Wimbledon 2005

It's not often I make gratuitous sweeping statements to generalise something but why are British sportsmen so bad at games their ancestors invented? It's true. Let's read on...

Badminton, Boxing, Cricket, Darts, Football, Golf, Ice Skating, Rugby, Skiing, Squash, the list goes on. All invented by the British who haven't been world champions at their respective sports since 1896 or any other falsely divised date not of this century.

Of course the most prevalent sport being televised at the moment is Tennis. It's mid-way through Wimbledon 2005 and where are all the British contenders? On the side-lines.

Our best chance this year was not Tim Henman. It certainly wasn't Greg Resedski. They have no chance of ever winning the title. Tim has all the personality of a wet sponge after being used by a tramp who spends all his time in a dumpster. And personality goes a long way. Greg will never win either because he's just crap, plain and simple.

Now the "new hope of British tennis" is Andy Murray. My question is this. How can a country who invented the sport only have one hope? Shouldn't Britain have plenty of well trained, eager players ready to fill the gaps when old and busted players loose their grip?

There are many reasons. Tennis is seen as an elitist sport, ethnic minorities are excluded, there are no role models (Tim? Ha!), funding issues etc etc.

Unfortunately until these issues are addressed, British tennis will only have one-hope wonders and we will probably never see a British player in the final.

Incidentally, my reason for writing this was actually to showcase the Murry vs Nalbandian match which was exciting until the 5th set when it was clear he had no chance of winning. You can watch the match on the Audio/Visual link on the site above. Check it out if you have a few hours to spare and want to see a great match.