It's his life, it's his tennis career. But as a British tennis supporter it would be really interesting to see what Marcus could achieve if he really ( I mean really ) pushed himself.
He's had more breaks than many, a clearly natural talent and early work that made him a top junior, the A1 help and belief in him when he was absolutely floundering in the rankings relative to his talent, Wimbledon last year with a good R1 win then given a stage against Fed to show himself to the wider masses. And no doubt a fair amount of income in the last year directly and indirectly related to Wimbledon and his own personality.
But sometimes from within you've got to push on, that is if you really want it. A guy who could be playing more ( at least ) challengers than domestic and European league tennis ( great for many, particularly much I hear of the European leagues, but Marcus could / should be on a bigger stage ). Going to be more difficult again if and when he's ranked back down in the 600s after Wimbledon and last year's news.
This year, next year, the worry is it could be never.
-- Edited by indiana on Tuesday 16th of May 2017 06:41:14 PM
At the age of nearly 27 the answer to Indiana's question is never! As much as anything he doesn't have half the talent some on here think he has. Also being a top junior means nothing, look at Golding and other junior Grand Slam winners over the years who never made it.
However there is a way forward for Marcus! He proved last year how good he can be on grass, so quite simply he needs to be playing all through the grass court season including Newport if his rank is high enough to get him into qualies there. Earlier in the year he was in the best shape I had ever seen him in so if that's still the case fitness won't be an issue.
Surely this has to be the plan, he can comfortably earn enough money for the next year if he does well on the grass and can then pick and choose the odd tournament now and then when he feels like it. No point in busting a gut flying all over the world playing on the mud and getting results like this one.
Hadn't forgot what a lovely chap he is by the way.
