Failsworth’s Daniel Smethurst insists British tennis is in good health – despite a former coach labelling some players as spoilt.
After an encouraging first round performance against ninth seed Jon Isner, Smethurst returned to the All England Club yesterday to play alongside Edward Corrie in the men’s doubles.
The British wildcards were always in the match against higher-ranked rivals Johan Brunstrom and Frederik Nielsen but slipped to a 6-4, 7-6, 7-6 defeat.
And he disagreed with comments from departing LTA coach Julien Hoferlin that some British players were too pampered.
“I think the group of players below Andy Murray is starting to grow and that gives us lots of confidence,” he said.
“This is an individual sport, I don’t take much notice of what other people are saying. Some people are spoiled in this country but others, I think the majority, work very hard.
“I’ve known Julien a long time and we’re very good friends and I know he’s not talking about me – he knows the effort I put into my tennis.”
Smethurst will now travel to the States to play a series of challenger tournaments on the hard court before attempting to qualify for the US Open at Flushing Meadows in August.
“I’m quite excited about the next few months. I’m playing well and you feel like you start to belong at these tournaments after a while,” he added.
“Competing here just makes you hungry. You want to be like Andy, getting in the main draw every time and not having to worry about just qualifying.
“Despite losing in the singles, I felt I learned so much from the experience – the learning curve was so steep. I can take a lot from my Wimbledon experiences.”
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Image courtesy of ITF Tennis via YouTube, with thanks.
