Andy Murray, Britain's top player, is appalled that Wimbledon hasn't produced a homegrown male champion since Fred Perry in 1936.
He says there is plenty of blame to go around. He calls British players lazy, the coaches negative and the governing body unrealistic. And no one, he adds, will own up to what's happening.
"There is something wrong with the mentality and work ethic of most of the British players,'' Murray, a 21-year-old Scot, writes in his autobiography "Hitting Back,'' which was published last week. "I think the best way is to confront it, especially when it has been so bad for so long.''
He says some players work hard, but not hard enough. Sometimes when he trains at Britain's tennis headquarters in Roehampton near Wimbledon, "it's like a ghost town,'' Murray writes. "I just don't get why nobody is going to the gym at weekends.''
Murray says the Lawn Tennis Association has tried to improve things by employing coaches who have helped the likes of Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick and Pete Sampras, but "these world-class coaches have gone from working with world-class players to teaching someone how to play tennis.''
Murray - ranked No. 11 and seeded 12th at Wimbledon, which starts Monday - is the only British male singles player with a ranking among the top 100. He spent part of his teens training in Spain and has carried the weight of a nation's expectations since Tim Henman retired in September.
This year, only two British men have been awarded wild cards into the main draw - No. 260 Jamie Baker and No. 271 Alex Bogdanovic - the lowest number since wild cards began in 1977. They were eligible because their rankings were at or above this year's limit of 250, but have since slipped.
Britain's top-ranked female player, Anne Keothavong, qualified for Wimbledon on merit after becoming the first British woman to enter the top 100 in a decade. She is ranked No. 93.
It is not as if Britain doesn't spend money on its players. Profit from Wimbledon goes to the LTA for the development of the sport. Since 1995, it has received more than $50 million a year.
"Money does not buy success despite what Abramovich has done at Chelsea,'' said John Roberts, editor of Tennis Life UK magazine, referring to Russian billionaire soccer owner Roman Abramovich. "The millions have to be within the young players themselves in terms of their ambition and determination.''
The LTA, which refused to comment on Murray's book, aims to have three singles players and four doubles players in the top 100 by September. It published a "Blueprint for British Tennis'' in 2006 that mapped out "fundamental changes.''
Among the proposals:
-establishing a scouting network to spot players at an early age.
-placing men's and women's tennis on equal footing.
-introducing an elite coaching program for top players.
But, Murray warns, "if the players don't want to work as hard as they need to get to the top, it's definitely a waste of everybody's time.''
British tennis virtually stood still in the decade following the start of the Open era in 1968, Roberts said. Since then, British tennis has been playing catch-up.
Murray has been heralded as a potential Wimbledon winner, and not just in Britain. Five-time champion Bjorn Borg said Murray could get there as long as he stays fit.
"I don't think he's going to win Wimbledon this year, but I think definitely in future Andy can win that tournament,'' the Swedish great told Britain's BBC Radio Five.
No. 3-ranked Novak Djokovic said Murray's "time is yet to come.''
"In a way I feel sorry for him,'' Djokovic said Wednesday. "It is part of his life. He has been brought up in a country where tennis has a great tradition and they are desperately waiting for a Wimbledon champion. All eyes are on him.''
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