Something Is Rotten in the State of British Tennis: But It’s Not Andy Murray

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: March 26, 2010

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It’s been a shameful few weeks for British tennis.

Since the Davis Cup defeat by Lithuania, barely a day has passed without one media outlet or another revealing a new twist in the story.

First, it was the ritual analysis of the work of the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA).
Before long, John Lloyd resigned from the worst job in tennis, and began to cast his vitriol in assorted directions.

Eventually, attention turned to Roger Draper, the chief executive of the LTA since 2006, who has commissioned an internal review following the Lithuania tie.

Draper himself also had some explaining to do to a group of MPs and peers chaired by Baroness Billingham. He was been summoned to explain how the LTA spends the £27 million of public funding it receives from Sport England for grass-roots projects.

But never far away from the war of words that breaks out after each Davis Cup tie is the name of Andy Murray.

One moment he is pilloried for deserting the Davis Cup team in its hour of need, and the next he is being consulted on what needs to happen to turn things around.

Well it’s time to call a halt and face a few home truths. The mire in which British tennis finds itself is not of Murray’s making. Indeed, it might be argued that, without his presence, this furore would all have come to a head far sooner.

One woe doth tread upon another's heel, so fast they follow.

First, the GB team’s loss to Lithuania marked its fifth defeat in a row—and to a country with just three ATP-ranked players at 195, 518, and 851. There are about 50 ranked GB players, yet still they could not find a winning combination.

So, GB has not won a tie since 2007.

Last year it fell into Group Two of the Europe Africa Zone, and it is now close to another ignominious drop, this time to the lowest group in the tournament.

Then it became...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis

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