LTA chief executive Roger Draper insists the right provisions are in place to ensure that British tennis has a bright future.
LTA chief confident of British success in the future
Lawn Tennis Association chief executive Roger Draper insists the right provisions are in place to ensure that British tennis has a bright future.
The problems facing the LTA were compounded last year when Andy Murray was the only British player to win a men's or women's singles match at Wimbledon.
Inevitable criticism followed but Draper was encouraged by the performance in the junior categories and urged fans to look at the bigger picture.
"People tell me it was the worst Wimbledon," he told the
Daily Telegraph.
"But we had people in the semis in the men's singles and boys singles and an all-British boys doubles final. Is that the worst Wimbledon ever?
"If I judge myself on the first day at Wimbledon every year it's like playing Russian roulette. You can't control what's going on.
"What we can control is what's going on during the other 50 weeks of the year in parks and schools and clubs."
Promise
A host of promising British youngsters are currently plying their trade on the junior circuit, although some expect success at the highest level given the LTA's financial clout.
But Draper is confident that the current crop of juniors will also deliver when they start competing in the senior draws in the coming years.
He added: "We had a target for 10 players in top 100 - four singles, six doubles - by 2010. We've got three singles and seven doubles, so we're behind in one, ahead in the other.
"Look at it in four-year blocks. Four years ago there were no British doubles players in the top 100. Now there's seven.
"Three years ago no British women in top 100, now there's two, nearly three. I don't call that failure.
"It's not going to be overnight change. But I can assure you a lot of things are in the right place with talent ID, high performance centres, support for junior players.
"One thing we can't do is put Ollie Golding, Liam Broady, George Morgan, Kyle Edmund and Pete Ashwell in a time machine.
"We know the best age for a tennis player is 28, those guys are just 17. We're encouraged by what's coming behind. We just have to be patient. And make sure all those kids remain on the international programmes."
