British players lack hunger, the likes of Djokovic don't

Wonderful World of Tennis / Barry Millns / 10 October 2007 / Leave a Comment

Sky Sports' Barry Millns explains why the mega rich LTA fail to produce real talent as Serbia and Russia continue to produce it in droves

Ten years ago Russia had just one man and three women ranked in the world's Top 100. Now they have eight men and 15 women, a clear indication of the hunger for success that is driving on so many Eastern Europeans towards the top of today's game and the rewards on offer there.

In stark contrast, back in 1997 Britain, already struggling to keep up, had 10 men ranked in the Top 400. Today there are only five and it is years since a British woman last held a singles ranking of less than three figures!

For decades Wimbledon has handed over millions of pounds in surplus profits from The Championships to the Lawn Tennis Association to help develop players in Britain. But after all that time there is still very little to show for such huge investment.

Year after year too many gifted British players have been handed too much funding on a plate before they have really made it. As a result they have made a living in the twilight zone without pushing themselves beyond it like their counterparts in poorer countries who have had to fight for everything they earn.

The LTA's recent crackdown on two of Britain's most promising juniors David Rice and Naomi Broady, who had their coaching and funding withdrawn for "unprofessional behaviour" and "lack of discipline" highlighted the problem. It has become part of the culture and many other British juniors were warned as to their future conduct.

Thankfully there have been a couple of notable exceptions in Tim Henman and Andy Murray. But it is no coincidence that although from very different backgrounds, they are both extremely self-motivated men and became world class players by taking their own individual routes into the professional ranks rather than wholly through the British system.

Murray, making his debut this week at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow where he is currently trading at 6.2 for the title, opted to develop his game on clay at the Sanchez-Casal academy in Barcelona before turning pro. Although the British No.1 admits he made mistakes when he was there aged 16, he warned his young compatriots that they have to become more focused if they are to make the most of their talents.

"Now I don't drink, I don't smoke," Murray said. "It's the sacrifices you have to make if you want to become a great athlete. It's just something as a professional athlete you have to realise; you're not at university, not doing a nine-to-five job, you have to stay in tip-top shape. Being professional is the main thing that you need to get right. If you don't have that then you're never going to make it."

For many others, not just from Eastern Europe, professional sport including tennis is a way out of the ghetto. You only have to look at the Williams sisters (Serena - 4.2 this week in Moscow / Venus 2.58 in Bangkok) to see how far some have come from tough backgrounds or at the likes of Maria Sharapova (3.9 in Moscow) who moved abroad as a child, at great personal and family sacrifice, to pursue the goal of making her what she is today.

Then there is the remarkable example of Serbian tennis. A country ravaged by war in the 1990's, with no facilities to speak of, it has produced three Top 5 players in Novak Djokovic (2.54 in Vienna), Jelena Jankovic (2.44 in Bangkok) and Ana Ivanovic, who used to practise in an empty swimming pool in Belgrade between NATO bombing raids!

Clearly all of them have a great work ethic fuelled by that inner drive, that burning desire to succeed. But the same is true of all the best players whatever their background. It is something that is instilled in them, usually at an early age and without it they would never progress so far.