I read an article about this in Ace magazine a few months ago. Apparently you have to be highly talented to get selected for that academy, the coaches wont allow you to join unless they feel you have real potential to be a top player.

I was really impressed by Fitzpatrick when I saw her in Sutton, she had a bit of a lean spell in the autumn after winning that 10K but she's played really well over the last couple of weeks. Bizarrely she seems to do a lot better in seniors than juniors.

Podlewski is currently unranked but he's better than that. Still only 17, he's beaten quite a few players ranked 900-1500 in Spanish futures. I think he'd have a ranking by now but the Spanish futures are so strong and he just competes in those, he ought to play some easier ones in Africa, Asia or Central America.

Murraysman91 wrote:

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Hasent this type of stuff been going on for a good time now?

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Not really, the Monte Carlo academy has only been going for just over a year I think. It's not an ordinary academy aswell, they only take players who they regard as having the potential to be absolutely world-class ie: top 50. Fitzpatrick, Podlewski and some Croatian geezer are the only players who train there at the moment.

The LTA has a base in La Manga but that's not an academy, they just hold training camps there every so often for our elite juniors