Science could help search for the next Andy Murray

Grouping young tennis players according to their physical maturity rather than their chronological age could help us develop our future tennis champions, says research by the University of Bath. Boys and girls can vastly vary in their rates of growth and maturity during adolescence. Those that mature early are taller, quicker, bigger and stronger, giving them a significant advantage over their late maturing peers. This means that later maturing players are often overlooked in the elite tennis selection process. Now the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) is collaborating with scientists at the University of Bath to use statistics to avoid selection bias towards early maturing players. Assessing the talent of tomorrow. Dr Sean Cumming , Senior Lecturer in Health at the University of Bath commented: "Tennis is a sport that favours youth who are taller and mature earlier than their peers.