Ghent: Andy Murray launched a withering attack on the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) on Monday, a day after ending Great Britain's 79-year wait to win the Davis Cup. Murray vowed to savour the moment on Sunday after guiding Britain to victory over Belgium, but he aired his frustrations with the national governing body loud and clear.
The world No. 2, who has single-handedly dragged Britain out of the tennis wilderness, admitted that he was alarmed at the LTA's inability to unearth and nurture fresh talent and its failure to use him as a role model.
"I feel like you waste time because nothing ever gets done and I don't like wasting my time," he said. "I don't know where the next generation is."
Aside from at Wimbledon, where home hopefuls receive generous wild cards from the All England Club, Britain has not produced a young male player worthy of competing in the other three Grand Slams in two years. In 2013, four British boys contested the US Open but all were beaten in the first round. "It's concerning not to have any juniors in the Grand Slams because that is something we were always very good at. It's not ideal," Murray said.
The LTA is one of the richest governing bodies and annually receives an average of £35 million from the surplus of profits from the Wimbledon Championships.
Yet Murray and his teammates are mystified by some of the decisions made since Michael Downey was appointed as chief executive in September 2013.
The Scot was quick to criticise the decision to stop using the state-of-the-art £40m National Training Centre in Roehampton, west London, opened in 2007, as the base for all of Britain's leading players. Murray said that he arrived at the National Training Centre to practise less than two months ago. "I was there on a Monday at about 3pm and then on Tuesday, at the same time," he said.
"There was not one person using any of the indoor courts and not one person in the gym. I took photos of it because the place cost like £40 m and there are no people."
Within minutes of Murray hitting the winning lob against David Goffin on Sunday, Downey was parading around in a red, white and blue Great Britain tracksuit, ready to eulogise for anybody who cared to listen. "It's only upwards from here because we are world champions as a nation and that's pretty darn special," the Canadian said.
Leon Smith, the Britain captain, said: "This isn't an LTA thing. This is a Davis Cup team. It's about these guys. It is a team. It is down to what these guys do on court."
Under Downey's watch, the LTA failed to use Murray's historic victory at Wimbledon in 2013 to boost participation figures. "These are very special, emotional moments that can actually drive interest in our sport, there's no doubt about it," he said.
