Murray was critical of ticket prices at the Aberdeen Cup, £35 for adults and £17.50 for children, which he felt made watching the competition too expensive for the average family. Everybody had expected his after-match press conference to be about his victory in the tournament that, before its start, he described as a relaxing way to end his season. However, after partnering his brother, Jamie, to victory over Greg Rusedski and James Auckland, which won the tournament for Scotland, he launched into an attack on the event. His criticism of the Aberdeen Cup proved to be a huge embarrassment to tournament organisers, including the city council which had assumed he would positively promote the event after they had successfully brought a major tennis event to north-east Scotland. The world No.17 started by criticising the court surface, which, he claimed, was far too fast to allow decent rallies. "I would have liked to have played on a slower court which would have allowed better rallies," said Murray. "When the court is as fast as that it's so hard to return and there were not many break points or change in momentum. "The court surface is also dangerous to play on. It is slippery and the line judges are pretty close to the back of the court. When I went back for a lob I stood on the Aberdeen Cup sign and it is on a slope and I could have twisted my ankle. It was a bit of a scare. I slipped twice yesterday and once today." Murray said he realised that it was difficult to promote a tennis event in Scotland, but felt the ticket prices would have put many people off. "To take kids from Edinburgh and Glasgow, which is a three-hour drive, will cost £150 with petrol and food which makes it an expensive night," said Murray. "Saturday was a late finish and Sunday evening, with another late finish, maybe puts people off bringing their kids if they have school the next day. "The most important thing is to encourage the kids to come back and they need to bring ticket prices down. If they bring the prices down for kids it will be easier for adults to bring the kids along. "Tennis is always classed as a sort of upper-class sport but it should not be like that all. It should be for everybody but ticket prices like this aren't going to get that many kids playing tennis. It is very expensive to come to an exhibition match."
The Herald understands that Murray, in keeping with the other top players taking part, received substantial appearance money. Nobody would comment on whether ticket prices would have lowered had Murray and the rest of the players taken a cut in appearance fees. Attendances at this year's Aberdeen Cup were well down on last year and it is unlikely that the event will go ahead next year in its present form. Murray's comments will not help, but the other problem the competition faces is the simple fact that Murray will have no decent English players to take on next year. The tournament was billed as a Scotland versus England encounter showcasing the best players from each country. With Rusedski expected to retire after Wimbledon and Tim Henman, who has never played the event, also likely to call it a day soon, there will be no decent Englishmen to make up their team next year. Unless tournament organisers make it a Great Britain team against Europe match the tournament is likely to be quietly forgotten. That Murray is now 17th in the world and has a growing bank balance may also suggest he could lose interest in the tournament, which would certainly hasten it being scrapped completely.
i think we still have to remember andy is still young and prone to these outbursts. He may have been totally correct on the courts and ticket pricing, but maybe he would have been better approahing the managemnt directly initally. i am sure his appearance fee is high, but he may not be fully aware of the exact figure, i am sure thats what his management team handles. If they dodecide to relase the figuresof his fee i would like to see full breakdown and see what profits were made. hopefully andy will soon be in a psoitiob where for events such as this his fee could go to charity, much like some footballers testimonials.
but i think its obviuos that the cup in its current format wont last, next years line up could be Andy v boggo! hardly a crowd puller (unless boggo has a blinding year), if u switch it to the GB v europe its almost like a DC event isnt it.
possibly it could be scotland vs another single european country, but that wont have the same draw as scot v eng would it.
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Count Zero - Creator of the Statistical Tennis Extrapolation & Verification ENtity or, as we like to call him, that steven.
I'm not in favour of Scotland vs. another European country. It wouldn't be a crowd puller to that extent as the Count points out, and it wouldn't help British tennis to that extent.
If the tournament is going to continue as Scotland v England I think that there need to be several changes....
They need to have it so that it's truly the best Scottish players against the best English players, to make it more of a match.
Next year, they could try and entice Henman to play [I don't think he's been asked !], he plays the exhibition event at the Royal Albert Hall so I can't see why he wouldn't play the Aberdeen Cup instead; if the organisers told him that his appearance fee would be going to the charity he supports, that might help persuade him. If Henman continues the vein of form he's shown this autumn and Britain get back into the world group for the Davis Cup, I can't see him retiring just yet.
Murray v Henman on both days, definately would be a crowd-puller and then for the other singles match; have Bogdanovic v Baker. They're the next strongest two singles players and it would give Jamie Murray and James Auckland a rest for the doubles. In doubles, they could have the Murrays against Auckland and Delgado so that both teams are established pairings and for the womens singles have Baltacha v Keothavong. Both Anne and Bally are great friends and rivals so that match would have a bit of extra spice.
For the junior match, they should make it a true contest between the best english and scottish U18s and have Graeme Dyce v Dan Cox and make it a full length match. For the girls singles have Naomi Cavaday against the best scottish U18 just to get England another point !
Then to avoid the time issues which Murray mentioned; start the event at 3pm on both days instead of 5, move the girls singles to Sunday and scrap the junior doubles.
In 2008, Murray v Bogdanovic could be a reasonably close match and if it was billed as the best scot against the best englishman, it could create interest, particularly if Alex is a regular on the ATP tour by then and winning matches in slams.
Also, most importantly is the fact that it needs to get TV coverage. There should be live coverage or highlights on terrestrial TV and at the very least, live coverage on Sky. The TV companies will advertise the event in the weeks beforehand to get more people to watch the program and in turn that will get more people to actually go to the event. The Aberdeen Cup has such minimal coverage in newspapers and TV that apart from us die-hard fans, I reckon quite a lot of sports fans don't even know that it happened !!!!
Aberdeen Cup clashes with/is very near the last British Challenger of the year and Eddie Herr.
I think that Boggo won't need to play 25K+Hs next year, but Baker will be there. Dyce will be playing at his academy for the last time ever next year and Cox will be preparing for his final year of Junior tennis.
It will be best if the Aberdeen Cup is held during the second week beginning in December - right after Orange Bowl. Everybody will be free then.
on a side note i may not be able to record the highlights for people. my new hdd recodrer is refusing to play ball, insisting it cant find a broadcast signal. i think it may be thrown off as i use homechoice for my tv.
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Count Zero - Creator of the Statistical Tennis Extrapolation & Verification ENtity or, as we like to call him, that steven.
WHY DOES EVERYONE HAVE SO MUCH FAITH IN BOGGO, I HEAR you quote, when boggo is an atp regular, if boggo has a good year
im sorry but this is too naieve- boggo will never make it past say 95 in world, and if he does i will resign from this messageboard for good
i will give odds of 1.000.000/1 that i will watch boggo. even the name boggo is a farce, im sorry but he is a poor player who should possibly retire, davise cup aberdeen cup, he isnt even in the same class as some 14 year olds i see play at my freinds local tennis club
sorry boggo lovers i apologise but it annoys me when everone thinks boggo is a star lool
WHY DOES EVERYONE HAVE SO MUCH FAITH IN BOGGO, I HEAR you quote, when boggo is an atp regular, if boggo has a good year
im sorry but this is too naieve- boggo will never make it past say 95 in world, and if he does i will resign from this messageboard for good
i will give odds of 1.000.000/1 that i will watch boggo. even the name boggo is a farce, im sorry but he is a poor player who should possibly retire, davise cup aberdeen cup, he isnt even in the same class as some 14 year olds i see play at my freinds local tennis club
sorry boggo lovers i apologise but it annoys me when everone thinks boggo is a star lool
-- Edited by yesyesbadboy at 19:18, 2006-11-29
Boggo is his nickname, you know?
I don't think there is any doubt that Boggo has the talent to be at least in the top 75, possibly higher. I think when you look at guys like Cristophe Rochus, Hyung Taik Lee, Nicholas Massu, Philipp Kolschreiber, Ivo Karlovic and Paul Goldstein, for example, who are all in the top 100 I don't understand how anyone who has watched Boggo would deny that he is at least as talented as these guys. Boggo's problem has always been in the head.
I know when he first emerged a few years ago I had massive expectations for him - and I will admit, he frustrates me more than just about anyone because the talent is there, the bit between the ears is what always seems to let him down. To say he should retire, or that he's a poor player or couldn't compete with 14 year olds when he is just 22 is ridiculous. You don't get inside the top 120 in the world if you are rubbish.
You can argue that he's not fulfilled his potential thus far, I don't think many would disagree but to say he's rubbish makes any argument fall down. A poor player, who 'should possibly retire' wouldn't be troubling the top 100 - and if he's as bad as you think, he wouldn't get anywhere near the top 95.
WHY DOES EVERYONE HAVE SO MUCH FAITH IN BOGGO, I HEAR you quote, when boggo is an atp regular, if boggo has a good year
im sorry but this is too naieve- boggo will never make it past say 95 in world, and if he does i will resign from this messageboard for good
i will give odds of 1.000.000/1 that i will watch boggo. even the name boggo is a farce, im sorry but he is a poor player who should possibly retire, davise cup aberdeen cup, he isnt even in the same class as some 14 year olds i see play at my freinds local tennis club
sorry boggo lovers i apologise but it annoys me when everone thinks boggo is a star lool
-- Edited by yesyesbadboy at 19:18, 2006-11-29
Don't bash the Boggo, you bad boy !!!
The reason why you have so little faith in Boggo is because you've never seen him play and I'm guessing that you most likely haven't followed many of his results outside the grass court season and definately not followed his progress this year.
The reason so many of us get excited about his progress is because of the potential there - he's beaten players like Marcos Baghdatis, Joachim Johansson, Andreas Seppi, George Bastl, Ivo Karlovic, Igor Kunitsyn, Alex Calatrava, Danai Udomchoke etc etc - all players who compete on the ATP tour regularly. It's widely acknowledged that Alex has the ability to be a top 50 player by pundits like Peter Fleming. OK, it might not seem much compared to countries like Spain and Russia who churn out champions at the rate of knots but once Henman and Rusedski retire, Alex is going to be our next best hope after Murray so lets get behind the guy. He gets enough unwarranted stick from the press and LTA people.
To be quite frank your post is pretty ridiculous, you evidently haven't got much idea of the standard of challenger tour tennis. The 14 year olds you see at your local club would get hammered 0 and 0 by Boggo, I could bet my house on that, he'd probably beat them comfortably playing right-handed.
A lot of us here have followed Boggo for many years, since he burst onto the scene in 2001 beating a player in the top 100 and making the US Open junior semis - at that point, the first British player ever to get that far in the USO juniors. OK, he's taken a while in getting to the level he's at now but the standard of men's tennis is so incredibly high, reaching the top 100 is extremely tough - so many good players out there. We saw that this Wimbledon when Nadal was nearly beaten by someone ranked about 230. When watching challenger level tennis, there isn't much difference between the standard of that and many ATP matches [excepting the elite - top 30 players], many players ranked about 50-75 step down in challengers and get beaten eg: Ben Becker and Thomas Johansson recently.
Boggo's results this year have shown a definate improvement, he's worked hard on his game and physical fitness as it's paying off. He's been a lot more consistent this year - 3 challenger titles, a 125K final, an ATP tour quarter final and around 10 challenger quarter-finals. Plus he's given players like Nadal, Tursunov, Miryni and Henman very close matches - 3 of those games could have quite easily gone the other way. Moving to the States will pay further dividends, fitness and game wise.
I hope you reconsider your design to resign from this site when Boggo makes the top 90 next year...it'd be a shame to lose you. I'm very happy to take your generous odds offer though, I'll place 10 quid that you'll watch Alex in action
I've absolutely no idea why you say he should retire when he's earning a very good living and on the verge of the top 100. At Alex's age, Davydenko was ranked a lot lower and look at him now; he's the no 3 player in the world. Remember, you should never write a player off, until he hangs up his racket.
Greenleaf wrote: I agree with every single word you say there.
But there is an issue - schedule.
Aberdeen Cup clashes with/is very near the last British Challenger of the year and Eddie Herr.
I think that Boggo won't need to play 25K+Hs next year, but Baker will be there. Dyce will be playing at his academy for the last time ever next year and Cox will be preparing for his final year of Junior tennis.
It will be best if the Aberdeen Cup is held during the second week beginning in December - right after Orange Bowl. Everybody will be free then.
I'm pleased that you agree
However, they could easily move it a week later. I doubt that Cox and Dyce would be particularly bothered about missing Eddie Herr, Cox has done so this year and he's not injured, it's only a normal G1 event and they'd be playing live on TV instead ! Also, by next year both should be pretty much concentrating on senior tennis apart from the junior slams.
Problem with holding it in mid-December is that it will clash with Boggo and Murray heading to warmer climes for warm-weather training in preparation for the new season. I don't think they'd be particularly enamoured with having to return to cold Scotland for an exhibition event
I Have to admit that the arguments you put forth are compelling, lol really. you are right i dont watch boggo and i dont know or follow his results. i never knew he beat these players and how old is he? davydenko was worse at that age, fair play to boggo but im just saying through ignorance mainly i dont think hes any good.
i dont know really, just i see him once or twice and he dissapoints. my frustrations on british players bar greg tim and andy are aimed at our system which is far from flawless. it seems we get the wimby money and it gets stuffed down the fat cats pockets leaving tennis for Well off people parents who can afford to send their child to tennis coaching and maybe abroad. I mean you cna tell judy murrya had a bit o cash orr was murrays barcelona training paid for
Ok the 14 year old argument was silly billy, but as i said it s aimed at the lta system not the players.
is it just me or do the LTA Chiefs think " why would we spend money on our home development when wimby will always remain and always bring in the big bucks for ourselves"
everyone knows i am a bit controversial, and that is the exciting part for me at times. not enough debate and disagreement on topics. not a aggresive thing just intersting. I will watch and when i say watch dont get excited ULTIMATESHEDMAN (betting suspended by the way ) a boggo game. someone let me know when he is playing and i will. By the way what style does boggo play Serve Volley Baseline all rounder
Omg, what a tool you are. You come on here spouting about how crap Boggo is and how he should retire. Then David wastes his time with a well written, comprehendable post telling you why you are wrong and you then admit you've never even watched him and don't even follow his results. You sir, are a complete troll.
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Of all tyrannies a tyranny exercised for the good of its victim may be the most oppressive.... those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience
john wrote: Omg, what a tool you are. You come on here spouting about how crap Boggo is and how he should retire. Then David wastes his time with a well written, comprehendable post telling you why you are wrong and you then admit you've never even watched him and don't even follow his results. You sir, are a complete troll.
Lighten up John, yesyes is indeed a Troll, but he's this board's own pet Troll, and he brightens up an otherwise boring week of tennis. I saw his Boggo post last night, and I was happily awaiting the response. Now for a great 10 minutes of reading it!