Tennis 2010

Davis Cup result from the weekend: Great Britain 2, Lithuania 3.

And I thought Australian tennis was in the shit.

Apparently Lithuanian tennis gets approximately £90,000 worth of funds every year. Compared to the BTA's £90,000 (or so) a day budget.


Shocking but well done Lithuania. Back to the drawing board for British tennis.

Haven't looked for the names yet, but I can't recall a single Lithuanian tennis player. Ever. Anyone?

John Lithgow?


Seriously, not a clue. Doubt any are seeded anyway. Hopefully someone will correct me.

http://www.sportinglife.com/tennis/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=tennis/10/03/08/TENNIS_Davis_Cup_Comment.html

The worst thing about Britain's Davis Cup humiliation against Lithuania was not the defeat of 19-year-old Dan Evans in a final match he should have won against a man ranked 269 places below him.

Put it this way. The LTA receive more than £25million from Wimbledon each year. The Lithuanian tennis budget is less than £100,000. You do not need to be a corporate accountant to know the maths and results just do not add up.

LTA - Lawn Tennis Association
BTA - British Tennis Association?

Zat wrote:Davis Cup result from the weekend: Great Britain 2, Lithuania 3.

And I thought Australian tennis was in the shit.

What, you've only just noticed? It's been like that for 60 years! Look at the three top ten players Britain's had in the last decade: Rusedski was an import, Henman didn't come through the LTA system and neither did Murray. So they've produced a grand total of none since at least Roger Taylor in the early 70s. It takes talent to be so inept you know.

Shoeshine wrote:

Zat wrote:Davis Cup result from the weekend: Great Britain 2, Lithuania 3.

And I thought Australian tennis was in the shit.

What, you've only just noticed? It's been like that for 60 years! Look at the three top ten players Britain's had in the last decade: Rusedski was an import, Henman didn't come through the LTA system and neither did Murray. So they've produced a grand total of none since at least Roger Taylor in the early 70s. It takes talent to be so inept you know.

It really is quite staggering how bad we are considering the money we put in. Really puts our failings in other sports into perspective.

There's progress in the women's game - they're on the verge of having three players in the top 100 for the first time in God knows how long. But the men are a disaster.

So Murray's not eligible to play Davis Cup? Or he just DGAF? Or he knows that with it being him, then nobody, there's no point knackering himself?

Zat wrote:So Murray's not eligible to play Davis Cup? Or he just DGAF? Or he knows that with it being him, then nobody, there's no point knackering himself?

He played Hopman Cup for the poms ...won all his singles matches and carried the team to victory in the doubles matches ...and then choked in the final after the ozzie pom chick finally won a singles match

Zat wrote:So Murray's not eligible to play Davis Cup? Or he just DGAF? Or he knows that with it being him, then nobody, there's no point knackering himself?

He's played a fair bit. But it's not unreasonable for him to look after himself as the priority. And it's not his fault everyone else is so uselessly incompetent that they now face a relegation match to decide if they have to play Luxembourg, Monaco or San Marino next. And there's every chance it'll happen too - Turkey have better players than Britain.

So does Lithuania.