A New Dawn for British Tennis

As I write this, Britain has no less than four players in the 4th round of the Australian Open: 3 men, Kyle Edmonds, Dan Evans and of course Sir Andy, and one woman, Johanna Konta. This, I believe, is unprecedented in my 66 years of life. I can remember the wilderness years only too well. The days when the best we had to offer was a plucky Roger Taylor, an execrable Buster Mottram (he of the ties to the BNP) or Tim Henman, a man with a delightful style and elegance in his play, but whose serve was so weak several players on the women's circuit were hitting their serves faster.
           
But now we seem to have no less than 4 players of world class, players who all have terrific all-court games, serve well and don't give up. No wonder we won the Davies Cup last year, even though some players scorn it these days.

I have just been watching Raphael Nadal come through in 5 sets against the youthful Alexander Zverev in a quite stunning comeback from the depths, as he rolled back the years to show he has still very much got it. He seems to have been around forever, though he is only 30. I still remember his astonishing 2008 season, when he won in France, Queens and Wimbledon, a feat no one else has ever achieved. Then he had his problems, his injuries and self doubt, but here he is again, playing as well today as I have ever seen him play. As for his opponent today, Brits look out: this Kraut is dangerous. He's huge (nearly 2 metres tall) strong fast and aggressive. He's knocking on the door of the world's top 20 players (he's 24 currently). And he's only 20...

On the subject of being around forever, how about the Swiss Mister? Remember, he was Nadal's hero when he was a junior, if you can believe that. He's now 35, an age when most players are retiring or preparing to go on the seniors tour, and here he is in Melbourne, looking as lean and fit as ever, and showing he remains another player in the drawer for the Brits and others to fear- even our Andy...