he plays in a Grand Slam because “No British player has ever won a Grand Slam for 150,000 YEARS?

So why didn’t Andy play for us in the Davis Cup? You’re supposed to select the BEST team not “Give players a chance”, and he should realize that his responsibility is to British FANS not the LTA or anybody else. HE plays for US! And if he had played for US in the Davis Cup, we would have WON.

The same goes for Switzerland as well of course, so that is weird. Federer let them lose too. I wonder what he thinks of that?

Andy is a world class player.

We should have had enough to beat Lithuania - did you hear what Overend was saying? We have a national budget of 25 million pounds per annum, Lithuania have £90,000. Evans and Ward use world class facilities at Roehampton, they should have been good enough.

What I love about Andy Murray is his single mindedness - his ambition is to win grand slams, not to play nobodies in aircraft hangars.

[Shooting Star]

BBC Sport - Tennis - John Lloyd considers future as Davis Cup captain

I also think Roger Draper should take a good look at his own position here.  The blame for this sorry mess cannot be piled entirely on Lloyd's head.

Frankly Draper's position should be on the line as well as Lloyds.

[Allan]

BBC Sport - Tennis - Draper should resign over Davis Cup defeat - David Lloyd

http://www.skysports.com/video/inline/0,26691,12611_5892799,00.html

A rather brief statement from Roger Draper btw:
I share the deep disappointment and frustration at this result. Five defeats in a row is unacceptable.

So I have asked the LTA Player Director, Steven Martens, to review last week's performance and result, and report back to me and the LTA Main Board as soon as possible.

That review needs to be swift and decisive as it is clear some real improvements need to be made.

BBC Sport - Tennis - Davis Cup 'like a bad dream' for LTA chief Roger Draper

[pggtips]

The usual excuses after a Davis Cup defeat trotted out after another dismal loss to team with three ranked male players and a main tennis centre with a ceiling that had "mind you head" signs and a capacity crowd of about 250.

It was funny to recall the girl who worked for "Ministry of Sound" - Miskin?? and how she was going to shake up British Tennis, within a week she was referring to "5 year plans" and "Rome wasn't built in a day" and also more staggeringly I remembered that the "Tennis For Free" charity had its strengths and that we (the LTA) had different strengths.

Or that Tennis For Free was concerned with getting people to play Tennis For Free and the LTA isn't.

And today we had the same, Roger Draper referring to "long-term plans". As a person who attends Futures tournaments, not once have I seen Roger Draper or Paul Annacone, I did see Ann Jones and Judy Murray, more than once I must add so there are some decent coaches who take the time to look at our young players.

There is a simple solution to solving the problems at British Tennis, deny the clubs (and the BBC) their centre court and court 1 allocation to Wimbledon and give all of the tickets to those who camp outside in their tents.

Incentivise that only clubs who bring through top 100 ranked in the world junior players can keep their centre court allocation, reviewed every 10 years. The player must have played at the club for at least three years.

[pggtips]

That said, sacking Draper only substitutes one numpty for another. No real point in changing heads when the real problem is the 'Department of Tennis Affairs' (sorry the Lawn Tennis Association).

[Aileen]

So what did the LTA do right for Andy that they did wrong for everybody else?

The LTA did bugger all for Andy - he had to go to a tennis academy in Spain for two years because the necessary facilities weren't available in the UK.  Unfortunately our other players don't seem to be interested in going down the same road, athough Baker and Ward have gone to very short training camp sessions in the US, where full training costs are prohibitive for most (about £20,000 a year) and have to be privately funded.  The academy in Spain had pretty basic facilities and Andy really had to "rough it" - something he was prepared to do because he not only knew he had the talent but he had a strong desire to become a successful player.   

Anyway George the Lithuania thread now seems to be closed.  It was only because your post showed up in my emails (because it came after my last one) that I've responded to it.   

[Aileen]

Yes, very - and it's this lack of British motivation which really bugs Murray.

The LTA do now have a tennis centre in Roehampton, London, but it's early days yet to see how successful it's going to be.  Also Judy Murray has now been given the go-ahead to open a Scottish centre in Stirling, where she's aiming to nurture talent at grass-roots level and get the message across that tennis is not an elitist sport, an image which is unfortunately all too prevalent in the UK, and maybe that's part of the main problem.