British Tennis Officials Annual Meeting Reveals Encouraging Future

Written by: Staff on 16th December 2011

British Tennis Officials Annual Meeting Reveals Encouraging Future

epa02808349 Novak Djokovic (up) of Serbia in action against Rafael Nadal of Spain during the men's singles final of the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 03 July 2011. EPA/STEPHEN POND / POOL |

Lawn Tennis Association chief executive Roger Draper chose a different way of summing up British tennis. “For a long while it was the depressed patient,” he said. “Now there are signs the patient is getting healthier.”

But there is plenty in the coffers to pay the medical bills. Accountancy figures released at the LTA’s annual general meeting revealed that the cash-rich ruling body of British tennis had got even wealthier with a rise of 13% in the annual profit to a staggering £35.17million ($54.46 million).

With the surplus of profits from the All England Club’s Championships at Wimbledon still providing the lion’s share of the LTA’s wealth, British tennis had never struggled to survive financially.

And there does not appear to be any cut back on salary spending even though the legion of highly paid foreign coaches such as Paul Annacone, Brad Gilbert, Peter Lundgren, Steve Martens and Carl Maes have largely been replaced by cheaper home grown names such as Leon Smith, Colin Beecher and James Trotman.

Last year’s salaries, with a total of 296 staff to pay, amounted to £13.3m ($20.6 million), the annual tennis budget of many other leading tennis nations. Draper, openly criticized for his lavish spending, appeared a man content with the progress made.

Although Andy Murray remains the only male player in the top 100, Britain’s juniors have shown some encouraging results with the Junior Davis Cup and three out of the four semi-finalists at the US Open including champion Oliver Golding.

Draper expressed confidence that a corner has been turned but warned that it might still be ‘three to five years’ before sustained and serious gains are witnessed at elite level. He said: “We need to be patient, unless you are a Murray or a Nadal the transition from juniors to seniors can take much longer these days. The average age for breaking into the top 100 is now 24.”

There are however definite areas for concern. Negatives include the latest batch of Sport England participation figures, which show that in Britain only 375,800 people played tennis three times or more a week in the past 12 months, a noticeable drop from 487, 500 in 2007-08.