LTA CHANGES STRATEGY OF USING NATIONAL TENNIS CENTER THAT THEY BUILT IN ROEHAMPTON , YET THE USTA WANTS TO BUILD A HUGE TRAINING CENTER IN ORLANDO ? CLOSER TO HOME SOUNDS BETTER ?

Written by: Staff on 28th August 2014

LTA CHANGES STRATEGY OF USING NATIONAL TENNIS CENTER THAT THEY BUILT IN ROEHAMPTON , YET THE USTA WANTS TO BUILD A HUGE TRAINING CENTER IN ORLANDO ? CLOSER TO HOME SOUNDS BETTER ?

epa04035827 Andy Murray's mother Judy Murray watches the quarter final match between Britain's Murray and Roger Federer of Switzerland at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 22 January 2014. EPA/JOE CASTRO AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT |

When the Lawn Tennis Association’s state of the art National Tennis Centre was opened at Roehampton, just a couple of miles from Wimbledon, at a cost of £39 million ($65 million) the rest of the tennis world looked in a mixture of amazement and jealousy at the funds available from the profits of the All England Club Championships and government backing.

Seven years on there is a similar feeling from many as the announcement has been made that de-centralization is the edict of chief executive Michael Downey and no longer will Britain’s elite players be based at the facility that boasts 16 outdoor and six indoor courts, a gymnasium and sports science and medical facilities, an altitude chamber, and Hawkeye cameras for analysis as well overnight accommodation.

Instead, most of the high-performance players who were part of the national program and based at the NTC are making plans to relocate to high-performance centers around the country. Some, such as the recuperating Laura Robson, will continue to use the NTC because it is near her Putney home and Andy Murray is likely to keep it his London training base as it’s only a 20 minute drive from his mansion in the Surrey stockbroker belt.

The move is believed to be linked in to a special report commissioned by Downey from Bob Brett, the newly appointed Director of Player Development at the LTA. The original theory of the NTC was to bring all Britain’s top and promising young players together in one place. However the anticipated improvement in Britain’s tennis standards never materialized sufficiently to justify the huge investment. Now Brett clearly thinks the youngsters should be based closer to their homes and families.

A statement from the LTA said: “The National Tennis Centre (NTC) remains an important part of Britain’s high-performance set-up, although the existing performance program will be modified over the next few months.

“The NTC program will strive to be a centre of excellence for camps where Britain’s best under-10 to under-16 players will be routinely invited to regroup with their coaches under the leadership of Bob Brett and national coaches.

“The centre will continue to serve as the home base for the Davis Cup and Fed Cup teams, as well as a drop-in centre for Britain’s professional players.

“It will also remain the base for our national high-performance wheelchair program and we will continue to look at ways to maximize the use of the centre for junior high-performance competition.

“Most of the high-performance players who were part of the national program and based at the NTC are making plans to relocate to high-performance centers.”

Downey as his executive staff will continue to have their offices at the NTC and it will remain the LTA’s administrative base.

Topics: Andy Murray, Laura Robson, Lta, National Tennis Center, Roehampton, Tennis, Tennis News

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10sBalls_com says:

August 25, 2014 at 10:45 am

LTA CHANGES STRATEGY OF USING NATIONAL #TENNIS CENTER THAT THEY BUILT IN ROEHAMPTON , YET THE @usta WANTS TO BUILD… http://t.co/S7OA1M2Giu
10sBalls_com says:

August 28, 2014 at 12:58 pm

#LTA CHANGES STRATEGY OF USING NATIONAL #TENNIS CENTER THAT THEY BUILT IN ROEHAMPTON, YET THE #USTA WANTS TO BUILD..- http://t.co/S7OA1M2Giu