Despite Andy Murray, GB trails Spain in tennis

British players have shown some progress in this year’s tournament, with Andy Murray becoming the UK’s first Wimbledon men’s’ finalist since 1938 and Heather Watson the first British woman to win on centre court since Jo Durie in 1985.

Away from the singles game, Jonny Marray won the men’s’ doubles with his Danish partner, the first time a Briton has done so since the 1930s.

But despite these positive signs, the British game is still not producing the top 100 players in the way countries like Spain, Belgium and Italy do.

In the men’s game Murray alone resides in the top 100, while Anne Keothavong, Elena Baltacha and now Heather Watson appear in the woman’s top 100.

There are currently 17 Spanish players in the men’s and women’s’ top 100, followed by 15 French, 12 German, 11 Italian and ten Czech players, showing just how far the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) has to come to reverse years of underinvestment in the British game.

Balmy climate

With players like Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer currently in the world top 10, Spain is undoubtedly the country to follow.

Dan Kiernan, a former British tennis player, said Spain’s balmy climate enabled youngsters to play outdoor tennis on clay courts all year round, which helps them to develop their game.

Kiernan, who is director of the Soto Tennis Academy, a tennis school based in Spain, added that the year-round nature of Spanish tennis, along with increased competition and more places up for grabs in tournaments, makes players “physically and mentally tougher”.

He argues that the indoor courts widely used in Britain are no substitutefor developing a player’s game outside, making it difficult for British players to adjust to the slower courts used in the professional game.

“All of a sudden, the ball keeps coming back,” he explains. “Clay is the surface to play on when you are developing. You have to learn how to construct a point from an early age. Also, movement on clay is very different.”

It is notable that two of Britain’s biggest recent successes in tennis were coached overseas for part of their career, Murray in Spain and Watson in the USA. Even, home-grown talent like Tim Henman was developed outside the LTA system.

In the past, the LTA’s efforts have often been criticised, with Murray suggesting that his older brother Jamie was ruined by this system in the UK.

But players outside of Britain have also claimed that they have succeeded despite, not because of their federation. In a recent interview, former Wimbledon champion Boris Becker criticised the tennis federation in Germany adding: “It is as bad now as it was back then”.

He said that most national tennis development structures are unsuccesful and that talent scouts are failing to identify the cream of the crop.

The one country he singled out as an example of excellence was France, with its centralised system, which utilises the talents of former players like Guy Forget.

Mini tennis

In recent years, the LTA has tried a number of different strategies to bridge the gap between Britain and the world leaders. One was to recruit the big-name coach Brad Gilbert to guide Murray and a handful of the most promising youngsters.

More recently, the LTA has worked to deliver free and affordable tennis as part of a wider, sustainable programme to grow British tennis and through the AEGON schools programme has delivered training and free equipment to nearly half the schools in Britain.

An LTA spokesman claimed that this approach is starting to yield results. The GB Junior Davis Cup team has won the event for the very first time last year.

And as Murray was facing Federer on centre court, the GB under-14 girls were winning the Tennis Europe Summer Cup, for the first time ever.

Individually, the LTA can also point to promising results with Britain providing three out four semi-finalists at the US Open boy’s event in 2011, which was won by Briton Oliver Golding.

The LTA can also make a case for leading the world in the development of under-10s with its mini tennis format adopted by the International Tennis Federation.

“It will take a long time to translate this success into a Roger Federer aged 30 winning Wimbledon,” an LTA spokesman said. “The infrastructure we have put in place will start to have an impact in the next three years.”

“We do not judge the success or failure of our year on one or two weeks,” the spokesperson added.

Kiernan too believes the LTA is starting to make a difference and is upbeat about the prospects of the latest crop of talent.

He is encouraged that they are supporting players who like Murray and Watson before them wish to develop their game outside the UK.

“I’ve got to take my hat off to the LTA,” he said.