'Why don't we have any Irish tennis players at Wimbledon?' - It's time for an honest answer

The 42

14-06-2025

AS THE WORLD turns its attention to Wimbledon later this season, flags from nations big and small will flutter proudly across the grounds at SW19.
You'll see players from Finland, Norway, and Belgium, countries with similar populations to Ireland, competing on tennis's most prestigious stage. But you won't see the Irish flag. Not in the men's or women's draw, nor in the juniors. No Irish player will walk through the gates of SW19 on merit. And yet, let's be clear: we have the talent.
I had the privilege of coaching Conor Niland during his run to Wimbledon in 2011 and working with international players who have advanced deep into Grand Slam draws. I have seen Irish flags draped over Court 17, heard The Fields of Athenry echo from the stands, and felt the anticipation of a double break that might lead to a second-round match against Roger Federer on centre court.
So believe me when I say it is possible. We have done it before.
Garry Cahill.
Ironically, tennis in Ireland is experiencing a surge in popularity at the grassroots level.
Clubs are full, junior events are oversubscribed, and Tennis Ireland's recreational and inclusivity programmes are globally respected.
However, when it comes to producing elite players, the system falls short. So, the question we get asked every year around Wimbledon is, what's going wrong?
Let's dismantle some myths, starting with the most common: 'The weather isn't good
enough in Ireland.' Really? Is the climate in the UK, Finland, or Serbia dramatically better?
Weather may be a challenge, but it's not an excuse. One fundamental issue is infrastructure, not weather. Take Cork: it doesn't have a single indoor tennis court. That's a planning failure, not a weather issue.
Ireland reported just 60 indoor courts in 2002, mainly in Dublin. Although the number has increased slightly, the imbalance persists.
It's no surprise, then, that over 70% of semi-finalists at last year's Irish Junior Open came from within an hour of Dublin. Geography, not ability, is shaping opportunity.
Belgium has 1,365 indoor courts. Finland has 500. Norway? 216. Ireland still lags far behind. Until this changes, the door to Wimbledon will remain closed for most Irish players.
Another excuse: 'Our courts aren't right, we need clay.'
For years, artificial grass, – perfect for winter play, great for club members, but too fast for modern tennis – was blamed.
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Today, more clubs than ever have installed slower, artificial clay surfaces, but performance has declined.
A decade ago, Ireland had three men ranked inside the world's top 150. Now, none are in the top 500. Junior participation in Grand Slams? Zero. The surfaces improved but the results didn't.
I question how much it really matters what surface a child starts on if they can't access consistent, quality coaching year-round in an indoor setting as they develop.
Another excuse: 'The school system in Ireland doesn't allow for enough training.' Again, this doesn't hold up.
Emma Raducanu, Coco Gauff, and Jack Draper all continued their education.
Homeschooling and online options are growing for athletes, but the long-term benefits
remain unclear. I don't believe Ireland should build a system that asks families to gamble
their child's education on a 0.0001% chance of turning pro. Other sports have shown this can be done differently. Rugby, for example, integrates school and sport within the same setting, creating structures that support development and education. Why not tennis?
Here's another systemic flaw: passing the buck to the U.S. college system. It is common for Irish sport to rely on American universities to develop talent. However, this only works if players are getting recruited into the top NCAA Division I programmes, which they often aren't, because they aren't breaking through at the junior level in the first place.
Let's be honest, a Division III college in the U.S. won't turn you into a Grand Slam contender.
However, the college pathway can be an excellent route for many young players to stay
competing in the sport while pursuing a third-level education. However, we must first invest in junior development here at home to produce players who can compete for the top college spots.
Currently, Irish performance tennis operates on a third-world budget in a first-world economy.
Conor Niland waves to the crowd after losing his first round match at Wimbledon in 2011 - he is the last Irish player to appear in the main draw at the famous venue. Oli Scarff Oli Scarff
The Irish sport funding model heavily favours targeted Olympic sports, which makes sense for medals, but tennis, a global professional sport, gets left behind. This results- driven, targeted sport model may be logical, but it's also short-sighted.
Sports with strong Olympic medal prospects receive higher levels of funding, while others, like tennis, are left behind and currently receive no high-performance government support. Of course, credit where it's due: sports delivering Olympic success deserve significant investment and should be funded to compete with their international peers. However, this success-driven model risks deepening the divide, leaving emerging or non-Olympic sports, such as tennis, struggling to break through.
This approach also overlooks the wider value and reach of global sports like tennis, where success doesn't come in cycles but from sustained investment over time.
It also raises a broader question: how do we measure investment in Irish sport? Is it all about the Olympics? Do Irish citizens with talent in sports outside the Olympic targeted sports – like tennis, where we have our Olympics (grand slams) four times per year – not deserve the right to a shot at success?
When funding is tied solely to past results, it can become a barrier to future progress.
Of course, funding in sport should come from more than just government investment. Governing bodies have a responsibility to attract performance-targeted income and, where necessary, reallocate existing resources to build towards success even before that first breakthrough.
All it takes is one player to shift perception, raise standards, inspire the next generation, and unlock commercial interest. But that kind of breakthrough doesn't happen by chance. Investment must come first.
There is no doubt that role models matter in sport. Katie Taylor transformed women's boxing. Rory McIlroy redefined Irish golf. Tennis is still waiting.
Without the budget to replicate larger systems, in the meantime, we must create investment and invest smarter. Every country is different. But in tennis, there's a persistent tendency to copy successful nations like France, Spain, and the U.S. without accounting for our own context.
This 'copy-and-paste' model doesn't work. Instead, we need Ireland-specific solutions that reflect our culture, climate, and resources.
Yes, we can learn from others, but we must build a model that's ours. Performance coaching is central to this. Behind every tennis powerhouse is a network of excellent coaches.
In Ireland, too many talented coaches remain in the recreational space, not for lack of ambition, but because there's no viable path into high-performance work. We need innovative coaching pathways that develop, support, and retain coaches capable of guiding juniors from local promise to international potential. This takes time, investment, and vision.
Equally, we cannot ignore the pivotal role of parents. Judy Murray once sent a young Andy to Spain not because a national policy told her to, but because she saw what was needed. In smaller nations, tennis success is often less about systems and more about the sheer effort, sacrifice, and resilience of parents. In Ireland, parents are the system.
They choose the coaches, juggle education, arrange schedules, and fund international trips, usually with little guidance. If we're serious about producing champions, then we must resource and educate parents, not treat them as obstacles.
Real progress won't come from a single initiative or facility. It comes from building a system that recognises the complex web of decisions and sacrifices behind every elite player. No one's suggesting we're one silver bullet away from the next Roger Federer. But in a country where sport is so central to our identity, tennis should be more than a pastime.
It needs vision and ambition from the top down. Investment must be targeted and strategic, focused on aspects such as indoor infrastructure, coach development, and player pathways. Let's start with something simple: build indoor courts across the country, not just in Dublin, so that the next Irish Grand Slam contender has a chance, no matter where they're born.
Talent development isn't just about courts. It's about people.
It's about a system that supports consistent, informed decisions over time from athletes, coaches, and parents alike.
If we want to see an Irish player walk onto Centre Court, not just as a fan but as a contender, we need more than hope.
We need a plan.
Garry Cahill served as performance director of Tennis Ireland from 2008 to 2019. He is currently working as a professional tennis coach and is a doctoral student at DCU, completing research on talent development, with a focus on tennis.