Tim Henman, who is part of the Wimbledon tournament committee that awarded wildcards to the seven nationals who lost in round one, tries to explain the lack of success. “We’re not getting results because they’re not good enough. The issue is the lack of depth and we’ve been having this conversation for too long.” : “We’d love to have an endless list of British players to choose the wildcards from but that’s not the case – it’s almost hard to give them away. The standards have to improve.” . . . Simon Jones, head of performance support at the LTA said it’s not all about poor administration. “The depth is not strong enough and I’m not going to sit here and make any excuses at all about it,” But it’s not us playing out there – we are a support agency for tennis players. Ultimately, it’s about the players themselves when they go out there and play. They’re the ones responsible for what they do when they get up every day, in the gym, on the courts, what they eat, going to bed at the right time and so on. That’s up to them. They’ve got work to do, they’ve got to work harder.” . . . Portuguese qualifier Michelle Larcher de Brito, who upset Maria Sharapova at Wimbledon, became an immediate sensation at home. Her win went all the way to the top. “I know the Portuguese president is trying to talk to me,” she said. “I’m in roaming mode (on my mobile) so it will cost me, but when I finish all these interviews, of course I will call him.” Record sports daily in Portugal went gaga over De Brito, who trains in the US: “In a country struggling with a deep economic crisis, with sports federations suffering budget cuts, the triumph of this child-prodigy may open a lot of doors,” . . .
Wimbledon’s new head grounds man Neil Stubley reacts to Maria Sharapova’s comments that Court 2 ‘s grass dangerous in her loss. “It’s her opinion,” Stubley said. “Lleyton Hewitt played on the court an hour before and thought it was fine. We are fully confident that we have prepared them how they should be prepared every year. By day four, as far as I am concerned, they are wearing exactly how they should be.” . . . Li Na when told that her coach, Carlos Rodriguez had described her as a very nice person, but that sometimes she’s bad to herself. “Okay, now I change. I will killing him first.” . . . Paul-Henri Mathieu retired against Feliciano Lopez in the second round of Wimbledon. It was the 9th singles retirement/walkover in the second round, and 12th retirement/walkover in total.
RT @10sBalls_com: Tennis Tour Tidbits: Tim Henman, who is part of the Wimbledon tournament committee that awarded wildcar… http://t.co/SY…
RT @10sBalls_com: Tennis Tour Tidbits: Tim Henman, who is part of the Wimbledon tournament committee that awarded wildcar… http://t.co/SY…