lTA bonus scheme should be extended to doubles

A1 tennis academy · Satellite level

lTA bonus scheme should be extended to doubles

RJA · Hall of fame

I would be happy to see a bonus scheme for Doubles at challenger level. For futures I would be strongly opposed for reasons that I have stated in the other thread.

indiana · Tennis legend

We are currently doing not too bad at all for doubles specialirs with many having made quite a career out of doubles, having effectively left the singles ranks. Indeed why so many top 100 doubles players get say AEGON funded, as opposed to up and coming singles players, has been questioned in this forum in the past.

Of the British men, 4 of the 7 who have earned over $100,000 this year are doubles specialists, actually 4 of the next 5 earners after Andy Murray being doubles specialists ( Colin Fleming, Dom Inglot, Jonny Marray and Jamie Murray ) with Dan Evans' recent successes seeing him into the mix.

The worry to me currently lies much more in the singles area and the support given to rising singles players, particularly in the early to mid 20 years. I would not wish to see more of such players giving up on singles to pursue doubles. Marcus Willis is one player who has obvious singles talent and I would like to see him really supported if he can show continued progress and commitment in singles.

While it is fair to say the rewards at lower levels are very poor in doubles, these with a real talent can rise up the ranks very quickly and the relative rewards at the top levels are clearly not insubstantial. What I certainly do not want to see is young progressing players being diverted from singles into doubles at a relatively early age.

Salmon · Tennis legend

This salmon will take the bait...

Trickle down effect. Because less people care about doubles, there is comparatively less money for winning dubs in Slams/Tours. And because there is less money at the top, the LTA quite rightly promotes singles ahead of dubs. In an ideal world with unlimited money, I'm sure the LTA would hand out a fat bonus for doubles. But ultimately they need to manage their finances, and hence, give priority to certain things over others.

So the (mildly philosophical) question that may be asked is: why do people prefer watching singles over doubles?

It's not as simple as Federer not playing doubles and so on... Federer would have played doubles if people watched it equally, I have no doubt about that. Just like I have no doubt that if there were a market for it, Leo Messi and Ronaldo would break away from their clubs and engage in one-on-one contests. There's a bigger market for football as a team sport, and for tennis as a solo sport. Now why that is so, I have no idea.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

RJA wrote:
I would be happy to see a bonus scheme for Doubles at challenger level. For futures I would be strongly opposed for reasons that I have stated in the other thread.

The LTA bonus scheme currently pays GBP 650 to each player for a Challengers finalist place and GBP 950 for a Challengers victory (that's Challengers for the men, and Challengers 50k + for the women).

Like you, I would not want to bee that stretched to Futures.

As Indiana says (and backing up Ratty's figures), we're currently doing very well at Doubles. Plenty of players at the top level and earning decent incomes. This doesn't therefore seem to be a problem.

But the GB singles list is currently very poor. It's got a lot better and hopefully will get better still. But at the moment it's poor. I'm not suggesting magic answers but I don;t see that focusing on doubles is what's needed.

(Also worth noting, and it produced a fair bit of differing opinion, but when push came to shove and Leon Smith had the choice of a top doubles specialist or a top singles specialist to play the Davis Cup doubles, he chose the top singles guy).

(PS I don;t know the man but I've seen him play live and it seems a shame, to me, that Lewis wishes to become a doubles specialist. I do hope that Marcus realises he has lots of potential for singles and it's that that's needed in British tennis at the moment).

A1 tennis academy · Satellite level

In my opinion all 72 ATP ranked players should recieve some sort of funding .

I am currently filling the gap with 2 players but we need more funding opportunities particularly for those in the early stages of their career and currently ranked 600-1200 who are progressing but struggle to stay on the tour due to lack of funding .

You would think that Marcus after climbing 600 places in 2013 would be offered a coach .

All his current funding is spent on travel & accomodation it be nice if after defeating most of the Aegon sponsor players this year that we would at least get access to an Lta funded coach ?

A1 tennis academy · Satellite level

I am biased would rather watch doubles than singles I find it more interesting & exciting Eg a greater repertoire of shots is required and a higher level of precision

Salmon · Tennis legend

Fair enough, I guess! If there are enough people like you, the scenario will surely improve, but I don't see that happening in my lifetime.

RJA · Hall of fame

A1 tennis academy wrote:
In my opinion all 72 ATP ranked players should recieve some sort of funding .

In all seriousness that is one of the most ludicrous ideas that I have ever heard. There are plenty of guys with a ranking point or two solely on the basis that they had soft first round draw against another unranked player. For them to receive LTA funding on such a basis would be madness. I am all for broadening the funding to include more players but only to players who have demonstrated that they might actually have a serious future in the game.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

RJA wrote:
A1 tennis academy wrote:
In my opinion all 72 ATP ranked players should recieve some sort of funding .
In all seriousness that is one of the most ludicrous ideas that I have ever heard. There are plenty of guys with a ranking point or two solely on the basis that they had soft first round draw against another unranked player. For them to receive LTA funding on such a basis would be madness. I am all for broadening the funding to include more players but only to players who have demonstrated that they might actually have a serious future in the game.

And presumably, A1, if all 72 ATP ranked players received funding, then all the WTA ranked players would also have to receive funding. And all the ITF ranked players ? Or all ITF ranked players aged over 16 ? Getting to be a BIG number . . .

A1 tennis academy · Satellite level

RJA - it should not be possible for private funding from A1 to make such a difference this proves there are gaps in the current funding lta scheme /policy for ATP ranked players . Out of interest who of the top 50 GB ATP ranked players should recieve some funding for travel ?

Salmon · Tennis legend

Why exclude seniors, wheelchair and everything else?

Socialism is great, but the funds are limited. If you fund everyone, you end up giving less money to people who ultimately can help you earn big money.

RJA · Hall of fame

A1 tennis academy wrote:
RJA - it should not be possible for private funding from A1 to make such a difference this proves there are gaps in the current funding lta scheme /policy for ATP ranked players . Out of interest who of the top 50 GB ATP ranked players should recieve some funding for travel ?

Perhaps you failed to read the bit where I said " I am all for broadening the funding to include more players". However there will always be funding gaps and there will be areas where private funding can improve things as strangely enough the LTA do not have a limitless budget.

I also don't think it is reasonable to expect any of us to up with a comprehensive list of which players should and should not be funding. The LTA have professional tennis coaches and a structured process to determine funding. That process might be flawed but it is a hell of a lot better than funding decisions being made by tennis fans on the internet.

huntley93 · Strong Club Player

how about for singles players ranked in say the top 1000 get half of their travel expenses paid if they go abroad and it would be the same for everyone from kyle edmund to matt short

indiana · Tennis legend

Many folk on this forum have repeatedly expressed the view that current LTA funding is too elitist and thinly spread. I share that view.

Folk like Neal Pauffley for his progress last year ( although unfortunately far from replicated this year ) and Marcus this year certainly have cases worth serious consideration for more support.

But I agree, funding all 72 ATP ranked players goes far far too far. Players can get the one point needed by very soft qualifying ( or WC ) followed by say a draw against a local 16 yo unranked WC or indeed win R1 as a result of retirement. Certainly an incentive to seek out the weakest futures draw that can be found.