Sports Letters: British shortfall

Sir: I am sorry to hear that Britain's No 1 tennis player, Jeremy Bates, was rudely knocked out of the first round of the Qatar Open by an unknown Russian 18-year-old, 6-3, 6-3 then suffered another first-round loss in Melbourne this week. Before Qatar, he complained that he had no competition for the previous nine weeks. This is indeed a sad state of affairs. Is there no one in Britain who can give Jeremy even a decent knock-up? What would Dan Maskell or Fred Perry (or Kitty Godfree) say about that? Not long ago, any one of them would have given young Bates a run for his money, and taught him a few things, eg not to make excuses.

But if he really is the best male tennis player in Britain, shouldn't he be helping to fill the vacuum by coaching others? What was he doing for the past nine weeks? And whatever happened to the pounds 14m Wimbledon gave the Lawn Tennis Association last year? (A gift which goes up a few million every year.) Does it all go into indoor tennis 'centres' which few ordinary players can afford to use? Or does it go to the elite few being coached at Bisham Abbey? Wherever it goes it has not produced anyone who can give Jeremy the competition he badly needs.

Since Fred Perry's Wimbledon championships in 1934-36, we have not been able to produce a world class male player, with the possible exception of Tony Mottram whose tennis was interrupted by the RAF in World War II. Has Britain deteriorated into a hallowed venue for players from other countries? One cannot help noticing in those countries something we lack. Plenty of good, free, public courts on which anyone can play whenever they like, for as long as they like, without booking, paying, waiting, or having to dress up in white costumes. This encourages boys and girls from all parts of town to have a go. To enter tournaments, and to make use of free or low cost readily available coaching.

Yet again we have a case of 'invented in Britain' but developed, produced, and improved elsewhere. As long as British tennis is largely confined to expensive clubs and centres, there is unlikely to be any real change. Out of its pounds 14m, can't the LTA give us even one truly public set of three or four tennis courts? And find someone, anyone, to give Jeremy some competition?

Yours sincerely,

W E NORMAN

Berkhamsted

Hertfordshire

7 January