Scottish tennis has received the financial commitment it has long been waiting for as the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) announced a £15 million funding agreement to start in 2017.
It is hoped that this will allow the number of covered courts in Scotland to be doubled from 112 to 225 to ensure a legacy from the success of Andy and Jamie Murray. Both have expressed concerns that their achievements — both became world No 1, in singles and doubles, this year — were not being capitalised upon in Scotland by the relevant authorities.
It is hoped that the agreement, to be jointly funded by Sport Scotland, will go a long way to ensuring that their successes do not go down as a missed opportunity to increase participation north of the border. “Jamie became the first British man to rank at No 1 on the ATP computer and the first in more than 100 years to win two major titles in the same year,” Michael Downey, chief executive of the LTA, said.
“Andy retained his Olympic gold medal, won his second Wimbledon singles title and finished the year in style, winning the ATP world tour finals and ending the year ranked No 1 in the world,” Mr Downey said. “The time is right to seize the moment and capitalise on the Andy and Jamie Murray effect. We must create a lasting legacy with a purpose-built plan for Scotland.
“Importantly, this unprecedented investment will make tennis more accessible in the years to come, bringing certainty of play to a climate that sees on average 200 days of rain a year and in a country that is under-resourced versus the rest of Britain and other European nations when it comes to the number of covered tennis courts.”
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Mel Young, chairman of Sport Scotland, said: “This is terrific news which represents a great opportunity to further develop tennis in Scotland . . . The £7.5 million Sport Scotland contribution from our National Lottery investment stream, and the LTA’s £7.5 million, will have a transformational impact on Scottish tennis.”
For more than a decade Judy Murray, a former Scottish national coach and the mother of Andy and Jamie, has stressed the need for more indoor facilities. Tennis Scotland’s hands have been tied, with annual funding from the LTA of only about £800,000. Considering that the LTA’s annual revenue is more than £60 million, boosted by the Wimbledon surplus of about £35 million, this figure was seen as paltry by many of those involved with the sport in Scotland.
An immediate target area for indoor facilities under the new agreement must be the north. Inverness, which has a population of around 50,000, has no indoor courts at all.
The announcement was welcomed by Leon Smith, the British captain in the Davis Cup, who tweeted: “Excellent news. So pleased that this investment is going into Scotland.”