A decade on from Andy Murray’s second Wimbledon triumph and the progress made by British tennis feels difficult to see.
In 2021, it was Andy’s own mother, Judy Murray, who expressed her fear that ‘Jamie and Andy would retire and there would be nothing to show for it’.
And after yet another horrid first week for British tennis hopefuls at Wimbledon, it’s clear those fears have largely been realised.
Perhaps it was never going to be a week for the Brits when Emma Raducanu’s latest injury woe forced her to withdraw on the eve of the tournament.
That withdrawal was compounded hours later on the first day when Jack Draper, now coached by the aforementioned Andy Murray, had to pull out of his first-round match to continue his own torturous run with injuries.
Britain’s fortunes got no better when the action did begin at SW19, with 10 home hopefuls defeated on the opening day – the worst return for the home nation this century.
By the end of the first round, 15 of the 19 Britons in the singles draw were gone, marking the highest number of opening-round exits for home players at SW19 since 1988.
And while Arthur Fery’s rousing third-round victory over Zizou Bergs means Britain will at least have one player in the second week of singles, there is clearly an expectation for more than that.
Some, like former Wimbledon semi-finalist Tim Henman, have called for ‘patience’, others have not been quite so diplomatic about the state of British tennis.
‘There have been some tough draws, but it certainly doesn’t look good,” recently retired British stalwart Dan Evans told BBC Sport this week.
‘I think the past few days have shown there’s plenty of work to be done in our sport.’
The cold hard facts make for uncomfortable reading. Players normally need to be inside the top 100 in the world to guarantee direct access into the main draw of a Grand Slam.
However, that was only the case for four British players at Wimbledon this year, with 12 handed wildcards and three successfully coming through qualifying.
British tennis chiefs will hope that the young female trio Mika Stojsavljevic (World No. 276), Mimi Xu (World No. 326) and Hannah Klugman (World No. 416) can begin working their way up rankings, while Oliver Tarvet will soon begin his pro journey after completing college out in the United States.
But currently, Britain is lagging far behind the other Slam nations when it comes to top-100 players with a paltry five compared to nine, 15 and 28 top-100 players from Australia, France and the US, respectively.
‘That’s woeful, isn’t it? Evans said. ‘We’re a Grand Slam nation. There needs to be more in the top 100.’
At present, the only sign of success within British professional tennis ranks is the men’s doubles, with four players inside the world’s top ten.
But with record amounts of money poured into the sport, and as the number one nation in the world for tennis participation per capita, Britain can surely do better at producing a more consistent talent pipeline from grassroots into the professional ranks.
‘Your tenure as a chief executive or a person who is in charge is what you are bringing through; it’s not what you have been given,’ former British World No.4 Greg Rusedski said on the Off Court Podcast.
‘You have to put this into perspective and also you have to put into perspective that you are getting £40 or £50 million a year from Wimbledon and then you are getting money from Sport England
‘You have to look at this reality and the situation on paper. I think Rafael Nadal says it best: ‘If, if, if doesn’t matter’. It’s about what you are doing now.
‘We always want someone to come out like Andy Murray, that’s an anomaly, or Emma Raducanu winning the US Open, but we need more players in the top 100 or top 50 range, especially with the investment that is being put in year in and year out.
‘We had this discussion about indoor facilities to keep more of your younger juniors, but you can’t get that in this country and that in itfself is a shame.’
The Lawn Tennis Association is already seeking to address some of those issues around facilities as it looks to expand its site at Roehampton into a ‘St George’s Park for tennis’.
Measures from the LTA to help young players who would otherwise struggle with the cost of the sport are also being expanded to help bring through more elite players from a working-class background.
‘You can’t judge the system on one tough day,’ Henman reflected to PA after a bruising day one at the Championships. ‘I’d like to think there are better times ahead.’
For the sake of British fans, one can only hope so.
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