Lawn Tennis Association women’s head coach Nigel Sears says that British women have made substantial progress and are well-represented at Wimbledon with teenagers Heather Watson and Laura Robson, as well as veterans Elena Baltacha and Anne Keothavong.
Last month, 17-year-old Watson became the first British woman to get through qualifying and then win a match in the main draw at Roland Garros. She has spent most of her youth training in Florida. Baltacha was born in Kiev, while Keothavong’s parents are refugees from Laos. Robson had an Australian passport until she reached her mid-teens.
"Tim Henman was a nice middle-class English boy," Sears told the Guardian, "and he made it to No. 4 in the world. Anne Keothavong is from Hackney and she has lived her whole life here. She started in the parks and she has always been involved within the system. Bally [Baltacha] has been here a long time, too. But I don't think it really matters where people are from. Heather has grown up in Florida, and she has had a fantastic grounding there, but she has been working with LTA coaches for the past 18 months. They have helped her with the transition from juniors to seniors, which she has managed fantastically well...There is a long way to go but in the past four years we have had five girls in the Top 100 and two have made the Top 50. We have had Anne and Bally make the third round of Grand Slam events, playing on the middle Saturday, earning respect and setting a wonderful benchmark for the younger ones like Laura and Heather. The next stage is to see representation in the second week."