Outgoing Draper criticised

Andrew Castle (pictured) and Mark Petchey have criticised Roger Draper.
14 March 2013

Roger Draper jumped before he was pushed, according to two high-profile former British players.

Draper announced on Wednesday that he will step down as chief executive of the Lawn Tennis Association in September after a troubled seven-year reign.

Mark Petchey told Sky Sports that Draper was "nowhere near the targets set", while Andrew Castle thought it was "tragic... that so much talented has been wasted over the years."

The success of Andy Murray has provided the greatest moments for the sport in this country in more than 70 years while some progress has been made in other areas, particularly the women's game.

But Draper has also been heavily criticised for continued failures at elite level despite record levels of income and in December tennis had £10million of funding withheld by Sport England due to falling participation figures.

The LTA was keen to stress the decision was Draper's alone but news of his departure comes only three months after David Gregson was appointed as independent chairman of the board.

Petchey, Murray's coach when he make his senior breakthrough, said on Sky Sports: "He always said it was a 10-year plan. He's nowhere near the targets set, he's going to miss the targets, so the best thing to do is to get out.

"I feel as though it's been coming for a while. It's easy to pick holes in everything but the biggest and most important thing is going forward and solving the problems facing British tennis. They've spent almost half a billion pounds since coming in and you can see from the numbers everywhere that we're not making it happen."

Castle believes the new man should have a proven record in business rather than necessarily coming from within tennis.

On Gregson's impact, he said: "He obviously was going to take a very good look and I agree very much with Mark that Roger went because he was going to be pushed.

"The sport has given us such a rich and rewarding life and it's just so tragic - and that's not too strong a word - that so much talented has been wasted over the years."

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