Tuesday 29 April 2008

Djokovic: British players have it too good


Monday night's BBC Inside Sport had an interview and profile of Novak Djokovic. He said some nice things about Murray but had some home truths for the other British players, who lack hunger because they have everything on a plate.

He's not the first to say it - Henman said something similar a few years ago - and I'm sure privately Roger Draper and others at the LTA may agree.

You can watch it here.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Steve. I remember when Tim Henman made those comments. I would think coming from one of the greatest players in English history would have held more weight and forced the LTA to seriously take that into account. I know some big-name coaches have been hired over the past few years, but the results haven't been there.

I saw Jamie Baker play a qualifying match at the U.S. Open last summer and thought he really had game. I just looked on his wikipedia page and saw he had some kind of blood disease? That's pretty bad.

What's the deal with Bogdanovich? I know he's had some success on the Challenger level. What will it take for him to break through?

Steve said...

Hi Van

I think the LTA is moving in the right direction under Roger Draper. The unmistakable message they are putting out is players need to show more commitment.

The problem is it will take years for the new regime to turn its masterplan into tangible results.

In the meantime the press and public get the impression that no progress is being made.

And the bottomline is there is no excuse for years of underachievement.

Good question about Bogdanovich. He's got the game - at Queens last year he pushed Roddick all the way - but its been said he lacks belief.

Last I heard he was working with Gilbert. Lets hope he can inspire him to greater things.

Steve