Although the hard court surface of Australia, combined with the time difference down under, means that the Australian Open has only a select hardcore tennis fan following here in the UK, the coverage we have been able to observe has been enough to highlight the gaping failures and inadequacies that are still hampering the progress of UK tennis.
With only Andy Murray still left in the singles competition in both the men and women’s draw, the fact of the matter is that there is still very little talent coming through the LTA and its numerous training schemes, with prospect Laura Robson failing to look like she will ever do anything more to add to her junior title at Wimbledon, which now seems like distant history. Heather Watson, meanwhile, is even less of a promising prospect than Robson, while Jamie Ward has never really been seen as anything other than a solid number two in British tennis. Those looking at the Betfair Australian Open Tennis odds would not have been too surprised to see them crash out.
Despite this, the investments made in the sport in Britain should mean that will soon be some reward for long-suffering British tennis fans who have seen their hopes dashed more often in recent years than even during the times of Tim “the tiger” Henman. With the annual Wimbledon pain yet to come in 2012, British fans will have just been left hoping that the way this year has started turns out to be a one-off. People placing tennis bets should bear this in mind.
If the British players do start performing to a decent level once again, then we may see the current problems glossed over. However, if they continue to play badly and, God forbid, Andy Murray begins to join them in their mediocrity, then we may well see the whole sport come under serious review in the UK.
