THE first edition of the Glasgow Trophy tennis tournament, which will be staged for the first time next week is, believes Leon Smith, a hugely significant step forward for the sport in this country.
The ATP Challenger event kicks off at Scotstoun Leisure Centre in Glasgow next Saturday and will be the first tournament of this level staged in Scotland.
Throughout the course of Andy Murray’s career, there has been a constant commentary on the legacy, or lack thereof, being created around his success. Whether the Wimbledon champion’s achievements have been capitalised on to the full or not is a debate for another day but the Davis Cup captain and Head of Men’s tennis at the LTA is confident that the Glasgow Trophy will be significant for tennis in Scotland.
“We know that over the last decade, there’s been so many great stories about Scottish tennis players, spearheaded of course by Andy and Jamie in particular,” Smith told Herald Sport.
“But the Scottish fans don’t get to see much of that up close and personal so this is an opportunity for them to see top class tennis.
“I think this tournament is important for tennis in Scotland. There may not be another time when we have anything like the Murray family so anything that can be brought to Scotland to make people aware of tennis, to help them access it and to get them involved in tennis whether that’s playing or watching or whatever, that’s a good thing.”
The tournament has not come without controversy though. The former top-50 player Dan Evans has, in recent weeks, completed his suspension for failing a drugs test and the Englishman been granted a wildcard by the LTA into the Glasgow Trophy.
Evans tested positive for cocaine at last year’s Barcelona Open and there has been considerable pushback to the decision, with some suggesting that an athlete who has failed a drugs test should not be given a keg up to return to the Tour as Evans has.
Smith was heavily involved in the decision to grant Evans the wildcard and while he is quick to point out that the LTA absolutely do not condone Evans’ behaviour, having looked at every part of his case, it was decided that a wildcard into the qualifying rounds was fair.
“We discussed it at length,” said Smith, who was appearing at David Lloyd Edinburgh.
“I can understand that there’s mixed opinions about him but he is doing what’s been asked of him and more.
“I think Dan’s case is different to Maria Sharapova’s because it wasn’t performance-enhancing drugs he tested positive for but having said that, we absolutely do not condone what he’s done.
“He’s served his ban, he has a lot of regret about what he’s done and he accepted responsibility right from the start. That’s why we’re working with him very closely in terms of protocols and also how he’s contributing to our anti-doping education and that’s a very important part for us.
While Evans may have grabbed the headlines this week, the question that has been hanging over British tennis for the duration of this year has been about the return of Andy Murray. The former world number one has not played since Wimbledon last year and had hip surgery at the start of this year.
There is no set date for his return although it is expected to be during the grass court season. Returning to the highs he has previously reached after a year out will be no easy task but Smith is confident that we will see the former Wimbledon champion back at the top of the game sooner or later.
“I’m not close enough to the action to comment on exactly where Andy is,” the Glaswegian said.
“Quite correctly I think, Andy and his team are keeping things pretty tight amongst the group in order to manage expectations and they’re also not setting a timescale on things.
“We saw it when Andy came back from back surgery before - he’s very good at mapping out what’s important for that day, that week and going through things in a systematic way.
“With a champion like Andy, and we’ve seen it with Roger and Rafa, and Novak coming back to form this week, they all know what it takes to get back to that level. So once he gets back on court again, I think he’ll be fine, in fact, I’d be very confident he will.
“What been so good to hear is that he just wants to play tennis and that will serve him well.”
Outwith Murray, British tennis is in a relatively healthy state. Kyle Edmund is inside the world’s top 25 while Murray’s fellow Scot Cam Norrie is just outside the world’s top 100. And on the women’s side Jo Konta has been inside the world’s top ten in recent years.
Smith would still like there to be greater strength-in-depth at the top level but the set-up that is now in place, of which he has played a significant part in engineering, is, he believes, of a standard that will begin to produce more of a production line of players than is currently the case.
“I think we still need more players,” he said.
“But what we’ve got now is a good set-up.
“In terms of our strategy, things are way better now looking to the future. The pathway that has now been mapped out and that’s way more robust than it’s ever been. So now it’s about getting the right people in at every stage who can deliver it.
“What Kyle did at the start of the year was incredible. I think there’s a lot of good things to come from him but I definitely think he could become a top 10 player. What Jo Konta has done the last few years has been exceptional and there’s Cam Norrie who has accelerated through the rankings at an incredible rate.”
And Smith is optimistic about where tennis in Scotland currently is too. Within a couple of weeks, it will be announced where the new National Tennis Academies will be based and with Stirling one of the five venues bidding, there could be another imminent boost for Scottish tennis.
With Smith heavily involved in where the academy or academies will be based, he deemed it inappropriate for him to continue in his position as Tennis Scotland’s performance director. While he felt it necessary to step down, he admits to being disappointed at having to make the decision.
“It would be huge for Scotland to get the National Academy but whatever happens, this has been a good thing for the sport in Scotland it’s started a process,” he said.
“It was sad to step down from Tennis Scotland because I care a lot about the sport in this country. But, I’m paid to make decisions for British Tennis and being on the senior management team at the LTA and not being able to cast decisions on certain things is pointless and so it made absolute sense to step down.
“There’s a group of young Scottish players doing well - there’s Aidan McHugh, Jacob Fearnley, Maia Lumsden and Ali Collins.
“We talk about legacies and part of having a wave of top players is using that to raise awareness of how important tennis is in the country.
“There’s a lot happening with Tennis Scotland and it’s a much better place now so I think things are very positive.”
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