When looking at the junior rankings we have about 10 lads born in 1990 ranked top 500, maybe even more and we have no lads born 1991 anywhere near the top 300, if i'm not mistaken.
I think we even have 2 1992's ranked before any 1991's. Is it just a bad year or was 1990 a great year for producing tennis players in the UK. There is also more girls in the 1990 year group who have shown great promise than we usually get, normally about 2/3, in the 1990 theres about 5/6
I don't think that they lack the talent, but they do lack pro mentality (without intending any offence... lacking professionalism at a young age may even be a good thing). You can't really expect to be inside the ITF top 100 or have an ATP point at the age of 16 unless you start playing internationally early, which Cox and Evans did, and some of the 1992 boys are doing now.
I guess that 70% of the players who crack the top ATP top 100 were early beginners, but few do well even after starting late. Maybe that's the case with the 1991s.
