LTA orders internal review

Draper unhappy at 'unacceptable' Davis Cup defeats

Last updated: 8th March 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

LTA orders internal review

Draper: Unhappy

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The Lawn Tennis Association are set to hold an internal inquiry into Great Britain's "unacceptable" defeat to Lithuania in the Davis Cup.

Great Britain are in danger of dropping into the bottom tier of the competition after their 3-2 loss over the weekend left them facing a relegation play-off.

Captain John Lloyd is already weighing up his future after overseeing a record five successive defeats - but he now faces questions from the LTA over what has happened.

LTA chief executive Roger Draper said: "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."

Comments (8)

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Mark Croft says...

Before we play the blame game or just suggest that we are all rubbish at sport, it is worth remembering that Britain has a large disadvantage compared to many of the countries who are good at tennis. I now live in a country where I can play outdoor for at least 8 or 9 months of the year. My tennis has improved no end. In Britain you struggle to play for all of the summer. Indoor courts are expensive. If we invest the same amount of money into tennis as countries such as Spain, Australia, the USA etc, we are never going to make tennis as widely available. We would need to invest at least twice as much. It is not surprising therefore that we struggle. It is for the same reason that we only ever get one or two medals at the winter Olympics. Britain simply does not have the ideal climate to excel at these sports. Instead of moaning, let¿s invest where possible and celebrate any success we do get.

Posted 11:07 9th March 2010

Matt Mccombe says...

I am a tennis coach at a local club and it seems not enough money is put into younger age groups to encourage participation. It is a expensive sport and so does not attract the numbers say football or other sports because of finance.lt seems to me there is a very inflexable attitude to encouraging coaches of other qualifications to coach at high level in england as most training centres are insisting on lta qualified coaching staff. Are they saying then that other coaches are no good from other associations? We need ALL coaches pulling together and should only matter if the child is good enough not what qualifications the coach has. All the money is put mostly at the top end and some of the higher management are overpaid and need to be more open minded in there attitude to all coaches in this country. The lta changes their systems so often that they have no established system. Spain have not changed there system of teaching for years just refined it! A big revamp is needed starting at the top mr lloyd i'm afraid is being used as a scape goat for the mess created by many years of mis management with the attitude of if we throw money at it it will be fine! Less money to the top players in this country and make them work harder to earn the right for financial help.

Posted 23:53 8th March 2010

Ian Thomas says...

Tennisis a great sport which hardly anyone gets to play regularly, from a yound age. Why as it cost a fortune for the average person to take part in. Also with the weather so rubbish in teh country there is not enough indoor facilties available. School,college, lesiures centres would rather have six badminton courts laid down then one tennis court. its cost effective. If we want stars and champions it has to go to masses and reject its elitist past. Sport for all i say.

Posted 22:47 8th March 2010

Alan Oliver says...

The way the LTA have distributed their funding over the last few years is awful. Places like Roehampton have had millions thrown at it but they've overlooked the fact they haven't invested the money in finding and developing talent to play there. The grass roots coaches are very good but don't get sufficient funding to do their jobs correctly. The LTA need to look at Britain as a whole not just London and invest their money on facilities and programmes at grass roots level and make Tennis open to as many young people as they can. Tennis is still looked upon as a snobby, elitist sport and needs to rid themselves of this in order to inspire kids to play Tennis

Posted 19:13 8th March 2010

Nick Peck says...

As a coach at grass roots level there is no funding for small clubs , all the money goes into higher level tennis and none goed to clubs to get into schools , identify talent etc. Its about time the LTA ivested more in grass roots tennis than some of these players who will never make it. Look at cricket and the chance to shine programme , loads of money for grass roots cricket. where is this from the lta? knowhere! and its very frustrating! i mean £500,000 on the canteen at roehampton , what a joke!

Posted 18:13 8th March 2010

Dave Lamont says...

Firstly, if we invest a fraction of the amount the 'big sports' in tennis how can we expect to have a chance? Even sports like rowing and cycling attract better funding. Also, how many people played much tennis at school. Not all have courts. Football, rugby and athletics are the mainstays. We even did more gymnastics and dance than tennis and I went to an all boys school... As a regular tennis player, I can't find affordable indoor courts within a 20mile radius of home. That's a problem - even more so for social, beginner or younger players who are less likley to play throughout the non summer months if the weather's bad.

Posted 17:29 8th March 2010

Steven Simpson says...

Its quite simple, were rubbish at tennis, the best player we have is scottish, and one before that from Canada. England and sport is poor in general!! Look at countries like, Australia, America and even Austria, Sweden etc, they all have better sports programs for young kids than england do, they get kids out playing early not infront of a computer, they make it easier for people to afford, rather than the rich people the only ones able to afford sports, I dont just mean some I mean almost all sports, we should have more facilities in this country, all round the country for people to go to and for it to be free or very cheap!!!

Posted 16:02 8th March 2010

Julian Wilcox says...

Following on from the appalling Davis Cup matches against Lithuania, I think the question we need to ask the LTA is where does the 25 million Wimbledon money go? Its certainly not in the grass roots of tennis as the sport is seldom played in schools anymore thus making it the most elitest sport in Britain. Until indoor and outdoor courts are available all year round to all youngsters who want to play at a reasonable cost you can kiss goodbye to future champions. Henman, Murray, Perry all learned the game abroad so never came through the LTA system.

Posted 15:32 8th March 2010
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