No English Men in 2010 in Wimbledon Draw
LTA Chief Executive under pressure after recent blows to UK tennis leaves England without male representation in 'home' tournament.
For the first time in the 133-year history of Wimbledon there will be no English interest in the men's singles competition.
National representatives Alex Bogdanovic, Daniel Evans and Josh Goodall were all eliminated in the pre-tournament qualifying rounds whilst, despite an impressive performance at the Eastbourne warm-up event, Jamie Ward missed out on a obtaining wild card entry. Whilst six British women, including teenager Laura Robson, have made the women's first round, interest in terms of a first success for the native public since 1936 in the men's half of the draw will focus on Scotsmen Andy Murray and Jamie Baker.
The lack of an English name amongst the initial 128 competitors has heaped pressure on Roger Draper, head of the LTA in England, with several high profile figures calling for his resignation. Those include three-time Wimbledon Champion Boris Becker, who described the lack of English male involvement 'sad for the competition'. The German-born former tennis star told the Daily Mail newspaper: "It's shocking and there's no excuse for it. This country has the greatest tournament of all. Somebody must be doing something wrong."
Draper, who was made Chief Executive of the LTA in 2006 having previously been Director of Development for Sport England, was charged with developing a new business model for the association, and also ensuring success for the country's players on the court.
In an interview published on the BBC Sport website on 9 June, 2010 Draper 'refused to panic' after a Davis Cup defeat to Lithuania and Andy Murray's early French Open and Queen's Club exits raised fears about the sport in it's founding country. He told the BBC: "I am concerned with what is going on for 52 weeks of the year, not just a few weeks during the summer.
"We are a big sport, with half a million adults playing weekly, and we are one of the few sports that is growing"
That was before the lack of English involvement at Wimbledon was announced and the issue of the lack of male tennis players inside the World's top 100 was brought back under the microscope. Britain's former David Cup captain David Lloyd, who left his position after the defeat to Lithuania told BBC Sport it was 'clear' where the blame for the failures in the country's performances lie. Lloyd described a lack of English players at Wimbledon 'a disgrace' saying: "Maybe Roger Draper has done it for a reason so that they don't all lose in the first round and he loses his job."
"He can't get slaughtered now can he? He's not stupid."
Former Wimbledon Champion Pat Cash has also called on Draper to do the 'decent thing' and leave his post in the wake of the draw. He told BBC.co.uk: "He (Draper) should have the guts to say, 'Look I've under performed. I'm embarrassed to have done so little,' and leave."
"In any other company, any business, they would have said it's time for him to go. They (the LTA) are the lacking stock of the world as far as tennis associations go. It's just another year of the same old thing so things need to change at the top. The sooner the better."
Draper's position appears to be fairly secure with an LTA statement confirming they 'back' the current chief to 'get results. Former British Number One Tim Henman has described the low number of players from the country as 'ridiculous'. He told the Daily Mail: "You're always hearing complaints about a lack of funding and the LTA have got a lot of things wrong."
Henman didn't go as far as calling for Draper to step aside but did suggest that more of the blame should be aimed at underperforming players. He said: "All too often they (the LTA) get blamed for everything. When are our players going to accept more responsibility for themselves."
The first Wimbledon without a native player's involvement begins on 21 June, 2010 with the men's final on 4 July, 2010.
Source: BBC News, BBC Sport, Daily Mail
National representatives Alex Bogdanovic, Daniel Evans and Josh Goodall were all eliminated in the pre-tournament qualifying rounds whilst, despite an impressive performance at the Eastbourne warm-up event, Jamie Ward missed out on a obtaining wild card entry. Whilst six British women, including teenager Laura Robson, have made the women's first round, interest in terms of a first success for the native public since 1936 in the men's half of the draw will focus on Scotsmen Andy Murray and Jamie Baker.
The lack of an English name amongst the initial 128 competitors has heaped pressure on Roger Draper, head of the LTA in England, with several high profile figures calling for his resignation. Those include three-time Wimbledon Champion Boris Becker, who described the lack of English male involvement 'sad for the competition'. The German-born former tennis star told the Daily Mail newspaper: "It's shocking and there's no excuse for it. This country has the greatest tournament of all. Somebody must be doing something wrong."
Draper, who was made Chief Executive of the LTA in 2006 having previously been Director of Development for Sport England, was charged with developing a new business model for the association, and also ensuring success for the country's players on the court.
In an interview published on the BBC Sport website on 9 June, 2010 Draper 'refused to panic' after a Davis Cup defeat to Lithuania and Andy Murray's early French Open and Queen's Club exits raised fears about the sport in it's founding country. He told the BBC: "I am concerned with what is going on for 52 weeks of the year, not just a few weeks during the summer.
"We are a big sport, with half a million adults playing weekly, and we are one of the few sports that is growing"
That was before the lack of English involvement at Wimbledon was announced and the issue of the lack of male tennis players inside the World's top 100 was brought back under the microscope. Britain's former David Cup captain David Lloyd, who left his position after the defeat to Lithuania told BBC Sport it was 'clear' where the blame for the failures in the country's performances lie. Lloyd described a lack of English players at Wimbledon 'a disgrace' saying: "Maybe Roger Draper has done it for a reason so that they don't all lose in the first round and he loses his job."
"He can't get slaughtered now can he? He's not stupid."
Former Wimbledon Champion Pat Cash has also called on Draper to do the 'decent thing' and leave his post in the wake of the draw. He told BBC.co.uk: "He (Draper) should have the guts to say, 'Look I've under performed. I'm embarrassed to have done so little,' and leave."
"In any other company, any business, they would have said it's time for him to go. They (the LTA) are the lacking stock of the world as far as tennis associations go. It's just another year of the same old thing so things need to change at the top. The sooner the better."
Draper's position appears to be fairly secure with an LTA statement confirming they 'back' the current chief to 'get results. Former British Number One Tim Henman has described the low number of players from the country as 'ridiculous'. He told the Daily Mail: "You're always hearing complaints about a lack of funding and the LTA have got a lot of things wrong."
Henman didn't go as far as calling for Draper to step aside but did suggest that more of the blame should be aimed at underperforming players. He said: "All too often they (the LTA) get blamed for everything. When are our players going to accept more responsibility for themselves."
The first Wimbledon without a native player's involvement begins on 21 June, 2010 with the men's final on 4 July, 2010.
Source: BBC News, BBC Sport, Daily Mail