It’s clearly something we want to build on to make it a sport more and more people want to play. The harsh reality is that we are competing in the same market-place as so many other sports, and I hope Tim will make the big difference for us.I haven’t heard any real figures to suggest conclusively that there is an increase in interest in tennis as a result of Tim. I know from anecdotal evidence that coaches are busier, and the television viewing figures for the national championship final between Tim and Greg Rusedski were significantly up. I’m not aware that club membership has increased, but then maybe it is not the right time of the year.

After all, the Henman factor only really started in the middle of last summer, and we should wait until the spring.I’d also like to see more players closing the gap on Tim and Greg. We’ve a healthy group of players around the 200-mark, and there are one or two who have the potential to make the top 100. We’ve got high hopes for Andrew Richardson – he’s a a big chap with a big serve, good off the ground, and his mobility has improved. Jamie Delgado can go a lot further too, while people like Mark Petchey and Chris Wilkinson are still very committed.We cannot pretend that the women’s side is as well off. Sam Smith is definitely capable of reaching the top 100, but now we’re looking to our younger girls – Jasmine Choudhury, Abigail Tordoff and Laura Cartwright. They’ve all got a good attitude.As far as the Lawn Tennis Association are concerned, we’re very vibrant and we’ve got lots of new ideas. But there is a problem with funding the back-up facilities we need to bring on the best young players, and I think my biggest wish for the new year is to see a change in the system whereby Lottery grants are handed out It’s a bureaucratic jungle at the moment Nobody quite knows who is doing what.

One of our big projects is the introduction of a sports science programme, taking in bio- mechanical studies, diet, injury prevention, fitness and so on – all things that are essential if you’re to produce top players, particularly those making the transition from the junior to senior ranks. But these things are expensive.People might say, “Well, hang on, you’ve got guaranteed income from Wimbledon every year”, and it’s true that the LTA are by no means one of the poorer governing bodies. But the developments at the All England Club mean that our share is not likely to go up in the foreseeable future, and in any case we should never allow ourselves to be dependent on it. It would be foolish not to look for other sources of income.We are making ground in Britain We’re up to 40 centres with our indoor tennis initiative. But there are still some big places – Bristol and Manchester, for example – that don’t have one. We’ve got Bisham Abbey, which is our elite school, but in France they’ve got eight places like that and they’re all much bigger and better resourced. We’ve got plans for another six centres of excellence, and we want to develop the community tennis partnership scheme, whereby clubs link with schools and local authorities so that the maximum use is made of courts.

Once you do that, it opens up so many opportunities for coaching programmes. We’re doing well, but we’ve still got a long way to go.Richard Lewis is the Lawn Tennis Association’s Director of International and Professional Tennis.Owners deserverewardsRacing: Gay KellewayMy first concern would be for the owners. They are the people who supply the horses, who provide employment and income for everyone else in the racing and betting industries, and so they are the mainstay of racing. I feel they are not getting enough return on their investments.One of my proposals would be that a few of the smaller, less successful racetracks should be closed, so that we can concentrate on improving the rest. This would result in better facilities for everyone, which would promote a better image and encourage bigger public interest.Prize money needs a big injection of cash. It is all very well to say that racing is a hobby for owners and so they should not expect a return, but, as I have said, it is the owners who supply the product, and they should have better rewards for so doing.

Much has been written about the role the bookmakers play in the industry’s finances, and I feel they should contribute more. A few more gestures like that of Manny Bernstein, the bookmaker from Leicester who is sponsoring tomorrow’s standby all-weather meeting at Lingfield, would be very welcome.As far as sponsorship is concerned, an independent committee should be set up to seek overall sponsorship for all racetracks, not just leaving it to individual tracks to find their own race sponsors.Perhaps there could be an approach to the National Lottery, which has damaged the bookmakers’ turnover; after all, racing is not just a sport but a very large industry employing a huge number of people to cater for its needs. It’s something like the sixth or seventh biggest employer in the country by the time you take into account not just stable staff, trainers and jockeys but stud staff, transporters, fodder merchants, sales companies and all the other associated businesses.Having said this we do have the most prestigious racing in the world, both on the Flat and over jumps, attracting the leading owners and breeders. Our horses and jockeys carry the flag successfully abroad, as the results from the Breeders’ Cup, Japan Cup and other top races show.The introduction of an increasing number of racing clubs and syndicates has done a lot to enable more people to get involved in the sport, making it an affordable venture for many more ordinary members of the public.