Murray Bemoans State of Tennis at Home

marc45 · Jan 15, 2019

[B]Stuart Fraser[/B]‏Verified account @[B]stu_fraser[/B] 4h4 hours ago
Andy Murray on the state of British tennis at grassroots level: "I don’t understand how in the last eight to ten years that participation is dropping. I don’t get it. I know in Scotland that there have not been many indoor courts built in the last ten years. That seems madness."
Stuart Fraser added,

Mustard · Jan 15, 2019

I get it. It's called elitism. Andy Murray does not fit their version of a tennis player, and he went off to Spain when he was a kid. The British tennis authorities sing his praises for what he has achieved for British tennis, but they wish his class background was like Tim Henman's.

TheIntrovert · Jan 15, 2019

Prices are a major issue. Football people can go and have a kick about anywhere. Whereas tennis courts are coasting £15 an hour where I am. That’s absolutely ludicrous and understandable why it’s not a growing sport, particularly for the working class

Mainad · Jan 15, 2019

TheIntrovert said:
Prices are a major issue. Football people can go and have a kick about anywhere. Whereas tennis courts are coasting £15 an hour where I am. That’s absolutely ludicrous and understandable why it’s not a growing sport, particularly for the working class

All public parks had tennis courts when I was a kid and they were free to use. You could always hit the ball against a wall too like I did. The most successful tennis players in our history like Perry and Murray came from ordinary backgrounds. They should be cherished but unfortunately their example is not rubbing off on many budding future successors.

Vanilla Slice · Jan 15, 2019

Mustard said:
I get it. It's called elitism. Andy Murray does not fit their version of a tennis player, and he went off to Spain when he was a kid. The British tennis authorities sing his praises for what he has achieved for British tennis, but they wish his class background was like Tim Henman's.

Can you explain this a bit? Coming from America, thought obviously the sport is expensive still, the American public/higher ups love sports heroes who come from both high starts and lower places.

titoelcolombiano · Jan 15, 2019

GB haven't faired too badly; Henman followed by Murray followed by Edmund. As long as they have stars at the top of the game, people will aspire to play at grass roots level.

Elektra · Jan 15, 2019

TheIntrovert said:
Prices are a major issue. Football people can go and have a kick about anywhere. Whereas tennis courts are coasting £15 an hour where I am. That’s absolutely ludicrous and understandable why it’s not a growing sport, particularly for the working class

Exactly and it is like that all over the more developed nations. Playing tennis nowadays is a way to get a scholarship to college but rarely to do people take it seriously as a career. The injuries and constant training wears down the body.

The only reason why you still have people like Fed, Nadal, Williams sisters still around is that they are rich and can afford the best therapists, diets and medicine for their bodies.

Stretchy Man · Jan 16, 2019

A lack of exciting charismatic British players might have something to do with it.

kevaninho · Jan 16, 2019

Stretchy Man said:
A lack of exciting charismatic British players might have something to do with it.

Not really, as when I was a kid and playing all the time, it wasn't because of Henman or Rusedski. I just enjoyed the game, and guys like Sampras, Goran, Rafter etc all got me excited. British players winning or being 'charismatic' have no affect on most people.

But the biggest thing is the lack of courts, along with the weather.
The few indoor courts within driving distance to me ( in Scotland ) are overpriced, or you cant even play on them unless youre paying a membership etc.
Cant get my head around stuff like that.

el sergento · Jan 16, 2019

Uhh, the Uk has way bigger problems than growing tennis. Soon their players will need visas just to play in France.............................. or Ireland

Fiero425 · Jan 16, 2019

Mainad said:
All public parks had tennis courts when I was a kid and they were free to use. You could always hit the ball against a wall too like I did. The most successful tennis players in our history like Perry and Murray came from ordinary backgrounds. They should be cherished but unfortunately their example is not rubbing off on many budding future successors.

Tis true, but tennis is still an elitist sport that cost money if you want to seriously play the game! I enjoyed and competed all year! Living in Chicago, I still needed to sign up to a couple tennis clubs due to severe weather issues! There are the clothes, rackets, & balls which aren't cheap either! I was fortunate enough to have parents to cater to those needs while most don't!

el sergento · Jan 16, 2019

kevaninho said:
Not really, as when I was a kid and playing all the time, it wasn't because of Henman or Rusedski. I just enjoyed the game, and guys like Sampras, Goran, Rafter etc all got me excited. British players winning or being 'charismatic' have no affect on most people.

But the biggest thing is the lack of courts, along with the weather.
The few indoor courts within driving distance to me ( in Scotland ) are overpriced, or you cant even play on them unless youre paying a membership etc.
Cant get my head around stuff like that.

Weather can't be that big of an issue. I live in sunny (ha!) Montreal, tennis is crazy popular, there are outdoor public courts everywhere, subsidized indoor courts, and even the private clubs aren't prohibitively expensive.

I also think the reasons Murray didn't have more of a popularizing effect for the sport was because; a) he's Scottish, b) he's naturally introverted, c) he has a giant chip on his shoulder the size of Lendl's gut, and d) his game is not that exciting. Now, none of this is his fault and you can't hold his personality against him. But still, it's hard to inspire kids to pick up a racket when you look like someone just ate the family dog after losing the first point of what's probably going to be a six-hour straight sets victory.

el sergento · Jan 16, 2019

Fiero425 said:
Tis true, but tennis is still an elitist sport that cost money if you want to seriously play the game! I enjoyed and competed all year! Living in Chicago, I still needed to sign up to a couple tennis clubs due to severe weather issues! There are the clothes, rackets, & balls which aren't cheap either! I was fortunate enough to have parents to cater to those needs while most don't!

I used to buy the tennis is elitest argument until I had my own kids and started doing some basic math. Tennis, in Canada, despite being seen as an elitist sport (although less and less) is a million times cheaper than hockey; that most blue-collar of games. Hockey equipment is very expensive, your kid outgrows it every year, lessons and camps cost a fortune, and you pretty much need to quit your job to make all the weekly practices and weekend activities. Also, concussions.

kevaninho · Jan 16, 2019

el sergento said:
Weather can't be that big of an issue. I live in sunny (ha!) Montreal, tennis is crazy popular, there are outdoor public courts everywhere, subsidized indoor courts, and even the private clubs aren't prohibitively expensive.

I also think the reasons Murray didn't have more of a popularizing effect for the sport was because; a) he's Scottish, b) he's naturally introverted, c) he has a giant chip on his shoulder the size of Lendl's gut, and d) his game is not that exciting. Now, none of this is his fault and you can't hold his personality against him. But still, it's hard to inspire kids to pick up a racket when you look like someone just ate the family dog after losing the first point of what's probably going to be a six-hour straight sets victory.

Im pretty sure that the summers where you live are better than where I live. 2018 was the first year in years where we actually got a few weeks of sun during the 'summer'.
I always have these chats with friends, that when we were kids, it was hot everyday of the school holidays. Nowadays kids get very few dry days here.
Global warming eh.

Also, like I said, I don't think its any players fault regarding who picks up a tennis racket . Who inspires tennis in Canada?
Im actually a bigger fan of Nadal, Federer, Djokovic's game than Murrays, and if Murray didn't exist, id still love tennis.
Im pretty sure most kids get inspired to play soccer because of Messi and Ronaldo here in the UK. Its not because of any British players, that's for sure.

Red Rick · Jan 16, 2019

titoelcolombiano said:
GB haven't faired too badly; Henman followed by Murray followed by Edmund. As long as they have stars at the top of the game, people will aspire to play at grass roots level.

"Followed by Edmund" is a disastrous drop for a country that has a Grand Slam.

Any chance Judy Murray has a little surprise child hidden away somewhere?

Bhagi Katbamna · Jan 16, 2019

Millenials are interested only in the outrage olympics and not actual sports.

PT630Wannabe · Jan 16, 2019

el sergento said:
I used to buy the tennis is elitest argument until I had my own kids and started doing some basic math. Tennis, in Canada, despite being seen as an elitist sport (although less and less) is a million times cheaper than hockey; that most blue-collar of games. Hockey equipment is very expensive, your kid outgrows it every year, lessons and camps cost a fortune, and you pretty much need to quit your job to make all the weekly practices and weekend activities. Also, concussions.

We are pretty lucky to live in Montreal with regards to tennis. I'd never be able to play if i lived in Toronto.

Mustard · Jan 16, 2019

Vanilla Slice said:
Can you explain this a bit? Coming from America, thought obviously the sport is expensive still, the American public/higher ups love sports heroes who come from both high starts and lower places.

It's a bit different in Britain. Although underdogs tend to be supported in all sports, tennis has an upper class image and mostly tends to get the more well off people participating in it seriously, and an apparent gentleman like Tim Henman is the perfect image for the British tennis authorities. Andy Murray, while lower middle class rather than working class, has a lot of rough edges that he isn't shy about showing openly, and he has never been one to hold back his criticisms of the LTA over the years, including in recent days regarding tennis participation levels dropping in Britain (including in Scotland). Fred Perry was a working class Mancunian (from Manchester), and his father was a Labour MP, while Fred himself was a table tennis world champion before he got into tennis, so Perry was well and truly different and never appreciated until a long time later, despite how dominant he was in the amateur game in the mid 1930s. When Perry turned professional in late 1936, they didn't acknowledge him anymore.

In the USA, I get a slightly different cultural impression. John McEnroe comes from a pretty well off family for example, but he certainly doesn't speak in a genteel fashion like Tim Henman. In the USA, McEnroe can be just as feisty as Jimmy Connors.

heninfan99 · Jan 16, 2019

He's already angling for an administrative position in Brit tennis.

jon70 · Jan 16, 2019

Didn't they build some huge tennis centre somewhere that gets little use? I read somewhere that Judy Murray would've preferred ten $1 million facilities over one $10 million centre...which makes sense.

George Turner · Jan 16, 2019

jon70 said:
Didn't they build some huge tennis centre somewhere that gets little use? I read somewhere that Judy Murray would've preferred ten $1 million facilities over one $10 million centre...which makes sense.

Some big place in London and no one uses it. Murray has complained about that.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/34970935

jon70 · Jan 16, 2019

That's it. Maybe the Murrays are seen as too big for their boots in Britain, I don't know, but surely she's right...a spread of courts is a better investment than one big facility.

Bartelby · Jan 16, 2019

Part of the problem may be that Wimbledon is a private club whereas the rivers of gold flowing in from slams directly waters the respective peak tennis association elsewhere.

Deleted member 688153 · Jan 16, 2019

el sergento said:
But still, it's hard to inspire kids to pick up a racket when you look like someone just ate the family dog after losing the first point of what's probably going to be a six-hour straight sets victory.

Ahaha indeed

titoelcolombiano · Jan 16, 2019

Red Rick said:
"Followed by Edmund" is a disastrous drop for a country that has a Grand Slam.

Any chance Judy Murray has a little surprise child hidden away somewhere?

I guess what I am saying is that Edmund will probably be a solid top 10 player for the next 6 or 7 years. Most countries would love that. He may end up with a Henman-like career.

zaph · Jan 16, 2019

The LTA is badly run, it is basically a social club for public school boys and girls in the South East of England. Look at the state of events outside WImbledon. Queens has barely developed, there are no big events mens outside the South East. We have a third of the futures tournaments compared to a country like Italy.

While a fortune was pissed away on the national tennis centre, very little of the Wimbledon money makes it to grass roots. Park courts are in a shocking state, especially up north where I live. Indoor court are expensive and difficult to find. The attitude of clubs doesn't help, juniors are too often treated as second class, as are ordinary members. We have had problems with coaches and cliques throwing their weight around.

Tennis is also a difficult sport to learn. One of the big problems is finding matches for inexperienced players, nothing will put someone off quicker than some showboating fool thrashing them and making them feel like an idiot.

Murray is right, the LTA have wasted his years at the top.

Mustard · Jan 16, 2019

And by South East England, we tend to mean south of Watford and east of Oxford. The snobby class down there tend to act like the rest of Britain doesn't exist. My local tennis hardcourts in South Wales, which were in a decent state in the 1990s up until about 2009 (I often played there myself), are now run down and full of grass and weeds, and it's clear that nobody goes there to play tennis anymore.

In regards to the ATP Tour, there have been tournaments in Manchester and Nottingham in the past, so the state of British tennis today in terms of distributing tournaments to other areas of the country is actually worse today.

Murray Bemoans State of Tennis at Home

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