After the Davis Cup debacle cumulating in the resignation of John Lloyd after five straight losses you’d think there would be a bleak future in store for British tennis. Only one player in the respective men and women’s top 100 and seemingly no surge of new talent on the horizon. However maybe we have got it wrong, maybe things are changing. Sport.co.uk caught up with the two formerWimbledon champions past and present at the 75th anniversary of the Robinsons Wimbledon sponsorship to talk memories, Murray and er.. music.
Laura Robson shot to fame with her success as a 14 year old in the 2008 Wimbledon championships. The surprisingly tall teenager began by telling us of her memories of the triumph:
“The best memory I have of Wimbledon was winning the junior title here two years ago, it seems like so long ago now but it was really great to play on court number 1.”
If she was feeling any pressure about being the new British hope then she certainly was not showing it and was quick to dispel thoughts that there was a dark future for tennis in this country:
If she was feeling any pressure about being the new British hope then she certainly was not showing it and was quick to dispel thoughts that there was a dark future for tennis in this country:
“All the girls are doing really well at the moment, maybe not so many of the guys but there’s a few coming through so things can only get better.”
Laua on the red carpet at 75th anniversary of the Robinsons Wimbledon sponsorship.
At 16 Robson will be an integral part of British tennis in the years to come and reached the final of the Junior Australian Open back in January for the second time in her fledgling career. She went on to tell us of her plans for the coming year:
“For me the idea is just to keep playing; because I can only play 12 tournaments a year I’m just trying to play in as many tournaments as I can and then get in to the US open qualifiers on my own ranking and I’m not that far off now, so that’s the short term goal.”
Like Andy Murray she has moved overseas to seek the best possible start to her career. She’s currently training at Mouratoglou Tennis Academy in Paris and only has good things to say about it and founder Patrick Mouratoglou: “He’s really nice but I have my own coach over there so he’s not working with me but it’s just good a really good atmosphere there- I really like it.”
It’s here that she is preparing for the new grass season despite the apparent lack of resources: “They have clay courts over there and we always play on clay. I prefer grass over clay so as soon as I can get on the grass I always do. I don’t know what tournaments I’m going to play in yet but I’ll have a week of training before I start playing matches.”
Coincidentally, Robson did team up with Murray in the Hopman Cup in Australia and admitted that she enjoyed the experience. Although, unfortunately for British fans, she does not envisage a reunion at this year’s All England Club -saying: “I think he’s going to focus on his singles so I doubt I’m going to play with him.”
Laura looking dashing on the red carpet...
Someone who knows all about doubles action is Jeremy Bates. He was mixed doubles champion in 1987 and although he described his win as ‘unexpected’ he recalls his it as his greatest Wimbledon moment. “I was playing together with Joe Durie and we had a bit of a fairytale run through the tournament and we ended up playing the final on Centre Court right after that famous victory for Pat Cash (vs. Ivan Lendl).”
Bates knows the feeling of lifting a trophy on the famous turf and feels our hopeful has as good a chance as anyone: “I think Andy (Murray) has a great chance, there’s no question. He has established himself as a major contender for every major tournament and I think he has the support of everyone behind him”
He Continued: “The whole event is geared around looking after him in many ways I mean you can’t fix the draw but you can certainly look after him in terms of courts and scheduling. Him winning would not be an upset and neither would (a win for) Federer or Nadal and outside of those three I wouldn’t put any money on anyone else.”
Jeremy Bates on the red carpet 75th anniversary of the Robinsons Wimbledon sponsorship.
Bates also feels that a Murray victory could lift the gloom cloud from British tennis and be the start of something special: “I think it would galvanise everyone because something like that gives everyone a boost. It gives the young kids a boost because they can relate to it and they will hopefully want to pick up racquets and get out and play.”
On Murray the man: “He has street cred as well which I think a lot of people can relate to and has a great competitive and fiery attitude towards things and I think a win would give a massive boost to everyone really.”
A seasoned pro, Bates realises the necessity to get the next generation involved with tennis and importance of learning from our mistakes: “I think we have got a lot of kids now who are introduced to the sport through mini tennis and that’s going pretty well. I think where we can improve is to make sure that all those young kids are retained in the sport because the transition from mini tennis to the full sized court revolves around the success of clubs, the fun that they have in clubs and obviously lots of competition. In other sports kids compete and that’s what they love doing and that’s one of the areas that has let us down in the past.”
He went on to stress the importance of the structure: “It comes down to having a good experience in the club, we have to get the kids introduced to the sport and then into the clubs because if you look at all the European countries, that’s where all the success lies.”
He is also taking an by helping promote touch tennis, a new form of the game aiming to stir interest in much the same way as 20/20 did to cricket and hopes to play in a tournament just after Wimbledon. He explained what all the fuss was about:
He is also taking an by helping promote touch tennis, a new form of the game aiming to stir interest in much the same way as 20/20 did to cricket and hopes to play in a tournament just after Wimbledon. He explained what all the fuss was about:
“I think it is something that has an interesting future because it’s user friendly and a good work out. It’s competitive and is also something where you can adapt your technique and is relatively easy to play and so is not prohibiting in that sense.”
“There’s an opportunity to get more and more people interested and it has been very well received so far. I’m involved in it going forwards and I think ii is something we want to try and grow because from what I’ve seen so far is that all the adults playing it have had a huge amount of fun.”
Another side to Jeremy Bates on the red carpet
So a new era is up and running in British tennis- Leon Smith has the unenviable task of turning around Britain’s Davis Cup fortunes and in a few weeks all eyes will be on SW19 once more as two weeks of Murray mania ensues. You get the impression that everyone is starting to realise that there is a big job ahead and they are beginning to pull in the right direction. But it wouldn’t be fair to not give the final say to our newest hope and just before leaving we found out an interesting fact about Laura Robson the person: “I love Hanson they are my alarm every morning. I wake up to it and I’m immediately happy.”
Maybe not the first record choice for everyone, but let’s hope that this inspires her to go Mmmbopping her way along the road to success.
Laura Robson and Jeremy Bates attended the Robinsons Gala evening at Wimbledon last night. The event saw past and present tennis stars gather to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Robinsons Wimbledon sponsorship.
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