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Alex Bogdanovic  Born:
22nd
May 1984Lives: London Plays: Left-handed (single-handed backhand) Favourite surface: Indoor hard, grass Age started tennis: 8 This talented left-hander has been regarded as one of Britain's best prospects ever since he burst onto the scene in 2001 as a 17 year old, reaching the US Open junior semis and beating Martin Lee [who was in the top 100 then] in straight sets on the way to the National championships final. In 2003 he represented Britain in a live Davis Cup tie against Australia, giving Lleyton Hewitt a tough match and later that year he secured his first ATP tour wins at Queens and Nottingham (beating Jan-Michael Gambill) aswell as reaching the Surbiton challenger final. 2004 and 2005 saw Alex clock up his first challenger victories and continue to make strides towards the world's top 150. His progress slowed in 2005 and so Alex decided to link up with Mike Raphael in the 2nd half of the year and it paid immediate dividends as he won the Sunderland challenger and opened 2006 with titles in Wrexham and Bergamo. 2006 has seen him begin to fulfil his undoubted potential, he reached his first ATP quarter-final (Newport) and his first 125K challenger final. He ended the year with a title in Shrewsbury and on the verge of the world's top 100. Alex has now chosen to be based in the USA at the Saddlebrooks academy in Florida. He and Mike are able to link up regularly with Andy Murray and Brad Gilbert plus benefit from the world class gym facilities at Saddlebrooks. In 2007, Alex aims to break the world's top 100 for the first time and become a regular on the ATP tour. Check out Alex's official website: HERE Josh Goodall  Born:
17th
October 1985Lives: Basingstoke, England Plays: Right Handed (double-handed backhand) Favourite surface: Grass Age started tennis: Four The Middlesex 21 year old is arguably the most improved British player over the past 12 months. Josh made some substantial changes to his game at the start of the 2006 season (most notably, changing from a double-handed forehand to single-handed stroke and serve-volleying more on faster surfaces) and it resulted in a ranking increase of over 250 places to leave him on the verge of the top 200. After some consistent performances in futures during the first half of the season, Josh really hit form during the grass season. He knocked out several higher ranked players to qualify for Wimbledon (earning him accolades from Roger Draper and new Davis Cup coach John Lloyd) and in July he had a 3 week purple patch in which he won a 15K in Felixstowe, reached the Manchester challenger final and the quarters of the Nottingham challenger, all on grass. In August, he became the first British player ever to qualify for 2 grand slams back to back when he won 3 matches in New York to reach the US Open main draw. Josh gained his first ranking point in April 2004, at the age of 18 and increased his ranking by over 1000 places in his first season on the senior tour. Since then he's consistently improved his ranking and the world's top 150 by Wimbledon 2007 is now a realistic target. He also has a successful doubles partnership with Ross Hutchins. They both reached the doubles top 200 in 2006, making 3 challengers finals and 7 futures finals. At Wimbledon they won a round and gave top 5 pairing Zimonjic and Santoro a scare in rd2 before losing in four sets. Josh is currently coached by Andrew Richardson and is based at Queens club in London. He supports Chelsea and regards David Beckham as his style icon. Career highlights 2006 Qualified for Wimbledon and US Open Reached Manchester challenger final Won 15K titles in Felixstowe and Vendryne (Czech Republic) Reached a 15K final in Opava (Czech Republic) and a 10K final in Kalamata (Greece) 3 challenger finals (2 titles) and 7 futures finals in doubles Richard Bloomfield  Born:
27th April 1983Lives: Norfolk Plays: Right-handed (double-handed backhand) Favourite surface: Indoor hard 2006 has been a breakthrough year in many ways for the big-serving Norfolk no 1. In November he reached a career high ranking of 196 and in the summer he gained his first ATP win, beating Argentina's Carlos Berlocq in the first round of Wimbledon before losing to former world no 2 Tommy Haas. Bloomfield was the national U18 champion in 2001 and in 2003 he competed at Wimbledon for the first time (losing in rd1 to grass-court specialist Anthony Dupuis). Throughout his career so far, he's enjoyed consistent success in futures tournament but like many players he's found the transistion to challengers (the 2nd tier of men's tennis) difficult. However, in the latter half of 2005, Richard started to achieve more success at challenger level, making semis in Tarzana (USA) and Southampton. He followed that up this year with semis in the Dublin and Rennes challengers aswell as winning matches on clay and outdoor hard. In Rennes he beat former top 100 player Olivier Patience in straight sets in the quarters. He also won two futures titles on the indoor hard courts of Manchester and Glasgow; in Glasgow Bloomfield was extremely impressive, not even dropping a set. Richard is spending the off season working hard on his fitness, he says that in particular he needs to get stronger in the legs. He'll be hoping that this pays dividends in 2007 when he'll be aiming to crack the top 200. He currently trains in East Gloucershire at Pete Russell's squad in Cheltenham. However, he's considering moving to the new LTA centre at Bisham Abbey and will be checking out the new national training centre in Roehampton. Check out Richard's official website: HERE Career highlights 2006 Reached semis of Dublin and Rennes challengers Won Glasgow and Manchester 15Ks Reached semis in Sunderland and Bath 15Ks 2005 Reached semis of Tarzana and Southampton challengers Won 10K in Belgium Reached final of Nottingham 10K Won week 1 of the GB 1 satellite 2004 Won 10K title in Glasgow Reached 10K finals in Belgium and Bahrain Reached 10K semis in Japan and Belgium Jonny Marray  Born:
10th March 1981Lives: Sheffield Plays: Right-handed (single-handed backhand) Favourite surface: Grass Age started tennis: 10 Jonny Marray was born in Liverpool and brought up in Sheffield, where he took up Tennis at the age of 10, playing initally at the Abbeydale Tennis Club in Sheffield under the tutelage of John Gledden. He actually only started playing tennis full time at the age of 18. In 2004 Jonny came to international prominence during the grass-court season, defeating Wayne Arthurs in rd1 of ATP Nottingham and Christophe Rochus on the way to the 3rd round of ATP Queens before narrowly losing in two tiebreaks to Lleyton Hewitt (a performance which led Peter Fleming to describe him as 'one of the Top 20 serve-volleyers in the world') Jonny is renowned as one of the
last true serve
volleyers still playing the game and is seen by many as a throwback to
an exciting era of tennis where clashes of styles were more varied. But
far from living in the past Jonny is deeply ambitious about his future
and aims to progress much further than his current career best ranking
of 215. Jonny splits his training time between Nottingham and the Hallamshire Tennis Club in Sheffield where he works with his brother, Dave Marray. He has also been working with Sports Psychologist Martin Parkes. Check out Jonny's official website: HERECareer highlights 2006 Reached semis of the Dnepropetrovsk and Orleans challengers Made quarters of the Nottingham challenger Qualified for ATP Stockholm Reached 15K final in Nottingham Won 10K title in Syros Won 3 challenger doubles titles 2005 Reached Nottingham challenger final Reached semis of the Kyoto challenger and quarters of the Ho Chi Minh challenger Made 10K semis in Bath, Kalamata and Andijan Alan Mackin  Born:
11th August
1981Lives: Glasgow, Scotland Plays: Right-handed (double-handed backhand) Favourite surface: Clay Age started tennis: 5 Like Alex Bogdanovic, Mackin has also found hiring Mike Raphael as a coach to be extremely beneficial and he enjoyed a fine run of form from June onwards in 2006. Mackin is one of the most determined and hardest working British players, a coach once said of him, if I had 10 Alan Mackins in my academy, I'd be delighted. Raphael has made adjustments to his technique which have made his forehand and serve big weapons, especially on fast surfaces. He and his coach believe that he can crack the top 100 and he's shown that he has the ability to trouble some of the best in the world on grass and indoor surfaces. At Wimbledon 2006, Mackin led eventual semi-finalist and world no 12 Marcos Baghdatis, by 2 sets to one before succumbing to cramp and losing in a 5 set marathon. He also came close to beating top 30 player Fernando Verdasco at Queens. Mackin has also based himself at the Saddlebrooks academy in Florida, he feels that the outdoor hard courts in the USA can become his best surface but (like a lot of British players) he's struggled in tournaments over there in the past because the balls and conditions are so alien to what they're used to in Europe. As there are ATPs and challengers in the USA almost all-year round, being based there and getting used to the different conditions will definately be advantageous as he looks to break the world's top 150 in 2007. Jamie Baker  Born:
5th August 1986Lives: Glasgow, Scotland Plays: Right-handed (double-handed backhand) Favourite surface: Outdoor hard A contemporary of Andy Murray, Baker is another major Scottish talent to have come through in the last couple of years. He had a distinguished junior career, reaching a high of 6 in the world and he translated that success immediately onto the senior tour, finishing his first full year playing futures with a ranking inside the top 400. Stocky and powerful, Baker roams the baseline with a vicious forehand and a determination to attack from the ground. He is based at Martin Weston's academy in Nottingham and has also made the decision to base himself part-time in Florida. In the summer of 2006, Baker made his debut on the ATP tour, competing in Queens and Wimbledon. Although he lost both matches, the experience was hugely beneficial and at the Boodles challenge he came within a few points of defeating top 10 player, Fernando Gonzalez. Baker had a lot of success in futures at the start of 2006, making three 10K finals and reaching the world's top 300. In the 2nd half of the year, he secured his first 15K title and has been playing challengers on a regular basis. He made his Davis Cup debut in the tie against the Ukraine and his work ethic and competitive spirit have impressed Davis Cup captain John Lloyd and Greg Rusedski. He also writes regular columns on life on the tour for the Times. Check out Jamie's website: HERE James Auckland  Born:
1st April 1980Lives: Norwich Plays: Right-handed (single-handed backhand) Favourite surface: Grass 2006 was a breakthrough year for Auckland who's now set to become a regular on the ATP tour as a doubles specialist. Successful partnerships in 2005 saw him reach 4 challenger finals and win a round at Wimbledon. Auckland consolidated his ranking in the first half of 2006 and enjoyed a profitable few weeks with Andy Murray, linking up at ATP San Jose and the French Open which enabled James to gain his first ATP victories outside of the grass court season. He fully merited his call-up to the Davis Cup squad for the tie against Serbia and Montenegro though Jeremy Bates opted to go for Murray and Rusedski in the doubles. With Murray busy in singles action during the grass court season, James teamed up with Jamie Delgado and the pair gained instant success, defeating Rafael Nadal and Feliciano Lopez in the first round at Queens before losing to French Open champions Bjorkman and Mirnyi in a final set tiebreak in the quarters. At Wimbledon, they reached the 3rd round before coming up against Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor, the extra experience of the Bahamas/Canadian pairing told in the end. Another ATP quarter-final in Newport followed and then he reached the Graz challenger final (losing 15-13 in a final set tiebreak), taking him ever closer to the doubles top 100, a landmark which he achieved in ATP Mumbai where he and Delgado made the semis. More success followed in the indoor season as he reached his 2nd ATP semi-final in St Petersburg taking him to a career high ranking of 78. The equally spectacular success of Jamie Murray meant that Auckland ended the year as British no 2 in doubles. They are looking to team up together in 2007 but this will require one of them to play outside his comfort zone as both like to play on the backhand wing. Both players are gunning for a place in the world's top 50 and a regular spot in the Davis Cup squad next season which should make for an intriguing year for British tennis. After 8 years as a professional player, James credits psychological training carried out by Richard De Souza with his recent improvement. Lee Childs  Born:
11th June 1982Lives: Bridgwater, Somerset Plays: Right-handed (single-handed backhand) Favourite surface: Grass Age started tennis: 6 At one stage this big serving right-hander was billed as the next big thing for British tennis. In 2000 he was ranked as the best junior doubles player in the world and won the US Open junior doubles title with James Nelson. Later that autumn he won his first ATP match despatching Sargis Sargisian in straight sets. 2000 and 2001 saw him win back to back National Championship titles and make his debut at Queens and Wimbledon. 2003 was probably his best year on the tour to date, he won his first grand slam match, knocking out Nicolay Davydenko in 5 sets in rd1 of Wimbledon. This saw him move up into the world's top 300 and at the start of 2004 he was on the brink of the top 250. However, unfortunately Childs wasn't quite able to make the breakthrough to challenger level and his ranking slipped back into the 300-400 range. He's had a solid couple of years since then and has regularly made the latter stages of futures. In 2006 he teamed up with Australia's Luke Bourgeois to win the doubles title in Felixstowe. Matt Smith  Born:
21st August 1984Lives: Wrexham, North Wales Plays: Right-handed (double-handed both sides) Favourite surface: Indoor hard Age started tennis: 7 Smith is an ardent Liverpool fan and their European Cup winning season of 2005 seemed to inspire him to greater heights on the tennis circuit that year. He dominated the British indoor circuit, winning 4 futures titles and making 3 satellite finals and improving his world ranking from 765 to the top 295 in the process. However, a combination of burn-out (he played 98 matches in 2005) and personal problems have meant that 2006 has been a year to forget for the Cheshire no 1. He reached a couple of 15K semis and two more 10K quarters but constant injuries made it hard to find any consistency form-wise and the sackfuls of points to defend from 2005 meant that he's slipped down back into the 600s. Smith had a successful junior career, he reached 55 in the world but was overshadowed by the achievements of Alex Bogdanovic, Mark Hilton, Lee Childs and James Nelson as juniors. He has been based for a long time at Mike Walker's academy in Wrexham but he has moved to the new LTA centre at Bisham Abbey where the other British pros include David Brewer, Rob Searle and Sean Thornley. Morgan Phillips  Born:
23rd June 1984Lives: Valencia, Spain Plays: Right-handed (double-handed backhand) Favourite surface: Clay Morgan is one of a growing number of British players who've decided to base themselves at the Spanish academies. It really started to show dividends in 2006, he began the year ranked 742 but reached a career high of 591 in August and ended the year at 608. In May 2006, he won his first futures title on Italian clay, beating opponents ranked several hundred places higher and in October he made a 10K final in Portugal before losing to rising Dutch star and world junior no 1 Thiemo de Bakker. He attends the Altur/Alvarino Academy in Valencia, Spain alongside other high profile players such as David Ferrer, Alex Calatrava, Dinara Safina, Marat Safin, Igor Andreev and Anabel Medina Garrigues. The academy has 12 courts: 10 clay and 2 hard, and a fully equipped gym. There are 2 head coaches; Pancho Alvarino is the director of the academy and the women's programme. Pancho holds the highest Spanish teaching certificate and led the Spanish Fed Cup team to victory in 1991. Jose Altur is the men's co-ordinator. In 2007, Morgan
will be hoping to get close to the world's top 400. He doesn't have any
points to defend until April, so a good start to the year would see him
well on the way towards that aim. 2006 Won Italy F14 Reached the final of Portugal F4 Made quarter-finals in Romania F8, Spain F10, F21 and F25 Alex Slabinsky  Born:
6th March 1986Lives: Sutton, London Plays: Right-handed (single-handed backhand) Favourite surface: Outdoor hard Age started tennis: 8 "Slabba" is originally from the Ukraine where he learnt the game along with swimming and gymnastics. He was the 3rd best U10 in Ukraine before he and his parents emigrated to Britain. In recent years he's been based at the Sutton Academy who offered him a scholarship when he was 16. He trains in a squad which is run by Nick Weal. In 2005, Alex burst onto the British tennis scene, increasing his ranking by over 1000 places to 654 with some impressive performances in the autumn indoor futures and satellites in Britain. 2006 saw him reach a career high of 573 in singles after making futures quarter-finals in Japan, Spain and Holland. He also reached his first futures final in doubles in Australia with big-serving Aussie Robert Haybittel and in June he won a doubles title on clay in Italy with compatriot Konstantinos Kalaitzis. However, a mass of points to defend in the autumn meant that he slipped down to 805 in the rankings. In 2007, Alex aims to reach the world's top 500. He's spending the off-season working on areas of his game and fitness at Sutton. For more info on Alex, check out his official website: HERE Career highlights 2006 Reached 10K quarters in Japan, Spain and Holland Won 10K doubles title on clay in Italy with Konstantinos Kalaitzis Reached 15K doubles final on clay in Australia with Robert Haybittel 2005 Won a title and reached two semis during the 4 week GB 4 satellite Reached a 10K quarter-final in Jersey More profiles to follow soon, keep checking back for updates |