An Echo from Across the Pond

Do you hear an echo? It's coming from the far side of the Pond. The British are unhappy with the underachievement of their tennis players, too. There's something to that, of course. It HAS been a long dry spell for the nation that invented the game as we know it.

But my Irony Detector goes wild when I hear Britons calling for doing it like "those Americans" do.

Say what?

Just for that I'm going to spell color with a "u."

But seriously there's something to that too. What no one in those articles has mentioned though is the effect of the system on the players. They complain that British players aren't mentally strong enough.

Well, couldn't the weight the system puts on them be too heavy then? For example, notice that, in the first article (in The Guardian), Jon Henderson writes of the "concerns" and "dissent" because some feel that British players (Andy Muarry in particular in this case) aren't 'giving back enough in return for the generous backing.'

Oh, so you have to pay them back with Wimbledon trophies. Think of the weight this puts on British players' shoulders!

They are being so Mother-Henned that they are made to feel like they owe their success to the LTA. And it has become such a matter of national pride that it is no wonder that no British player has won Wimbledom in a long time.

Henderson cites examples of talented players who go get their own financial backing:

Great players tend to come through regardless of the intervention of national associations. It is difficult to think of any whose child-to-champion progress has been watched over every step of the way by a body such as the LTA.

Right, in other countries (like here in the US), outstanding players pursue a bussinesslike investment relationship with a sponsor of their choosing. The arrangement enables them to own their own success, beholding to no one for it. Good for the confidence.

We see another hint at a key to succes in Naomi Cavaday's win on the grass in Birmingham. It shocked everyone. Her explanation? Well, she has been here at Nick Bolletierri's, where she has practiced with world-ranked players.

Indeed, that's how you become a world-class player - by playing with world-class players:

I have had great opportunities at Bollettieri's," she said. "Practising with players like [Nicole] Vaidisova and [Tatiana] Golovin and knowing it's not that scary, I think makes it easier when you come somewhere like this and you have to play someone who is 60 in the world."

Exactly. Young British players will have to leave the UK periodically to get that kind of competition. It can make all the difference in the world.

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