British tennis crisis

I suppose had Andy Murray been fit to play, Britain’s duration in the singles tournament would have quite probably lasted longer, but sadly, due to injury, Murray had to sit this tournament, the first Slam of the season out. So what’s the problem.

I remember growing up playing tennis from a very young age and yes, the facilities were pretty rough. It was still very much grass tennis at the clubs or pretty awful public hard courts - indoor centres were unheard of, so everyone blamed the weather.

Sorry, but that never did nor does hold water. For decades Britain has produced world class cricketers, footballers, athletes, sailors, rowers and rugby players, even before sportsmen and women, like Andy Murray, moved to train in Spain at an early age to make the most of ‘warm weather’ camps. Today, in this modern day of super technology sport and facilities, the weather should not be an excuse. Tim Henman once told me that he feared that children still don’t get enough opportunities to play sport in the UK, perhaps even less than they used to.

But if an island like Majorca can produce world leading tennis players, rowers, footballers, cyclists and motorcyclists, for example, there must be a deep rooted problem in the UK.