Boys: Osaka Mayor's Cup - World Super Junior Tennis Championships , Japan, hard - Grade A (Week 41)

Spectator · All-time great

RE: Boys: Osaka Mayor's Cup - World Super Junior Tennis Championships , Japan, hard - Grade A (Week 41)

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Yes. Good point.

And that's what I meant by the fact the LTA shouldn't just react to a sudden upturn in rankings, as a knee-jerk 'oh he's ranked higher, therefore he's going to be a better player' reaction. (I'm not saying they shouldn't help Jay - quite the opposite - but that they should have been doing it before and not just now that he's 'making the headlines').

Their whole job is to be able to assess future potential and what's needed to bring it out. Not easy, obviously, but it is their job.

Ryan's had such a different path to get where he is now that it'll be extremely interesting to follow him.

And it's still in flux, what with moving countries and trying to find what works best for him.

But, I agree, he so nearly took out the top 5 American, for instance, a couple of months ago, with absolutely excellent play. He's definitely got it. One of my faves......

Prometheus · Social player

Hi,
I've enjoyed reading the posts. I have it on good authority Jay is no longer training in Sweden. I recently saw him play at Loughborough and was very impressed with his game, the rise in form has come since training back home with his brother in Derby.
RE the LTA funding... It's unclear what the funding criteria is... Does anyone know?

Shhh · Challenger level

I cant answer your question Prometheus but welcome to the board!

Oakland2002 · All-time great

But what a fantastic opportunity, nothing to loose and everything to gain. Fingers crossed.

CD's comments about LTA coaches blanking juniors if true are shameful.

The 98's maybe on their own in the belief tough love will set internal fires of unsatiable desire, but partly I think it is because there is a feeling that the generation or so before who had everything with one or two honourable exceptions did nothing with it.

I do have to eat my words a little here but Cam I think is demonstrating that initially the college route is a pretty good choice if you are an elite but not super elite junior ie the type ready to start playing MD ITFs at 17. It is what it is and there are so many things wrong with college tennis funding but for a junior rated 10-20 there will be some fantastic opportunities, I know nothing about Jay but it will be very nice to see him knocking on the door of the top 20 juniors over the next 12 months.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Great to hear from you, Prometheus, and always good to have a bit of classical culture amongst us !

Lord, it's difficult to keep up with the guys, isn't it? It's like musical chairs.

But, whatever Jay's doing, hope he's happy and it certainly seems to be working out well.

He's certainly got an extremely 'tennis-y' family to help him. Which is great.

NB Oakie, yes, and one's got to remember that Cameron came over here and joined the NTC. With no intention, I believe, of doing college. So he tried the other way. But only lasted about three months. And left, saying the NTC really wasn't for him (he's not the only one).

As to knowing nothing about Jay, if you followed the story of Yasmin, remember, that's his sister. It's all linked; I think the Clarkes are a close family.

Spectator · All-time great

Since the LTA has had a primary role in the development of only one of our six top-200-ish male players at present (or one of four, if you exempt those who have come in from other systems, for whom the LTA couldn't be expected to have taken responsibility earlier), it's possible to think that Mr Clarke may be best off doing his own thing, especially if he has a close and tennis-oriented family.

Ernie · Junior player

It's really great to see Jay doing well and I wish him good luck ifor his next match. I think the LTA are funding players but I don't think it's purely on results. With Jay for instance, he will jump up the rankings to around 30 but how did he get there and who has he beaten? Let's not forget this is definitely not a strong grade A, the 3s and 2s at the moment in Europe are comparable. Jay reached the quarter finals but hasnt played anyone ranked higher than 200 to get there. In fact in the 44 tournaments Jay has played to reach his currant ranking he's only beaten 1 player in the top 50, so is tennis going to be good enough at European grade A, 1 and 2 level. By choosing your tournaments wisely and being prepared to travel you can improve your ranking quickly and I'm sure the LTA are aware of this and take it into consideration when choosing which players to fund. I admire Jays dedication and commitment and think he's a good player that should be funded along with quite a few other British players.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Hi, Ernie, and welcome.

Good to see the junior threads getting newbies !

I was told by one of the parents of one of the 1998 players that none of the 1998 boys received any funding. (Although they might be mistaken, of course, it all seems so very secretive).

And as people have said, if it's only indirect help you get, i.e. being given a coach, well, that's all fine AS LONG AS you like the coach. But so many of our players have had trouble with LTA coaches, and constant changing of coaches, that I'm not sure it's really a blessing.

It's true that the two Egypt Grade 2s that Jay played were remarkably weak, compared to the norm, given all the best youngsters were over in the States. (Hence, my point about no knee-jerk reactions just coz someone jumps up). It will be interesting to see how it all pans out.........

Ernie · Junior player

hi Coup

I'm not really a newbie I read all the posts with interest, I'm especially interested in the juniors. I've been told the LTA are helping players with funding towards training and foreign travel, but it is as you say very secretive.

Jay doesn't receive any help from the LTA, luckily he has a private sponsor which is fortunate as this allows him to be selective with his tournaments. Other less fortunate British boys and girls are limited to playing tough tournaments in Europe to keep cost down. However I think these players over time will come through stronger. Im not sure if Jay will receive funding towards training cost but he'll definitely have all travel costs to the slams covered by the LTA .

paulisi · Tennis legend

Jay lost 6-2 6-2

indiana · Tennis legend

That always did look a very tough one. But onwards ...

Prometheus · Social player

Wow, lots of posts on the subject. So who does get funding, if it's not our best boys Moore, Storrie, Clarke and Canter?
It's seems bizarre to fund players below these boys?!! Surely in an individual sport, results have to be the primary gauge!
Looking back at U14 we had a fantastic crop of boys, 5/6 in the top 20 with Clarke leading the bunch. You would of thought, the LTA would have supported these boys throughout their junior and senior careers, as they have done with the previous bunch ie Edmund/ Bambridge/ Hoyt/ Omara/ Ashley/ Sapwell etc.
Also, looking at the LTA website the funding structure is unclear, there are player development contracts for players competing at the highest international level, surely our boys meet this criteria? It also speaks about matrix funding, but I cannot seem to find the matrix table anywhere. Could anyone please explain?

paulisi · Tennis legend

Funding is now confidential and comes in various forms. There are very few fully funded players anyone - just 4 I believe and i'm sure this will get whittled down. The rest will get bits of pieces of funding such as coaching during DC/Fed Cup. Junior camps - junior trips to selected tournaments i.e to junior GS' as Ernie intimated

Spectator · All-time great

I'm not 100% clear which of the players you mention has actually had what support at what point ... but in fairness to the LTA, if they are basing support on results, none of the 1998s has had the kind of results that some of the others you mention had. So to take the two that I am fairly sure were funded straight through juniors and into the beginning of seniors: in his equivalent 17th) year, Luke Bambridge had a strong South American clay court swing, including reaching the SF of one big tournament in singles and winning the Copa Gerdau doubles with JWH ... not to mention winning Istres, which is always a very strong pre-RG tournament and (along the way in various tournaments) beating quite a lot of highly ranked players. Edmund at 17 won the USO doubles, reached the singles QFs of RG and the AO, and was beating players like Elias Ymer, Noah Rubin, Nishioka, Quinzi, etc on a regular basis.

Funding based on junior results rather than potential may not be ideal - it may be a good idea to fund a wider tranche of players, as they develop at different times, etc. So I'm not saying that the 1998s shouldn't necessarily be funded, just that their results aren't necessarily comparable across the board.

-- Edited by Spectator on Friday 16th of October 2015 04:05:57 PM