British tennis future beyond Andy Murray
Last updated 10/9/2011 12:30:34 PM
British tennis future beyond Andy Murray
There is life after Andy Murray in British men's tennis after all. The growing improvement amongst GB's young men was emphasised in Mexico on Sunday when Great Britain won the Junior Davis Cup for the first time ever by beating Italy in San Luis Potosi.
You had to be a real tennis buff to even know the Brits were competing and not even the most enthusiastic would have known that the three lads were seeded as favourites to win the world wide competition.
Coached by former British number one Greg Rusedski, the team of Evan Hoyt, Kyle Edmund and Luke Bambridge fully justified the opinions of the seeding committee as both Hoyt and Edmund won their singles matches on Sunday against the Italians to claim the title.
In fact so good were the three boys they dropped only one set – in the doubles to Canada – in brushing aside Thailand, Germany, Canada, France and Italy.
Edmund said after sealing victory: "It's great to win and be world champions. As a team we played really well all trip and it showed today."
Rusedski, born in Canada but determined to put something back into the British game, added: "I'm very proud of our team. It feels great to be the first British team ever to win the Junior Davis Cup."
In the final Hoyt beat Stefano Napolitano 6-4 6-3 and Edmund followed up with a 6-3 6-4 win against Gianluigi Quinzi. The final doubles rubber was scrapped.
British tennis is clearly on the up after years of abuse and derision. At the US Open, three of the four boys' semi finalists were British with Oliver Golding winning the coveted title.
In Mexico the team were in the next age group down with all three born within a fortnight of each other in January 1995.
Their semi-final thrashing of France, that traditional benchmark nation for junior development, was especially worth mentioning and a clear indicator to the future.
The youngsters' mentor Andy Murray was also flying the flag on the same day as he moved a step nearer to the world's number three position when he cruised to a straight sets victory over the American Don Young to win the Thailand Open.
The maturing Scot is now ahead of Federer as the great Swiss player sits out the Far East tour to rest injuries but Murray knows he must build up the points in advance of the European Indoor Courts when the FedExpress will be back and undoubtedly winning tournaments.
In the past three months British men have now secured 11 titles at various levels with Alex Ward, the British number ten from Northampton, winning an ITF Futures event in Sweden.
The girls are not being left behind and Laura Robson continues her climb up the ladder towards the top 100 where she will soon join the consistent Heather Watson.