British Tennis Forum - Celebrating 20 Years!

JonH · Tennis legend

RE: Race for the Wimbledon wildcards 2026

indiana · Tennis legend

Looks like quite shameful pettiness re Dan.

For all he has done in his career ( well once he got serious a good number of yesrs ago ) including great work for the Davis Cup team.

So sorry, Dan, you thoroughly deserved a MD WC.

And yes, I would have also gone with Billy WR 142 and not bad at all on grass ( MD R1 winner last year ).

Madadman · Grand Slam Champion

Very harsh on Evo. I guess its a sign of the times that we actually have that many in contention for WCs. As Im going to Qualifying on Monday from a selfish point of view Im glad I get to see Dan one last time.

When was the last time we had 3 players in Wimbledon qualifying by right of ranking!

alex03maccy · All-time great

Feels very very personal not to give Evo a WC in his last tournament. Really shameful.

JonH · Tennis legend

Sheddie wrote:
Brutal for Liam as well. Regained his ranking to the cusp of the top 200 and made third round twice

I think Liam was less deserving than Dan or Billy, tbh, those feel the most hard done by, for different reasons. But all round, some brutal choices on some of the older warriors

scottie1 · Futures level

Obviously LTA think players intjeir 30s are not worth wild cards.
Dan has done so.much for GB in Davis Cup.

Will he play the Qualifying he might deciide to.chuck it or will it work.other way and he wins 3 rounds and gets into the main draw

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

A clear sign that the LTA just kick the can down the road - youngsters get all the attention

Older guys get nothing. Nor, you could say, those who have accents from north of Watford

So, yes, Dan is not polticially correct, so Dan gets no bump up (too old and northern), nor Liam (too old and northern), nor Billy (too old and northern)....

However, I'm very glad that Harry and Felix have the last two MD WCs, as opposed to whichever foreign player

JonH · Tennis legend

Coup Droit wrote:
A clear sign that the LTA just kick the can down the road - youngsters get all the attention

Older guys get nothing. Nor, you could say, those who have accents from north of Watford

So, yes, Dan is not polticially correct, so Dan gets no bump up (too old and northern), nor Liam (too old and northern), nor Billy (too old and northern)....

However, I'm very glad that Harry and Felix have the last two MD WCs, as opposed to whichever foreign player

The older guys they rewarded sadly werent our older guys.

Still fuming - going to focus on England now and shout at the telly for the next couple of hours

Danten · Improver

They gave dan a wc last year

But not this year when he's retiring feels harsh

Var · Challenger qualifying

There is some bad work here with regard to Dan. If you go onto Dans Insta Wimbledon posted on his retirement post Congratulations etc followed by one last dance and a green heart emoji. This got 384 likes and comments saying Dan should have one. Obviously the people doing the socials at Wimbledon need to be a little more careful in what they post. PS this is the official Wimbledon account.

indiana · Tennis legend

JonH wrote:
Coup Droit wrote:
A clear sign that the LTA just kick the can down the road - youngsters get all the attention

Older guys get nothing. Nor, you could say, those who have accents from north of Watford

So, yes, Dan is not polticially correct, so Dan gets no bump up (too old and northern), nor Liam (too old and northern), nor Billy (too old and northern)....

However, I'm very glad that Harry and Felix have the last two MD WCs, as opposed to whichever foreign player
The older guys they rewarded sadly werent our older guys.

Still fuming - going to focus on England now and shout at the telly for the next couple of hours

Old err 31 yo Billy, still WR 142 ( when did we last not give a MD WC to such a ranking? ) and on the rise this week after further wins on grass, should continue to serve as an example of what a player can do with his career and IMO deserved a MD WC reward.

The WC committee these days ( I believe there have been changes to it in recent years? ) seems obsessed with rewarding the young, IMO again, over at times the more current deserving or worth rewarding ( Billy and Dan ).

Felix and Harry have done great, but with the current strength I would have had them missing out on MD WCs this year ( if giving the 2 foreign MD WCs ) with on their current trajectories their time to come for such rewards.

RainDelay · Pro player

I'm probably in the minority here, but I don't think Dan should have gotten one. Wimbledon shouldn't be where people with no form come in and get one final payday. It's meant to be the world's premier tournament and Dan has recently lost to someone outside the top 1000 and Charles Broom. It could have been an embarrassment of a score if he drew a top player.

Var · Challenger qualifying

RainDelay wrote:
I'm probably in the minority here, but I don't think Dan should have gotten one. Wimbledon shouldn't be where people with no form come in and get one final payday. It's meant to be the world's premier tournament and Dan has recently lost to someone outside the top 1000 and Charles Broom. It could have been an embarrassment of a score if he drew a top player.

Well you can get an awful score line whatever your ranking. I think the point here is that a MDWC for Dan would be recognition of what he has contributed for the GBR team over the years, in his final tournament.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

RainDelay wrote:
I'm probably in the minority here, but I don't think Dan should have gotten one. Wimbledon shouldn't be where people with no form come in and get one final payday. It's meant to be the world's premier tournament and Dan has recently lost to someone outside the top 1000 and Charles Broom. It could have been an embarrassment of a score if he drew a top player.

I like people who disagree with the masses - and post it - good on you smile

BUT I don't agree with you biggrin

Lambda · Grand Slam Champion

I would direct criticism to the AELTC rather than the LTA. The LTA's job is to help the committee by nominating British players based on performance or development. Players like Dan (and Heather when her time comes) should have enough public profile and history with Wimbledon that when they ask the committee directly for a WC citing its their last Wimbledon that they should get one. They shouldn't need the LTA to nominate them.