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Yorkshire’s Marray gets reward for success at
Wimbledon
. Jonny Marray, Wimbledon Men's Double Champion, has been rewarded with funding from the LTA.
Wimbledon champion Jonny Marray, Johanna Konta and Liam Broady are among those who will receive the Lawn Tennis Association’s highest level of funding for next season.
The governing body announced that 21 players will be supported through Team AEGON for 2013, two fewer than this season.
Sheffield’s Marray is added to the list after his surprise men’s doubles victory at the All England Club with Dane Freddie Nielsen.
British No 4 Konta received clearance to compete for her adopted country in the summer after switching allegiance from Australia, the country of her birth.
US Open junior finalist Liam Broady has declined funding before because of a spat between the LTA and his father but the 18-year-old is now based at the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton.
Dan Evans is the highest-profile player to lose his funding. The 22-year-old starred for Great Britain in the Davis Cup this year but has failed to make progress in the rankings and there remains a question mark over his attitude.
Of Britain’s top nine men, only No 3 James Ward is funded.
Senior players who are not on the list, such as Jamie Baker, Josh Goodall and Alex Bogdanovic, can top up their earnings via the LTA Bonus Scheme, which rewards success on the Futures and Challenger Tours.
As well as funding, Team AEGON, which includes the likes of Laura Robson and Heather Watson, also provides Britain’s elite players with travel assistance and a range of sport science support.
Leon Smith, the LTA’s head of men’s and women’s tennis, said: “We recognise that whether a player succeeds is ultimately down to them, but we are committed to identifying and supporting these talented athletes in order to help them to maximise their potential and inspire more people to play and follow tennis.”
Rafael Nadal has targeted a return to full fitness by April after dismissing his chances of making a winning comeback to grand slam action at the Australian Open.
The world No 4 has not played competitively since his shock second-round loss to Lukas Rosol at Wimbledon in June due to a partial tear of the patella tendon in his left knee, but has recently returned to the practice court.
He intends to compete at the Mubadala Championship in Abu Dhabi later this month and then play at the season’s first major in Melbourne in January. He hopes to be back to his best for the Monte Carlo Masters which gets under way on April 14.
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Weather for Yorkshire
Tuesday 21 May 2013
Today
Light rain
Temperature: 8 C to 15 C
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