The Times and other media

LadyTigress · County player

RE: The Times

The Knight · Challenger qualifying

LadyTigress wrote:

Dan again? You know what I actually can't be bothered to write a post to even talk about my reaction to this latest commentary on Dan and I think that says enough. I've stated repeatedly in the past that he needs to get a move on or he's gonna miss his opportunity to make it, and nothing's materialised in the mean time. Frankly I'm tired of Mr Evans. Whoever said he was the next Andy Murray was just plain wrong, I've said it before and I stand by that statement.

no one ever said he's the next Andy Murray. no one.

and bearing in mind barely any players in his age group have broken through into the top 100, i really don't see that he has to break through soon, he is only 20 - just look at Stephane Robert, he broke into top 100 this year for the first time at the age of 30. There is no rush at all

indiana · Tennis legend

There is undoubtably plenty time still for many of the GB 89 / 90 group to make it. However, it is rather concerning that this year, when one would expect them still to be progressing upwards in the rankings, some have plateaued and some indeed have gone backwards.

They are a generally talented group and as a whole I certainly think there are some that have not given all to be all they can be, indeed with some of them there has been very possibly a collective as Steven suggested, "I'm too cool..."

As Knight says very few from any country in this agegroup have really broken through, indicating I would say that universally it hasn't been a strong agegroup ( indeed I started a thread some time ago about the lack of progress universally of the 89 / 90 guys ). So, to me, this represented all the more chance for the GB group to really make their mark before better overall generations begin to filter into the senior ranks.

Yes, not too late, but I think some time wasted and time they were doing more to make that mark.

I do still have the feeling that the LTA may have been able to do more to really inspire this group, but there is personal responsibility too. Overall, it's just a rather sad feeling that, whoever is at fault, some should be doing much better. Evo most certainly should.

-- Edited by indiana on Wednesday 28th of July 2010 10:17:40 PM

steven · Tennis legend

OEM proves he's not too long in the tooth for 'social media' after all wink

- http://twitter.com/neilharmantimes/

Thankfully he had the good sense to choose Twitter rather than Facebook (or am I showing my age by saying that? biggrin

)

steven · Tennis legend

The Net Post today http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/sport/tennis/article2668879.ece covers:

- OEM foresees a return to form from the Fed now he has got together with Annacone
- debunking the myth that Cahill could become Muzza's full-time coach (e.g. I think the world of Andy and I believe he is a major winner in the waiting, but if I had wanted to go back into full-time coaching I would probably have hung in there with Roger. - that'll annoy the Muzzster! LOL)
- Martina Navratilova (there's a documentary about her on CNN on 7 Aug)
- a bit about Mecir (Jr and Sr) and Josh Milton

- it ends with a 5-point wishlist for August:

1. Angela Billingham will have had her All-Party Groups report into the state of British tennis, which had been left in the drawer of Gerry Sutcliffe, the former sports minister, read fully by Hugh Robertson, his coalition replacement, who will then also demand a follow-up on its recommendations. Baroness Billingham of Banbury, to give her full title, is hoping to address the British Lawn Tennis Writers Association soon with her thoughts on the game.

2. Adam Helfant, the chairman of the ATP World Tour, will have wound himself into a situation where he will say something precise and definitive about the game, so we can properly judge how well he is doing as its leader.

3. Ana Ivanovic has become the star once more we know she can be. It has been a tortuous few months for her but the signs are getting better.

4. Andy Roddick will prove that he has cast aside the bitter disappointment of his performance at Wimbledon this year and that he is about to rattle a lot of cages in New York

5. Alex Bogdanovic will successfully qualify for the US Open.

-- Edited by steven on Monday 2nd of August 2010 03:34:27 PM

seagull · Hall of fame

Well I don't care about the first 4 but I certainly do the last

indiana · Tennis legend

Defintely would like 5. Wouldn't at all mind 3 & 4 either as long as 4 doesn't involve annoying Muzza.

RJA · Hall of fame

I couldn't care less about 1 or 2 and I don't want 4 to happen.

5 would be nice (albeit unlikely on current form) and 3 would be very nice. Sorry boggo wink

airsmashers · County player

Dan seems to be taking an indefinite break from tennis, lets hope he finds himself soon.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/tennis/article-1300724/Desperate-Dans-break-point-Evans-takes-indefinite-break-tennis.html

Tennis36 · Masters Series Champion

thanks for the link, shame, as it does seem he is very talented, won a challenger at 18, not many other brits can say that

Ratty · County player

Tennis36 wrote:

it does seem he is very talented

I'm not quite sure what "talented" means in tennis terms, I suppose it is usually used to refer to "good hands" or whatever.

But in any case, the talented individual, as in so many walks of life, usually loses out to the guy who has less talent but does have spadefuls of single-minded determination.

Shhh · Challenger level

"The LTA have tried to pair him with a string of coaches, including Paul Annacone, and taken a variety of approaches to help him maximise his potential, but now they have left him to figure out his next move."

I slate the LTA for a lot of things but, if this is true, then it's probably best to let him time out for a while. You cannot make it happen for someone if your efforts are greater than theirs.

Sixteen-year-old Wimbledon junior semi-finalist Oliver Golding reached the second round of the same event and his perceived potential has been rewarded with the allocation of a training block with Andy Murrays fitness guru Jez Green in America after the US Open.

This made me smile! Have you seen how hard Andy trains in these blocks......has Ollie got a treat in store biggrin

steven · Tennis legend

airsmashers wrote:
Dan seems to be taking an indefinite break from tennis, lets hope he finds himself soon.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/tennis/article-1300724/Desperate-Dans-break-point-Evans-takes-indefinite-break-tennis.html

Something had to give. If he is going to come back to tennis then it may well be good for him to have a bit of a time out to decide what he really wants and, if it's tennis,. if he's prepared to put in the discipline and effort needed to maximise his potential.

Tim Henman was still outside the top 150 at Dan's age, so it's not as if Dan hasn't got plenty of time to get to the top 100 and beyond if he comes back with enough determination to succeed.

indiana · Tennis legend

steven wrote:

airsmashers wrote:
Dan seems to be taking an indefinite break from tennis, lets hope he finds himself soon.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/tennis/article-1300724/Desperate-Dans-break-point-Evans-takes-indefinite-break-tennis.html
Something had to give. If he is going to come back to tennis then it may well be good for him to have a bit of a time out to decide what he really wants and, if it's tennis,. if he's prepared to put in the discipline and effort needed to maximise his potential.
Tim Henman was still outside the top 150 at Dan's age, so it's not as if Dan hasn't got plenty of time to get to the top 100 and beyond if he comes back with enough determination to succeed.

Absolutely agree with what Steven says here.

If he's going to come back and give tennis a proper go, well give a really proper go and dedicate himself to be all he can be.

LadyTigress · County player

Confirmation piled upon confirmation as far as I'm concerned.

Actually I've heard Dan being called "the next Andy Murray" quite a lot a couple of years ago. I thought it should have been obvious from my post that I didn't refer to anything that had been said on this particular thread (since anyone reading back including myself can see that). However if an example is required, the term is referenced in this thread:

http://britishtennis.activeboard.com/index.spark?aBID=61841&p=3&topicID=31089059&page=42&sort=oldestFirst

greatunclebulgaria wrote:

has the tag next Andy Murray done for Dan?

possibly he won't be the next AM unless he gets some consistency from somewhere but I will eat my words as quoted in the LTA as it happens "oh heck this has a somewhat familiar feel"

actually he did pull it around unlike Liverpool where he just folded unfortunately not enough to take the win but a much improved performance from Dan 7/10