The Lawn Tennis Association’s chief executive, Michael Downey, has steered clear of entering a public row with Andy Murray and made it clear that the door is open for him to help it improve British tennis after the world No2 accused the ruling body of failing to build on his successes.
It is understood that the LTA, which praised Murray’s efforts in helping Great Britain win the Davis Cup for the first time since 1936, shares his concerns about the lack of emerging talent and said that he is always welcome to voice his views after the 28-year-old made the startling revelation that he has only spoken to Downey once since the Canadian’s appointment in 2013.
However, Murray’s complaints were backed up by the former Davis Cup captain John Lloyd, who claimed that nothing has changed since Downey replaced the unloved Roger Draper. Questions have been raised over the decision by Downey and Bob Brett, the former head of player development who left in July, to stop using the £40m National Training Centre in Roehampton, south-west London, which opened in 2007. Leon Smith, the captain who guided Britain to their triumph in Belgium, is yet to negotiate a new contract and feels that the decision has backfired.
“The GB Davis Cup team’s success at the weekend was an incredible sporting achievement and we congratulate Leon and all of the team for what they have accomplished,” Downey said in a statement issued by the LTA. “Their success is a chance for the nation to celebrate and we hope this will inspire people to pick up a racket and get on court.
“We value the opinions of all of our players on how we grow the game in Britain and our door is always open to Andy, Dan, Dom, James, Jamie and Kyle to hear their views and work collaboratively with them and all of our partners.”
Lloyd, who was replaced by Smith in 2010, supported Murray’s complaints. There are justifiable fears that Murray’s individual brilliance is masking a multitude of flaws in the British game, especially on the men’s side. Aljaz Bedene, the Slovenia-born world No45, is the only other Britsh male in the top 100. “I’m hearing that things aren’t changing,” Lloyd told ESPN . “After Roger Draper left as chief executive, people were saying that he had made mistakes in various places, and that with the new guy here was the chance to change things. But this just seems to happen over and over again. What people tell me is that the LTA has gone backwards under Downey.
“I’m hearing this from people in the tennis industry, so this is from players and coaches. People in the business who love British tennis say that nothing is changing, and you can see Murray’s frustrations with his comments. He’s saying that he can’t be bothered to listen to the same old stuff. Unfortunately, it is the same old stuff.”
Baroness Billingham, the vice chair of the All Party Tennis Group and a vociferous critic of Draper, told the Guardian that she agreed with Murray’s comments about the NTC. “I never approved of that in the first place,” she said. “Judy Murray is right, we could have had 40 mini tennis centres for £1m each. There we are, it’s a done deal and it’s too late now to address that. I never thought it was a good idea to put a national sports centre in that sort of position. It should have been much more central. It’s difficult to get to.
“Unless you have a car it’s more or less impossible. It was badly thought out. That money ought to have been divided up and mini tennis centres should have been put round all our major conurbations. People play tennis when it’s available and adjacent. It’s accessibility and affordability that allow people to play a particular sport. I can understand why Andy was critical.”
