GB Elite tennis: What's so special about Croatia and Serbia, and what can we learn?

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

RE: GB Elite tennis: What's so special about Croatia and Serbia, and what can we learn?

A1 tennis academy · Satellite level

We are a greater sporting nation than Croatia , Serbia

I visited these countries over 7 years ago met Marian vadja and noticed their philosophy was more about team work , less about money , and about how we work together to win !

They don't have the wealth that we have in the uk but they are more supportive of their players its less about wealth and is more about having the right attitude .

There is no "I" in team work sadly in GB it's all about money all about wimbledon & jobs for the boys .

Apprently Greg Rudedski getting paid by Lta £2000 per day can't be right with top 25 GB players struggling with Funding ?

baxi2 · Lower Club Player

A1 tennis academy wrote:
We are a greater sporting nation than Croatia , Serbia
I visited these countries over 7 years ago met Marian vadja and noticed their philosophy was more about team work , less about money , and about how we work together to win !
They don't have the wealth that we have in the uk but they are more supportive of their players its less about wealth and is more about having the right attitude .
There is no "I" in team work sadly in GB it's all about money all about wimbledon & jobs for the boys .
Apprently Greg Rudedski getting paid by Lta £2000 per day can't be right with top 25 GB players struggling with Funding ?

This is a joke right ? £2000 per day ?
The guy is completely in it for himself and should stick to "dancing on ice" ! He has a big ego and is exactly what the LTA don't need.
I wonder what the Serbs and Croatian's pay their coaches - probably £2000 per month. The difference being they go to bed at night dreaming of making tennis players!
We need passion not pay !!!!!!
The pay should come as reward for success but I'm sorry - in coaching players Greg has no success ! Draper was the same ,huge pay salary for no improvement or arguably taking the level of British Tennis backwards. Laughable !

steven · Tennis legend

Unless Gary can show us his source, I think £ 2000 per day sounds like a bit of A1 standard exaggeration

Do you mean per week, Gary? That might be just about believable - maybe doubtful given his relatively limited coaching experience, but presumably the ex-ATP top 4 counts for something. I mean, I know they paid Brad Gilbert a fortune but a) that was a mistake and b) he'd actually coached players to slams.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Just possible that it was a per day rate for a special tour or something? SURELY can't be a per day rate for a regular yearly salary ?????

However, I know Greg has quite a lot of fans here but I don't rate the guy, whether he's on 2000 a day or 20 a day - although I'd keep him on at 20 a day ::))

Don't expect that will cause the man to lose any sleep but any time I hear him on TV/wherever, and once when I was standing behind him, all the man can talk about is someone's serve and the fact they should go to the net more often.

It's a single-line script.

And, yes, Greg, that worked for you. But we can all 'talk out own book'. It's hardly inspired coaching. As said above, ego might be a factor. Or plain lack of vision. And maybe I've just missed other bits that would counterbalance it. But I'm not a fan.

EddietheEagle · County player

Exceptional payments to individuals ought to be a matter of public record. There's nothing, even anonymised, in the accounts which reveals this information.

EddietheEagle · County player

Among the many reasons Croatian and Serbian players do so well is their knack of being able to avail themselves of the training facilities in leafy SW15:-

www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/tennis/article-2625173/Donna-Vekic-loves-life-London-warns-Dont-expect-switch-allegiance-away-Croatia.html

Ivanovic is another who apparently drops in from time to time. I expect the LTA view it as part of their outreach responsibility.

steven · Tennis legend

EddietheEagle wrote:
Among the many reasons Croatian and Serbian players do so well is their knack of being able to avail themselves of the training facilities in leafy SW15:-

www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/tennis/article-2625173/Donna-Vekic-loves-life-London-warns-Dont-expect-switch-allegiance-away-Croatia.html

Ivanovic is another who apparently drops in from time to time. I expect the LTA view it as part of their outreach responsibility.

Presumably they also think players like that (along with some of the top Brits) are good to have there to set an example to the kids training at the NTC too, i.e. the benefit isn't all one-way.

A1 tennis academy · Satellite level

Spot on - we have great sporting talent in uk but the majority are doing other sports -

The talent pool we draw from is tiny we competing with more sports for our talent than any other country in the world

A1 tennis academy · Satellite level

When rodger draper kindly allocated A1 court time at roehampton I Could not believe the number of foreign coaches that were there working with foreign players

In fact I was invited by Spanish coach to bring a young performance 18u for a hit he had him hitting with a lady from Moldova neither of them Could hardly speak a word of English .

EddietheEagle · County player

steven wrote:
Presumably they also think players like that (along with some of the top Brits) are good to have there to set an example to the kids training at the NTC too, i.e. the benefit isn't all one-way.

Presumably they do. However, I haven't see much evidence of the benefits which I strongly suspect are disproportionate and weighted largely in one direction.

philwrig · Hall of fame

steven wrote:
EddietheEagle wrote:
Among the many reasons Croatian and Serbian players do so well is their knack of being able to avail themselves of the training facilities in leafy SW15:-

www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/tennis/article-2625173/Donna-Vekic-loves-life-London-warns-Dont-expect-switch-allegiance-away-Croatia.html

Ivanovic is another who apparently drops in from time to time. I expect the LTA view it as part of their outreach responsibility.
Presumably they also think players like that (along with some of the top Brits) are good to have there to set an example to the kids training at the NTC too, i.e. the benefit isn't all one-way.

Donna was practicing with Hev at the NTC so I would say that was a win win.

EddietheEagle · County player

A1 tennis academy wrote:
When rodger draper kindly allocated A1 court time at roehampton I Could not believe the number of foreign coaches that were there working with foreign players
In fact I was invited by Spanish coach to bring a young performance 18u for a hit he had him hitting with a lady from Moldova neither of them Could hardly speak a word of English .

Seems like any old Tom, Dick or Serbian can use the place.

How about a few elite Brits, for example, from other age groups? Don't they count? Or is it just for ATP/WTA wannabees, plus the odd wheelchair to keep the diversity crew happy? Real diversity means we go deeper within our own crowd first.

The Optimist · ATP qualifying

The NTC is not used properly at all. Those wonderful facilities (and they really are good) could be used much more imaginatively to further British tennis at all levels. That said, I don't see what the problem is of getting good foreign players to hit with our own. Who else would Hev hit with - Tara, Naomi, Joko away competing, Laura injured??? And I'm sure all elite GB players are happy to hit with equivalent standard foreign players from time to time - always hitting within their own small squads can become very inward looking and cause complacency. All this within reason obviously.

FWIW, I don't really like the slur on the wheelchair players - there just to add diversity. I have watched some of the Team GB players train and they are serious, hard-working athletes who give all that they have for their version of tennis.

EddietheEagle · County player

You could say ATP wannabees is a slur too if you're really trying to see an argument where none exists. Wheelchair tennis is fine and has its place. It ought not to displace other aspects of tennis (which ultimately are arguably more important) or be used as a figleaf. As you point out yourself, the NTC is a badly utilised resource.