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Will Ireland ever have a top level player in tennis?

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  • Registered Users Posts: 4,060 ✭✭✭chicorytip


    glasso wrote:
    that's totally incorrect on all counts in terms of the countries that you have mentioned even tiny Luxembourg.


    Ok. Can you mention any names from the past two decades or so? There are none that spring to my mind.


  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    chicorytip wrote: »
    Ok. Can you mention any names from the past two decades or so? There are none that spring to my mind.

    all those countries had players in the top 100 - Wikipedia will have entries for tennis players in each country.

    even in the last 20 years which is your new requirement :)

    to take the smallest country Luxembourg

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Luxembourgian_tennis_players

    pick male or female then


    e.g. Gilles Muller

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilles_M%C3%BCller

    got to a Wimbledon 1/4 as recently as 2017



    to pick the most glaring example Wozniaki from Denmark is still active, won a grand slam last year and was world number 1.


  • Registered Users Posts: 98 ✭✭archie199


    chicorytip wrote: »
    Ok. Can you mention any names from the past two decades or so? There are none that spring to my mind.

    Denmark, Luxembourg, Greece, Portugal or the Netherlands

    wozniacki, muller, guy who just beat Roger is ranked 12th from Greece, richard krajicek from the Netherlands won Wimbledon. Portugal have been disappointing in fairness, considering their neighbours Spain are so strong


  • Registered Users Posts: 4,060 ✭✭✭chicorytip


    archie199 wrote:
    wozniacki, muller, guy who just beat Roger is ranked 12th from Greece, richard krajicek from the Netherlands won Wimbledon. Portugal have been disappointing in fairness, considering their neighbours Spain are so strong

    archie199 wrote:
    Denmark, Luxembourg, Greece, Portugal or the Netherlands


    Fair enough - although I thought Wozniacki was a Pole.


  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    chicorytip wrote: »
    Fair enough - although I thought Wozniacki was a Pole.

    born in Denmark to Polish immigrants.


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  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    archie199 wrote: »
    Denmark, Luxembourg, Greece, Portugal or the Netherlands

    wozniacki, muller, guy who just beat Roger is ranked 12th from Greece, richard krajicek from the Netherlands won Wimbledon. Portugal have been disappointing in fairness, considering their neighbours Spain are so strong

    yes Portugal is a strange one - not sure what the reason is - maybe just there is no real culture of tennis there.

    outside soccer players there are not a lot of high-achieving sportspeople from there in general.

    https://www.ranker.com/list/famous-tennis-players-from-portugal/reference


  • Registered Users Posts: 4,995 ✭✭✭The Golden Miller


    3DataModem wrote: »
    I believe soccer and rugby history has indicated to us that this is not the case.

    They are team sports, with many Irish players also in the teams, with many of the "foreign" players also ones who have always identified as Irish eg Kilbane, Mcgeady etc. Plus they represent the whole, which is Ireland, not just themselves.


  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    They are team sports, with many Irish players also in the teams, with many of the "foreign" players also ones who have always identified as Irish eg Kilbane, Mcgeady etc. Plus they represent the whole, which is Ireland, not just themselves.

    that's a fair point.

    I don't know how many of the UK people can accept say Konta with a straight face.

    as some of you know the UK almost got Djokovic to represent them. there were serious discussions but then he started making good money so it was off.

    October 2009 article in The Times
    We will never know how close Novak Djokovic came to representing Great Britain. But as his Cadillac was manoeuvred out of the Shanghai slow lanes and picked up a heady turn of speed yesterday, there was no holding back on his first account of a riveting tale that could have inspired a team from this country to win the Davis Cup rather than scrape around for its booby prizes.

    As far-fetched as it might seem, Djokovic and Andy Murray may have become team-mates. Indeed, only Djokovic’s devotion to Serbia — a country struggling with its identity in 2006 and one that could not match the splendour that was offered to a starry-eyed teenager and his family by the British authorities — prevented what would have been the liaison to end all tennis liaisons. The Great Britain team may still have been preparing for a tie in Lithuania in March but, from there, watch out, World Group.

    With Serbia trying to find its feet on many fronts, as the disintegration of its alliance with Montenegro accelerated through the early part of that year, we should not decry the LTA testing the waters with a family unsure of where it stood. Nothing wrong with a cup of tea and cucumber sandwiches at the president’s residence, is there? “To be honest with you, the talk was serious,” Djokovic said. “Britain was offering me a lot of opportunities and they needed someone because Andy [Murray] was the only one, and still is. That had to be a disappointment for all the money they invest.

    “But I didn’t need the money as much as I had done. I had begun to make some for myself, enough to afford to travel with a coach, and I said, ‘Why the heck?’ I am Serbian, I am proud of being a Serbian, I didn’t want to spoil that just because another country had better conditions. A lot of athletes had been misunderstood in Serbia and it is still not easy always to be appreciated. But hope was there. If I had played for Great Britain, of course I would have played exactly as I do for my country but deep inside, I would never have felt that I belonged. I was the one who took the decision.”

    No one from inside the LTA has confessed that the discussions with the Djokovic family went as far as they did. There would have been a three-year hiatus — for two of which Djokovic would have had to live in the country — for him to be pull on a Britain tracksuit under the sport’s constitution, but it would have been worth the wait. No one was doing anything wrong; after all, the governing body had been persuader rather than persuadee with Greg Rusedski in 1995, tempting him from Canada with stories of riches beyond his imagination.

    We now know, short of spending all Wimbledon’s annual donation on the Djokovics, it could not have done more than it did but it does make the battle between the present world No 3 and No 4 (Djokovic leapfrogs Murray again on Monday) all the more gripping. What a partnership they would have made. Imagine, we would have two players in with a chance of winning grand-slam titles, two to hound and harass in SW19.

    “Andy comes from Great Britain, Great Britain has the biggest tournament in sport, when he plays there, it is madness,” Djokovic, 22, said. “All the eyes on him, all the hopes on him. This year he came close but [Andy] Roddick played very good tennis in the semi-final. But Murray has always been mentally a very strong player, he has to keep on and hopefully for him, he has what it takes to win.”

    Returning to London next month for the Barclays World Tour Finals, Djokovic will be the defending champion, having won the old Masters Cup here last November. He appreciates his image will be less prominent on posters than those of Roger Federer, Murray and Rafael Nadal. “I don’t expect any kind of special attention because there are other players there more successful than me,” Djokovic said. “In a way, that’s better for me. But I’ve experienced a lot in the past few years, which has given me time to settle on my thoughts and experiences that can help me evolve as a player. I have always been a perfectionist, it has given me trouble and trouble to those around me, I put a lot of frustrations on myself.”

    He sees what Federer and Nadal have done and is in awe. “I have seen and felt in my own skin what it is like to win a slam, but they have done it again and again and again,” he said. “People do not know what pressures they are under. Think of it, we have to constantly reset our motivations and our psychology. In Beijing [last week] I won the title, I had not done that since May, I was so happy, and the next day I was travelling here to prepare for a tournament that is even bigger, playing someone ranked 60 places below me. We do that throughout the year.”

    Djokovic’s breakthrough came at last year’s Australian Open. In 2008 Djokovic won the quarter and semi- finals (the latter against Federer) in straight sets, to find himself up against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, of France. Tsonga had reached the final on a wave of outrageously confident ball-striking and when he won the first set, he was still cresting the waves. But Djokovic, as he loves to do, dug in, clenched his teeth, and won. Laying flat on his back that pulsating night, what did he feel? “All my life went through my head, capturing images from my past, the things I went through, as a four-year-old who felt so much in love with tennis and dreamed that one day I would win a grand slam,” he said.

    “I remembered how I used to turn up for junior events, the one kid with a bag with his socks, shirts and shorts folded and ready, because I had been brought up to be very professional, very disciplined. I remembered that the lady who used to coach me when I was a kid used to tell me when I should go to bed, how I should do my schoolwork and say I must never, never drink Coca-Cola because it was bad for me. To this day I think I have only drunk one litre of it in my life.”

    He will cherish winning in Melbourne for ever, but one championship dominates his wish list. “I just want to put myself into the position when I can be out there fighting for the Wimbledon title,” he said. “It is irreplaceable for me, the event, the history. It was when I saw Pete Sampras, my childhood hero, lifting the trophy on television at home when I was 6 years old and my eyes were the size of tennis balls that I knew this was where I wanted to be.”

    One was reminded of the football player who had once said that scoring a goal was better than sex. “Yeah, Ronaldo wasn’t it?” he said. So what was better, winning a grand-slam tournament or sex? “Nothing, nothing, nothing is better than sex, it is what God created us to do,” he replied. But what if he were to win Wimbledon? “Ask me the question again on that day,” he said.


  • Registered Users Posts: 7,694 ✭✭✭Chivito550


    glasso wrote: »
    yes Portugal is a strange one - not sure what the reason is - maybe just there is no real culture of tennis there.

    outside soccer players there are not a lot of high-achieving sportspeople from there in general.

    https://www.ranker.com/list/famous-tennis-players-from-portugal/reference

    Portugal are traditionally quite good at long distance running too. Carlos Lopes and Fernanda Ribeiro spring to mind from an Irish point of view during John Treacy and Sonia O’Sullivan’s heyday.

    Weird country for sport though. Not a massive amount of Olympic medals won. Even in football, before the turn of the century they had only qualified for 2 World Cups (66 and 86). Obviously they are top level now for the last 20 years, but it wasn’t always the case.


  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    Chivito550 wrote: »
    Portugal are traditionally quite good at long distance running too. Carlos Lopes and Fernanda Ribeiro spring to mind from an Irish point of view during John Treacy and Sonia O’Sullivan’s heyday.

    Weird country for sport though. Not a massive amount of Olympic medals won. Even in football, before the turn of the century they had only qualified for 2 World Cups (66 and 86). Obviously they are top level now for the last 20 years, but it wasn’t always the case.

    I suppose that they are not a huge country in terms of population - 10 million


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  • Registered Users Posts: 17,574 ✭✭✭✭Mantis Toboggan


    Late to this but what are the barriers for ireland to create a world class tennis player?

    Free Palestine 🇵🇸



  • Closed Accounts Posts: 314 ✭✭Blinky Plebum


    Tennis is really not that big a sport here, I don't think I person I went to school with either primary or secondary played Tennis whereas most people played 1 of the 4 main team sports and the ones that participated in an individual sport it was either Athletics,Swimming or Golf.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,429 ✭✭✭Sheridan81


    I found this guy. Only 21, ranked 152 now, highest ranking of 96.

    https://www.atptour.com/en/players/michael-mmoh/mp01/overview

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Mmoh
    Born in Saudi Arabia, Mmoh has both Irish and Nigerian ancestry. Michael's father Tony Mmoh was also a professional tennis player who represented Nigeria and reached a career-high ranking of 105. His mother was born in Ireland and is also an Australian citizen.

    Where's Jack Charlton when you need him. :)


  • Registered Users Posts: 33,721 ✭✭✭✭RobertKK


    We might from our immigrant population, they could bring us great joy some time in the future...


  • Moderators, Business & Finance Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 14,780 Mod ✭✭✭✭whiterebel


    Sheridan81 wrote: »
    I found this guy. Only 21, ranked 152 now, highest ranking of 96.

    https://www.atptour.com/en/players/michael-mmoh/mp01/overview

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Mmoh



    Where's Jack Charlton when you need him. :)

    Saw him play in Brisbane in 2018. Declared for USA, AFAIR. Not a bad player, had a good run in Brisbane. Don’t know if he has the firepower to go up to the top.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,429 ✭✭✭Sheridan81




  • Registered Users Posts: 1,572 ✭✭✭traco


    Great thread and many valid points. Funding is the biggest issue as to the best of my knowledge there is none even to the top junior players. Just compare the costs of a kid playing tennis to playing GAA or soccer. Tennis at a basic level is multiple times the cost and if the child gets serious you will be spending 1k per year just to hope to compete in the Irish comps. Making it to the top levels in those in Ireland will cost multiple k's and to try and take it abroad you can multiply that figure several time again.

    TI seems to have a lot of internal problems and that doesn't help, the focus should be on the kids but it appears to be more about the money. So the governing body is of no help until they sort out what they are really about.

    The next issue is the surfaces. Without a sufficient number of indoor hard courts it will be impossible to develop enough players from all over the country in the hopes of finding the "one" with the right mix of talent and attitude to make it as a regular on the tour. The clay and hard court game are totally different to the carpet, tiger turf or whatever. The rallies are longer and as a very poor club player I think its more fun to play on. I'm hearing similar comments about the artificial red clay so that may help. I'd say there could be some Kilkenny lad or lass that has been running around with a hurl or camoige stick that given a racket and the training could perform very well at tennis. The thing is we will never know as they won't try it.

    There are some really good juniors out there but as has been mentioned they are playing high level tennis for other goals. Many looking for US college scholarships.

    There is one young Irish lady having a crack off it; Georgia Drummy, details below. As mentioned earlier though I think she was training outside of Ireland a lot and definitely playing overseas. The US college system is interesting as the top performing colleges will recruit the top juniors coming through. In the US for a girl they will probably be a UTR 11+ and the Boys 13+. I'm not sure but I think the really good ones play the first year, do well for the college and team and the college will hold their scholarship and let them take a year out to have a crack at the tour. If they make it well and good and if not they come back and finish their education.

    So an Irish major winner is not an impossibility but the odds are definitely stacked against it happening.

    Georgia DRUMMY :
    https://www.itftennis.com/procircuit/players/player/profile.aspx?playerid=100205036


  • Registered Users Posts: 12,839 ✭✭✭✭average_runner


    Would of played at a resonable high level but was never good enough to hit the top level in Ireland even. Was offer a place in Riverview when i was 15, but the cost was very high.

    The Irish weather doesn't help either, considering there was very few indoor venues before 2000. Not sure how many now.


    It is a tough sport to make it as the lower end tours don't offer much money, so its better to just coach.

    When I used to play, I also coached, it was good money back then.

    Some day i will play again.


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