[Adrian]

Taylor Dent has decided that Australia is his home and will be the country he plays for in the future...


"Although the USTA has injected funds into my career, the USTA was handesomely repaid by The Australian Federation"


I'm not sure what that means...maybe the Aussie Federation underwrote Americas involement in his career.

 

[V.Melb]

Well, its all about Money in the end isn' it?
At the start of this year he was saying how America is very much his home and he grew up there - indicating that essentially he is American. ..... but not anymore!

 

[Adrian]

Um...I like Taylor...so whatever turns his groove

 

[Lindsayfan]

puaffff i dont like ppl who change nationality just for money.he always lived and practised in USA,i dont understand why he must change.

 

[V.Melb]

yeah .... i don't have much respect for him though. Great for Australia. But he was soooo keen on staying American .... and now he just jumps countries as he sees fit!
He showed absolutely NO indication that he wanted to play for Australia just a few months ago. But he was smart coz he kinda left the door open to play for Aus at the same time

 

[Tammy]

i think he changed because he realized that more than likely he wouldn't get chosen for the us fed cup team.. smart move on his part atleast he is assured he gets to play fed cup now...

 

[irma]

a lot of people are annoyed by the hype around Andy Roddick, me including but at least he is in the top 20, what`s the hype about this man? okee he is cute but he never achieved anything till now

 

[V.Melb]

Yes...... he would have NO chance of playing Fed cup for any country in the world IMO.
But he maybe could make the doubles with Venus or Raymond.

cough.

 

[Tammy]

the only hype about dent is his "big serve" but he needs much more of a game before he would even get a second thought about being placed on usa fed cup team.. anyhow i'm fine with him going to play for austrailia but he better not still claim how american he is because thats just two-faced..

 

[RayRob]

Yes, Taylor Dent would look lovely in a skirt playing in the Fed Cup

LOL

 

[Wally]

LOveryL @ RayRob!

i wanted to say something similar to that!

 

[SM]

taylor dent sucked up the USTA's funds for player development , a la dokic with australia.....and departed
only difference was jelena lived in yugoslavia till age 12 , and wasnt taylor only half aussie !.....so i think jelenas case is more justified

 

[Pureracket]

With this recent tide of American nationalism/patriotism, Taylor may hear a few heckles in the stands from some of the American fans in his next tournament in the US.

 

[Aloysius]

I don't know about this one. But I suppose if I were in Taylor's shoes, I'd sort of see it this way; "If I was John Fitzgerald, and I had a choice between Andrew Ilie and myself, whom would I be more likely to select for a possible Davis Cup singles berth should I be needed?" And "If I were Patrick McEnroe, would I select me before Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Jan-Michael Gambill, Andy Roddick, Todd Martin or James Blake for a Davis Cup singles berth? Or perhaps, "Where's da party at?"

But seriously, the Australian players have a closer-knit circle and are more likely to help each other to improve on the tour (a la Newk-Roche-Rafter-Hewitt). It's rarer to see American legends and/or current stars helping out the up-and-coming players. I can see why he'd want to switch nationalities, but the sudden about-face is very odd? I personally wouldn't have done it after declaring that I was American born and bred. It's kind of like a slap in the face to the USTA. But then again, if it helps me to improve my tennis and gives me more recognition, then maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea.

 

[BK4ever]

TRAITOR...is all I have to say. I'm sick of all these players who benefit from federation/association funds and them behave in this manner. It bodes very badly for other up and comers.

Soon you will see associations making players sign loyalty contracts, much like IMG and Octagon does for the players they support at Bollietieri and Saddlebrook.

 

[BK4ever]

BTW Aloysious, Blake, Roddick, Mardy Fish and other young players have talked extensively about the help that has been given to them by older American players, especially Todd Martin and Courier. Blake has repeated said that he owes alot of his development over the last year to Todd and Couriers involvement in his training.

 

[Tammy]

to put it bluntly dent wasn't good enough to be on the us team therefore he resorted to going to oz because he knew they would take him after he knew he got rejected by the american team.. because clearly if they would put him on the us team he would play for the usa over oz any day but he wasn't good enough.. so he had to go with who would take him..

.. i think its wrong on his part but he was "desperate" to play..good luck to him anyways ..

 

[BrianII]

BK4ever .... I like your consistency at least with you its a principle ( and don't worry Aussies can buy whatever other American rejects they want as they won't be missed much here anyway).
Just amazing isn't it how cetain Aussie posters throw a hissy fit and get their knickers in a twist when Jelena leaves Australia for the country of her birth and where she started to play tennis....(and not for money ,mind you) ..then they do an about face when their country purchases a player from another federation.....no matter though, america must have turned a tidy profit from this deal.

 

[VSFan1 aka Joshua L.]

National pride is what you feel in your heart......I hope he truly feels that Australia is his home.

Another Kim Po.........

 

[Scotso]

It must be about money, if he wanted to be #1 in a country Australia isn't the best choice... i.e. Lleyton Hewitt would be in his way! However, if he doesn't want to play for the US that's his decision, I never liked him anyway.