Guardian Unlimited Sport Tennis: Foolish to hurry Murray says Becker

Guardian Unlimited Sport | Tennis | Foolish to hurry Murray says Becker--

How would the British press fill their pages if not for Murray and Becker? Becker's assessment of Murray's game seems clear-eyed, much more so than his rating of the German player mentioned in this piece from last month. Apparently overrating one's young countrymen is an occupational hazard in tennis circles. Yet another reason to suspect that Craig Tiley will add fresh perspective to the Australian development program.

As for saluting the flag, this brief excerpt from the Telegraph had me shaking my head.

Another youngster making a big impression is Britain's Andrew Kennaugh, who yesterday won the Stella Artois junior title, fighting back from 0-3 in the final set to beat Australia's Carsten Ball. You wait ages for a good young British player to come along, and then they all arrive at once.

Yes, Kennaugh's win over Ball is a good one, but this is an exhibition, not a junior event sanctioned by the ITF. If the Stella Artois's website doesn't even post a draw for the juniors, can it really be taken seriously? I'd bet a quid that if a player other than Kennaugh had won (providing he wasn't British), there would have been no mention of it anywhere.

And last year, Brit Miles Kasiri made the Wimbledon junior finals and this is where he is, or isn't, today.