Week 3 - Australian Open (men's)

RJA · Hall of fame

RE: Week 3 - Australian Open (men's)

wolf · Tennis legend

Spectator wrote:
I suspect that most people would be quite happy to do as well in their chosen field as Mr Mackin did in his. I do think we tend to lose perspective of what it means to be top-250 in the world.

Leaving all that aside, on a happier note, Gilles Muller has gone through to the 3rd round. While he may not be a British player, his coach is (was). Well done, Mr Muller and Mr Delgado.

And that takes Gilles to a career high ranking at the age of 31. At the end of 2013 he was ranked 366. He has never won a tour title, must be in with a decent shout of doing so this year.

Also congrats on Jamie being appointed assistant coach of the Irish Davis Cup team.

EddietheEagle · County player

It's easy to live the dream with daddy picking up the tab.

And it's not that difficult to get to world no 250 either. The French and the Spanish do this routinely, with their eyes shut.

indiana · Tennis legend

21 Spanish men and 22 French men ( and 5 Brits ) are in the current top 250, but then it's "not that difficult" ??!!

Hey, tell some players ranked around WR 300 that !

I guess all things are relative, but to me being a top 250 player is relatively outstanding, generally requiring great dedication in addition to great ability, unless extremely blessed. And still would have in Alan Mackin's time.

EddietheEagle · County player

Tennis can be likened to Golf, with added whoomph but at heart it's a middle class sport dominated by white Europeans (and their descendants). A kid with a rich dad can easily make it if he wants to, particularly when dad himself is determined (which he very much sounded like).

The remark 'not that difficult' came from something I heard from one of Nadal's coaches (he was very young then) at a coaching seminar. He was pretty blasé about it. Spain's relative difficulty apparently was getting players beyond the 150 mark into the very top. Talk about having a luxury of riches.

That's not to deflect. Alan Mackin was of course a decent player. He actually produced one of his best performances at my club in Germany where I played team tennis. But it would be disingenuous not to acknowledge the privately funded assistance he had which included a very respectable ATP travelling coach.

KK · Club Coach

No doubt he did have a lot of help, but so do many others who do not make 250.

Your original comment was still a very bitchy one to make!

The Optimist · ATP qualifying

Everything in life is easier with money and some kids are dealt a better hand than others, but in sport to achieve at a high level (and 250 IS a high level even if not the very top) the hard work still has to be put in and the necessary skill and talent to be there. I could have had all the funding in the world, put in every hour under the sun and would not have got anywhere near a top 250 tennis ranking, nor an Olympic medal in equestrianism as our female royals have. Sure, those with a financially easy ride have no excuse for not maximising their potential and possibly for not getting there before others, but I don't see why that should stop us appreciating the achievements they do attain. I certainly don't see why a financially easy ride should make us devalue and snipe at those achievements.

As for tennis being a white middle class sport only, historically true. Tennis was played by those who had tennis courts nearby and because of land values, tennis clubs were built out in the largely white suburbs. In this country at least, this is changing really fast. The suburbs are now more racially mixed and most traditional clubs reflect this and the growth of the big sports chains in built up areas (David Lloyd, Virgin) have introduced a completely different demographic to the sport. If you go to a younger age junior event near Guildford, the competitors are likely to be predominantly (but rarely exclusively) white. If you go to an event near Heathrow or Leicester it certainly won't be. The make up of the base of the pyramid (the juniors) is now very different to the top as it currently stands. One thing I have noticed though, is that most of the talented young juniors of Asian background stop playing seriously in their mid-teens as their families don't harbour dreams of them becoming stars but want them to start focussing on getting the right grades for a good university place. However, I'm sure these kids will play again as adults helping the reach and appeal of the sport to continue to broaden and become more inclusive.

Eventually the hotchpotch of racial backgrounds and social backgrounds that I come across in junior tennis must start to become the norm at all levels, hopefully sooner rather than later.

indiana · Tennis legend

Eddie, it would not be 'disingenuous' not to acknowlege what I was unaware of. I didn't follow tennis anything like as closely back then.

And I still disagree with the thrust of your 'not difficult' views.

Whatever, how dare Mackin take advantage of his circumstances, eh ??

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

Stircrazy wrote:
Coup Droit wrote:
well, the Australian organisers/TV guys etc. couldn't have asked for a better start than a late night thriller with young Kokkinakis taking out Gulbis - real excitement and jubilation - just great.

Shame about the girlie kit, though!

On the evidence of the brief clips I've seen of the Tomic & Kyrgios matches, it seems that ALL the Aussie men are wearing the same girlie kit!

RJA · Hall of fame

Stircrazy wrote:
Stircrazy wrote:
Coup Droit wrote:
well, the Australian organisers/TV guys etc. couldn't have asked for a better start than a late night thriller with young Kokkinakis taking out Gulbis - real excitement and jubilation - just great.

Shame about the girlie kit, though!
On the evidence of the brief clips I've seen of the Tomic & Kyrgios matches, it seems that ALL the Aussie men are wearing the same girlie kit!

By looks of it it was a kit produced by Nike for their "big 3" Aussie players. The lesser Aussies who wear Nike (Jasika, Saville) had a standard Nike kit and obviously the non Nike wearing Aussies had something different.