Whither Timothy??

Robxon · Lower Club Player

RE: Whither Timothy??

Akhenaten · Pro player

Well said Rob.
That's what I was thinking, I just would have failed to put it so eloquently!

aria81 · Club Coach

Robxon wrote:

mjd wrote:

....his criticism of younger British players who are trying their hardest....

I find it fascinating that people should lose respect for Tim for saying what he believed. I thought that the big issue with Tim was always giving the 'right' answer rather than what he believes.

Don't forget that when Tim was a teenager, everybody was telling him that he would never make the top 100 in singles although he might make a decent doubles player. So what did he do, he worked and worked at it. If you ever hear anybody who knows Tim talking about his work ethic, they will always tell you he was one of the hardest working on the tour. That's why Sampras liked practising with him.

Given that he has worked so hard to get where he is, it is not surprising that he is a little scathing about the current crop of British players. But hey, the fact the criticism comes from somebody who knows what it takes raises such hackles probably says more about the defensive attitude of the listener than it does about Tim?

If Tim didn't care about the future of British Tennis, why would he break the habit of bland remarks to say something so outrageous?

Exactly.

Tim knows better than any of us if these young players really are 'trying their hardest' though. He isn't the sort of guy who will pull someone up if they are working as hard as they can and just aren't good enough. Tim's as entitled to his opinion on it as the rest of us - sure, we all want to believe that these guys are doing the best they can with their abilities, but do we really know if that's the case any better than Tim does considering he trains with these guys and his coach is a key member of the LTA?

If the guys can't take a little criticism when the expectations are so low, what chance would they have if they had to take the type of criticism Tim or Andy have had in recent times? They need to toughen up and use it as motivation - take it as a positive. Andy Murray qualified for the USO to spite the press as much as anything, Novak Djokovic went from extreme drama queen to number 3 in the world after Federer tore into him at a presser after the DC which stopped the use of the tactical injury time out that he used so often. You can't tell me that Tim's criticism was any worse than what Federer dished out that day?

john · Top national player

Woohoo, a bit of support for Tim. Was getting a bit worried about the Tim-bashing going on here lol. Everyone should be able to take a boot up the **** every now and again. As has already been stated, the very best and those who are destined to make it use it as motivation. Only the mentally weak would get very upset by it and those are the ones who were never going to make it anywhere anyway. These players should perhaps show some respect and listen to what Tim has to say and learn from it.

I'm not joining in with the Brit-bashing as I don't think it is always justified. But this isn't someone unconnected or some random journalist coughing up rubbish that they know nothing about. If there is one guy that knows what it takes to make it and also knows what is going on at the LTA and with our players then it is Tim, and maybe we should listen.

Montana Doug · Futures qualifying

mjd, I don't think I made my point clear as you didn't address it. Tim was talking about the younger players needing WCs, now he is requesting a Wild Card for his own use/needs because of his own circumstances. He is a star in his early 30s who has been out hurt, but has the abilities to bring his ranking back up. If you want to compare Tim to today's younger LTA players lets talk about how many Wild Cards Tim needed to tourneys while he was in his 20s. I don't know the answer to that question, but I don't think he needed many at all to Wimbledon, Queens & Notts etc.

I do think Tim has a heart for the younger players. I think some people think of the circumstances of players in say Serbia and yet how many Serbians are progress there compared to some of the "pampered" LTA players. I think the problem that needs addressing is not the cirumstances but how many kids are playing the game at an early age.

Pampered was not my word. I have no idea what these players go through. I just want them to do well.