Tennis Scotland chief vows new cash will create Andy and Jamie Murray legacy at last

Jamie Murray won his maiden Grand Slam title in 2007. Younger brother Andy reached his first major final a year later. Both have been leading players in doubles and singles tennis respectively ever since.
LTA chief executive Scott Lloyd, left, and his tennis Scotland equivalent Blane Dodds at the National Tennis Academy in Stirling. Picture: Peter DevlinLTA chief executive Scott Lloyd, left, and his tennis Scotland equivalent Blane Dodds at the National Tennis Academy in Stirling. Picture: Peter Devlin
LTA chief executive Scott Lloyd, left, and his tennis Scotland equivalent Blane Dodds at the National Tennis Academy in Stirling. Picture: Peter Devlin

Their ongoing success has helped grow interest significantly in the sport in Scotland but with little put in place during that period to properly capitalise on the game’s spike in popularity.

The pair’s mum, Judy, has been a regular thorn in the side of tennis administrators for failing to do more to create a suitable pathway for other young aspirants to follow.

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Belatedly, though, as the Murray brothers approach the twilight of their careers, building blocks are being put in place to help develop a proper succession line.

On the back of the national tennis academy in Stirling opening its doors last year and a significant capital investment being made for 10 new indoor facilities, came the announcement yesterday that the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) had finally opened their pockets and doubled Tennis Scotland’s annual funding to around £1.5m.

It may be too late to prevent the inevitable vacuum that will open up when the Murrays retire and there is no Scot ready to take their place at the elite end of world tennis. But the hope is that this increased budget and better facilities will give every young player the chance to get there in future.

“While tennis is one of the biggest sport in the world, we’re still a really small organisation in this country compared to football, rugby, athletics, swimming and even gymnastics,” admitted Tennis Scotland chief executive Blane Dodds.

“So if we’re going to be delivering a lot more and capitalising on the growth and demands for tennis that are clearly there, then we need the resources and personnel to make that happen.

“Is this overdue? Absolutely. When I first came into the organisation I couldn’t believe how low the levels of income were. If we really want to capitalise on this era of world-class Scottish tennis players we have to be really serious about it and invest properly.”

And what would an appropriate Murray legacy look like to Dodds?

“It has to be across the board,” he added. “It can’t just be about creating world-class players. It has to be also about getting more people playing the game. We’ve doubled our membership over the last few years while the Murrays have been playing but we have to present all-year round play.

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“That’s limited at the moment because of the weather and the lack of indoor facilities. We expect five (new courts) to start being built over the next few months or certainly this year.

“We need to be looking at performance tennis as well. If we’re going to be serious about more people playing the game then we need to have a world-class coaching pathway to make sure our younger players are the best they can be.

“We’ve now launched that in partnership with the LTA through the British national tennis academy at the University of Stirling that we operate.

“The third part is the resources that we’ve announced that will take us to the next level. It will mean a huge increase in programmes and infrastructure, more staff and coaches, coaching development, and working with schools and clubs. Clubs are the beating heart of tennis in Scotland and we need to continue that growth.

“This announcement has come just at the right time and we can really move forward by opening up tennis and delivering (the Murray brothers) a legacy. This is the last bit of the jigsaw.”