DavidC wrote:

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Excellent win, which should take Heather to the third highest 1992 girl in the rankings (admittedly not a stellar year) and mean that one win in US Open qualifying will probably be enough for top 200

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Yes, maybe 1992 not a stellar year, but as well as now being 3rd from that year,  being slightly younger than the two that I think will still be ahead of her ( Christina McHale, current WR 158, and Karolina Pliskova WR 207 ), she should in fact overall now have only two younger players ahead of her in the rankings ( 1993 girls Ajla Tomljanovic 07/05/93 WR 162 and Michelle Larcher De Brito 29/01/93 WR 177 ).  She has progressed and matured so impressively as the year has gone on and has certainly already generally well surpassed some predictions for this year, including my own.  I have the impression that she must have caught and overtaken quite a lot of players of a similar age over the year to date. 

So we will now have Heather with likely only two younger girls ahead of her in the rankings, and Laura with no younger players ahead of her.  Great stuff 

Both these players are already playing pretty well inside top 200 level with over their full senior careers to date practically as many wins as losses against top 200 players.  In actuality their moves into the top 200 and then later into the top 100 must only be a matter of time.

I did think at the start of the year Heather would be a top 100 player in time anyway.  Let's just say that now looks playing very conservative 

-- Edited by indiana on Sunday 25th of July 2010 04:29:34 PM

Had a busy sunday, and this is superb news to come home to.
Nobody managed to take Heather past 4 games in a set this tourney, and with Mirza having thrashed every other opponent on her way to the final, I thought it would be close. However, cleary, Heather is already playing above the level she is ranked. I'm hopeful she will finish the year inside top 175, then next year break into top 100.

Congrats.

Final thoughts on my week down in Wrexham:
Firstly I thought the tournament was run very efficiently, never heard any complaints from any of the players. Thanks to the great indoor facilities the dreadful weather only meant the tournament was 50% indoors/ 50% outdoors and not affected schedule wise. The outdoor courts were excellent to view, but alas the indoor courts were not conducive to watching apart from the court nearest the eating area and even then you could hear no sound and so no scores from the umpire.

After watching several players in action and witnessing their attitudes off court etc., I'm going to select 5 players who I feel are going to make real progress over the next few months.

1. Anna F- maybe a surprising call but she is too talented a player not to make further progress up the rankings. She hits the ball with effortless ease and if she can just cut out some of the basic errors and maybe become a bit more tougher mentally, I predict top 400 sooner rather than later.
2. Tara Moore- Very very impressed with her ball striking ability and was only just missing the lines with her fiercesome groundstrokes when they did go out. Should have without doubt beaten Lisa and if she can get her mental focus right top 350 is easily within her capabilities.
3. Daneika Borthwick- She has really raised her level since I saw her last summer. She is training really hard and pushed Lisa to the max so I see her gaining a ranking( she needs two more scoring events) and then pushing into the top 800 by the end of the year.
4. Fran Stephenson - You've gotto love her no nonsense attitude and she displays plenty of power for someone relatively small in stature. Top 700 by the end of the year is my prediction.
5. Yasmin Clarke- Maybe another surprising choice but assuming she continues to lose a few more pounds , her on court never say die attitude will leave her in good stead to make real progress up the ranking charts . Top 800 by the end of the year is my prediction. Clearly very happy to be back playing serious tennis again.

Hopefully haven't put a mocker on these above players making these predictions.

How do you pronounce Emma Laine's surname ?

Like to learn too, and in case I bump into her one day   

Julia Carrot wrote:

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Philwrig wrote:

Really wished I'd stayed now. Was Heather just getting everything back, making no errors etc., . She seems to have the ability as well at times to suddenly raise her level, which really gets me excited about her future. All week the only people watching were local members, tournament staff, other players and coaches. It's a shame the event wasn't advertised so that more people got the chance to watch.

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Yes, I wondered if you were there today - having much appreciated your reports this week.

Firstly, my opinion is not an expert one - I've only just started watching professional tennis live in the last 10 months - and I am very  easily impressed !!!!

But in answer to your  question - yes I would say she was pretty much getting everything thing back, and like I said, winning most/many of the rallies.  In the first set, particularly the first half, she was definitely the more powerful player - Sania having difficulty controlling Heather's returns despite what looked to be a pretty fast serve.

Yes, it is a shame it wasn't advertised more - but it sounds as though there were more outsiders there today than had been  earlier in the week. Quite a few older folk (like me!) in the car park and all agreed it was a 'good' final.

Now for a few pics - not too good though, sorry.

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At least there was someone there to give us a decent insight into the match.
I also think its fair to say that the average age of the crowd wouldn't have been brought down too far if I'd stuck around the final.

 

I thought exactly the same as you about Laine. When I heard the umpire introduce her last week I had to check the order of play to see who he was actually referring to. I only went twice to Woking and it was later on when not as many players were left but there seemed to be quite a few coaches around, not just for the British players. There were a couple from Gosling for Babos, Barthel travelled with her Mum and the Uzbekistani who reached the semis also had a coach with her.

Don't think that players normally get the hotel provided for them. I stayed overnight at Nottingham in the same one as a few of the players and it didn't appear as though it was provided free of charge as Mel was booking in just ahead of me.

I know Lisa tweeted about it but Laura must have stayed at home during the week as I saw her at Thorpe Park today. My new claim to fame is being on the same rollercoaster as Laura, Lisa, Jo Henderson and I think Sian Bayliss while Joss Rae and someone I didn't recognise didn't fancy it and waited with the bags at the exit!