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THE EXCEPTION TO THE RULE September 28 - The lack of
depth which exists in the national ranks below Andy Murray was highlighted by
the disastrous showing in
And there is no likelihood of there being any
improvement in the foreseeable future. While Murray has won ten consecutive singles victories
in the competition, no other player has been able to come up to the mark in
support. Not even in the doubles which more often than not, decides the final
outcome, especially when ties involve Britain. This time it was Dan Evans, our nationally ranked
number five, who was selected to support Murray as the second singles player.
He showed grit and determination but never looked to be contention, no doubt through
inexperience. |
He therefore, for the present, now joins a growing list of players who
have had their chance and failed to grasp the opportunity, a list which
includes in recent years Alex Bogdanovic, Jamie Baker, Josh Goodall, Chris
Eaton, and Alan Mackin. Ross Hutchins, our doubles specialist, also looked out
of sorts in the doubles, even though he was partnering Murray. And then we
have the sad loss of form of Jamie Murray, a grand slam champion in mixed
doubles, who seems to have disappeared completely from the scene though he
has just crept back into the top 100 of the doubles rankings. The malaise in the men’s game is in stark contrast to
the women, where Anne Keothavong recently climbed into the world’s top 50
before suffering a knee injury which has taken out of the game for the rest
of this season. However, Elena Baltacha and Katie O’Brien have finally broken
into the top 100 and teenagers Laura Robson and Heather Watson have both won
junior titles at grand slams. Murray, the world number three, has not been slow in
making his thoughts and feelings known: “The boys’ side needs to get a lot
better. Tennis is a big sport in the UK, with the competitions we have and
the money tennis makes, but the level we’re at is not particularly good. “There’s a lot of things that need to improve but it’s
going to take a lot longer than six months and it won’t happen until we start
getting groups of juniors coming through and pushing up the rankings. You
have to keep waiting for that batch to come through and it’s not going to be
in a year’s time. “We didn’t have any boys playing in the US |
(Open) juniors so it’s going to take three, four, five,
six years before we have a batch coming through and hopefully the people who
are in charge now will be able to produce that.” But can we really rely on the people currently running
the game to produce those players? Every regime that has taken over at the
helm of our national game has asked for time for their plans to bear fruit –
plans which always sound feasible but so far have failed. Patience is the underlying
word. Patience, though, is running out and frankly, it is not
really up to the authorities to produce the players though everyone believes to
be the case. At the end of the day, it is up to players to prove their worth and
no amount of help or coaching will see them make a breakthrough if they haven’t
the will or commitment to do so for themselves. Davis Cup captain John Lloyd, for instance, believes 19
year-old Dan Evans, despite his two losses in Liverpool, has the wherewithal to
make the grade. “I believe Dan is capable of being a top 100 player, no
question about it,” he said, adding crucially. “He’s going to have to work
extremely hard, and I hope this (Davis Cup) is a week he’ll have seen the
sort of work you have to do. I think we’ve got other players that have
underachieved and we’ve got some other ones in that next group that I think
can make the top 100 as well. Picture Fotosports International. |
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