Taken from the The Lancashire Telegraph, published 14/01/2012
East Lancashire's top tennis player believes Andy Murray could go all the way in this year's Australian Open, which begins on Monday.
Elizabeth Thomas, who has a career-high world ranking of 529, feels the Scot can put his defeat to Novak Djokovic in last year's final behind him and pick up the first Grand Slam trophy of his career.
She says "He's got a very good chance. He got to the final last year and he's got his new coach in Ivan Lendl now so that should help. He obviously won in Brisbane last week so he's in good form too."
The 27-year old, who in the past twelve months has begun coaching at the Ribble Valley Tennis Centre in Clitheroe, thinks that a Murray victory in Melbourne could be the catalyst to an increased interest in British tennis.
"If he won it would be fantastic for the sport in this country" she explains. "Hopefully it would get more kids playing in the playground wanting to be like him when they're older."
Whilst Murray's quest to become Britain's first male Grand Slam winner since Fred Perry in 1936 may grab the headlines, Thomas believes that the women's game is in a much stronger position than its male equivalent.
"We've got Elena Baltacha, Anne Keothavong and Heather Watson all in the main draw for the Australian Open, as well as Laura Robson and Naomi Broady in qualifying, which shows how much depth the women's game has, especially compared to the men, who only have Murray and then there's no one.
"It's fantastic because it's a long time since we had three girls qualify automatically for a Grand Slam, and hopefully they can do well."
In the current world rankings, there are four British women inside the world's top 200, compared to two in the men's game, and the former Clitheroe Grammar School student is hopeful that the success of Britain's women can lead to more interest in the game from the wider public.
She says "Obviously Andy Murray is always going to grab the headlines because he's number four in the world, but hopefully if the likes of Robson and Watson can do well in the next few years then the women's game will get a bit more press."
Thomas ended her professional career during 2011 and began coaching some of Lancashire's brightest tennis hopefuls, and she feels that tennis in Great Britain has a bright future.
"At the minute there's a lot of positives in British tennis. We've got a lot of good juniors like Liam Broady who reached the boy's final at Wimbledon last year, and if we can work on widening the pyramid at the bottom and get more kids playing then we could have some success in th next few years."
Thomas will this year be looking to become a senior performance coach as she looks to move up the national coaching ladder. For the time being, however, she will be remaining in the North-West as she tries to uncover the next British tennis sensation.
Elizabeth Thomas, who has a career-high world ranking of 529, feels the Scot can put his defeat to Novak Djokovic in last year's final behind him and pick up the first Grand Slam trophy of his career.
She says "He's got a very good chance. He got to the final last year and he's got his new coach in Ivan Lendl now so that should help. He obviously won in Brisbane last week so he's in good form too."
The 27-year old, who in the past twelve months has begun coaching at the Ribble Valley Tennis Centre in Clitheroe, thinks that a Murray victory in Melbourne could be the catalyst to an increased interest in British tennis.
"If he won it would be fantastic for the sport in this country" she explains. "Hopefully it would get more kids playing in the playground wanting to be like him when they're older."
Whilst Murray's quest to become Britain's first male Grand Slam winner since Fred Perry in 1936 may grab the headlines, Thomas believes that the women's game is in a much stronger position than its male equivalent.
"We've got Elena Baltacha, Anne Keothavong and Heather Watson all in the main draw for the Australian Open, as well as Laura Robson and Naomi Broady in qualifying, which shows how much depth the women's game has, especially compared to the men, who only have Murray and then there's no one.
"It's fantastic because it's a long time since we had three girls qualify automatically for a Grand Slam, and hopefully they can do well."
In the current world rankings, there are four British women inside the world's top 200, compared to two in the men's game, and the former Clitheroe Grammar School student is hopeful that the success of Britain's women can lead to more interest in the game from the wider public.
She says "Obviously Andy Murray is always going to grab the headlines because he's number four in the world, but hopefully if the likes of Robson and Watson can do well in the next few years then the women's game will get a bit more press."
Thomas ended her professional career during 2011 and began coaching some of Lancashire's brightest tennis hopefuls, and she feels that tennis in Great Britain has a bright future.
"At the minute there's a lot of positives in British tennis. We've got a lot of good juniors like Liam Broady who reached the boy's final at Wimbledon last year, and if we can work on widening the pyramid at the bottom and get more kids playing then we could have some success in th next few years."
Thomas will this year be looking to become a senior performance coach as she looks to move up the national coaching ladder. For the time being, however, she will be remaining in the North-West as she tries to uncover the next British tennis sensation.
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