Wimbledon 2010: British players must mend their ways says Tim Henman
Only two Britons are contesting in the singles draw in the upcoming Wimbledon this season which is the lowest ever number in the 133-year-history of the tournament. At the welfare dependency, Henman who is a former British number one tennis player spoke in the British tennis about his level of frustration and dejection over this year’s participation from his home side.
According to the retired tennis ace, the players as well as their parents should know how to turn themselves off the LTA’s golden treat. He also criticized the attitude of British number two Alex Bogdanovic who is calling the governing body for more support.
Tim Henman has made his way into the semi-finals of the Wimbledon on four different occasions in his career. Demanding help from the LTA is probably one of the causes of the poor state of British tennis. Only the number four seeded Andy Murray, along with Jamie Baker, who stills needs a wild card and is listed way outside the world's top 250 rankings, will be the two only British players to contest the singles title at the All England Club in the coming week.
The basic part of the issue with the British players is that they get more than enough which is actually destructive. Even then, the players always complain that they are short of funding which indicates that there is a great level of entitlement. A sense of responsibility is lacking in most of the players which is actually ridiculous. What matters at the end of the day is the performance of the individual himself and nothing else.
The federation of players from Argentina and Spain do not give such huge funding. In fact, they actually gave nothing. It is the individuals there who feel the responsibility within themselves. It is the player who decides how much he wants it and how badly he wishes to be a part of the limelight. Hence, those Spaniards and Argentinean players have totally different wishes with a greater level of thirst for the sport. On the other hand, the British players badly need to raise their level of hunger beyond any doubt. Moreover, there is also a need of high quality and top standard British players from the grass roots to make it big in the international circuit.
There is a complete list of British tennis players who are not capable enough in terms of reaching the top 100 rankings in the world. As a result, they fail to qualify in Wimbledon rankings. Most of these players just do not meet the high standards of the game, no matter how much effort they put into it. So there is a need to look back to the foundations of the game, added by Henman while promoting a competition named 'Road to Wimbledon' by HSBC.
After eight earlier wild cards, Alex Bogdanovic failed to get another one this time round. LTA during the previous week also stopped his funding which was highly criticized by him. Bogdanovic as a protest has decided to skip the next month's Davis Cup tie as well. He has already failed to make his way into the Wimbledon Championship this week as well.
Boggo, another British player is a good talent beyond any doubt however what is lacking in him at the moment is the same sense of responsibility like others. However, he should not complaint about his funding as he is just 26 years old and needs to do everything on his own now rather than relying on LTA like a new player.
However, the former British player Tim Henman is not worried about the heedless form of Andy Murray who lost at the Queen’s Club in the third round just a few days ago.
According to Henman, Murray’s performance at Queen’s Club will not affect his form in the Wimbledon at all. Wimbledon being a home event is totally different for British tennis players as it is a domestic tournament for them. All this makes it completely separate. Although Murray has not played his best game in the recent past, but he can still make it happen in Wimbledon by passing through the early rounds quickly with some careful practice this week.
Tags: