TIM HENMAN believe the recent investment in Scottish tennis can help improve the game in this country, and the former British number one admits he is hugely impressed with some of the young talent being produced across the UK, in particular Scotland’s Aidan McHugh, the 19-year-old who has recently ventured into the senior ranks.
“There’s a few young players I’m excited about – Jack Draper has made big strides, Aidan McHugh is playing well and Anton Matusevich was hitting with Andy this week and is hitting the ball well. So there’s some good signs and we’ve got to keep building on that,” he said.
“So I think there’s some promising talent. Always the challenge is strength-in-depth, to try to get more juniors at 17, 18-year-old to make sure they’re there, pushing each other harder and harder in the rankings is really what you want.”
Last month, it was announced that Tennis Scotland had been awarded £12 million from the LTA to improve tennis facilities across Scotland and grow the sport in this country.
And Henman is keen to stress how optimistic he is about the game’s future.
“£12 million is a massive investment and I think we have to appreciate in this country how fortunate we are in this country to have the investment we have in the game. The vast majority of it comes from Wimbledon so we’re lucky to have that and £12 million can go a very long way,” he said.
“It’s always important to build on the interest in the sport – Wimbledon and certainly Andy. There’s still huge interest in the game and we’ve seen some good Scottish players but for me, it’s about British tennis and so wherever the talent is, we want to make sure the opportunities are there for them.
“Hopefully there can be more good British tennis players coming through.”
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