Wonderful World of Tennis / Matthew Walton / 18 February 2009 /

In 2008 Spain won the Davis Cup without talisman Rafael Nadal even playing the final whilst France had more players in the men's top 100 than any other nation. As Great Britain and the like rely on just the one class player, Simon Mundie asks: how did France and Spain get this good?

Having Andy Murray sitting pretty at number four in the world, with the very real possibility of rising even higher (and hopefully becoming a Grand Slam Champion to boot) is something for us Brits to truly savour. Prior to the Scot's rapid ascent, many of us were bracing ourselves for the possibility of a return to the dour days of Bates, Wilkinson and Petchey, when the highlight of the tennis calendar for supporters of home-grown players was one of our lads managing to win a couple of sets against a seed at Wimbledon; and maybe threatening to break the world's top 80 if the year was going particularly well.

Take Murray out of the equation though, and as ever Britain lacks strength in depth on the men's side; our next best player struggling just to maintain his place in the top 200. Compare that with the two powerhouse countries of men's tennis; France and Spain, and we can only look on with envy.

The Spaniards can currently boast 15 of the world's 100 top players, including the man who holds three of the four Grand Slam tournaments, world number one Rafael Nadal; and they're the holders of the Davis Cup [2.76 to win in 2009] despite Nadal withdrawing from the final against Argentina with injury.

They are certainly no longer simply a threat during the European Clay court season either, as they were deemed to be during the 1990s when Bruguera, Costa and Berasetagui led the so-called "Spanish Armada". Nowadays, they have players who excel on faster surfaces, like Feliciano Lopez, and others, like Verdasco and Ferrer, who are an equal threat whatever they're playing on. And in terms of strength in numbers; can many people claim to have heard of, let alone seen, players like Marcel Granollers, Ivan Navarro or Daniel Gimeno-Traver, all ranked in the top 100 ahead of the 2003 French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero?

France [5.8 to win the Davis Cup] also has an embarrassment of riches, with 12 of the top 100 from Gallic shores. While they haven't had the same degree of top level success; their last Grand Slam title coming when Yannick Noah won Roland Garros in 1983 and they haven't had a Wimbledon Champion since Yvon Petra in 1946, nor a US Open winner since Henri Cochet in 1928; they definitely have players who could and should win major crowns. Exciting young talents like Tsonga, Simon, Monfils and Gasquet, who are all pushing each other to greater heights.

So what are they doing so right, that the likes of America [11.0 to win the Davis Cup], Australia and of course Great Britain are incapable of? One man who thinks he knows one of the reasons for the change in the world order is Jose Higueras, who coached Jim Courier to world number 1 and who has been known to hook up on tour with a certain Roger Federer. He thinks the prominence of clay court tennis in Spain and France for junior players is key. Higueras claims "certain core attributes are best developed on clay and then augmented through experience on faster surfaces." He cites the new breed of player from the States or Down-Under, highlighting an abundance of raw power, but without the footwork, balance and dexterity of clay court players.

Both France and Spain like to hone their junior players' skill on clay courts, although increasingly they look to get them to compete on a variety of surfaces so they have as fully-rounded games as possible. Without question, the two federations have been helped by the overall slowing down of the men's game since the days when Sampras, Stich and Ivanisevic dominated much of the tennis season without having to play rallies of more than 4 shots. The fast courts have been slowed, nowhere more noticeably than at Wimbledon where the sight of a player serve-volleying has never been rarer. Clay court tennis is marginally quicker too, but the change is not nearly as dramatic as the faster surfaces, something that has proved bountiful for both Spain and France.

One often recited argument for the success of players from countries like Argentina [7.6 to win Davis Cup] or the former Eastern bloc is an innate desire to better their own circumstances, due to social deprivation or political pressures. While that can be a spur for various individuals, you can't really argue it is the driving force behind the success of the French or the Spaniards, who are on the whole not from deprived backgrounds.

For them, it is more a case of regular competition from an early age, superb technical tuition, and supportive national federations. Of course the climate of both countries helps, but the groundwork is in place for players from such an early age which, coupled with an extremely talented peer group jostling for position is what makes these countries stand out as the standard bearers for producing top players. The Spanish may be picking up most trophies at present, while the French have not yet quite mastered the art of crossing the finishing line, but if just one of them could get that monkey off their backs, the spectre of the 'four musketeers' could be dispelled and a new generation of glorious French achievement could be upon us.

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