The Lawn Tennis Association were accused of letting young British talent go to waste after James Ward, one of the prospects they neglected, came close to shocking former world number one Marat Safin at Queen's Club. Ward, ranked 488th in the world, had come through three rounds of qualifying to reach his moment in the spotlight at Queen's and he produced a gutsy performance before eventually losing 6-4, 1-6, 4-6 to Safin.
The 21-year-old showed he had plenty of grit on the court by pushing the former Australian and US Open champion all the way and then proved he's prepared to fight his corner off it as well. Ward claimed he was forced to move to Spain to learn his trade at Juan Carlos Ferrero's academy because he received little support from the LTA.
"I went because I wasn't getting any help in England. It was the best academy in the world at the time. I went there, and there were some great players," Ward said.
Asked if he was surprised at the LTA's lack of support for young players he said: "To be honest, yeah. I'm supported a little bit by the LTA. They cover a few costs but it's not everything. "I mean, I'm not in charge of the LTA, so I can't really say. You'd have to ask them. But they're helping me out a little bit.