I know we're not quite there yet but just to note that Eleanor Dean seems to be on the acceptance list for the 10k in Portugal.

So hopefully this is the start of her return to ITF events, after a pretty successful show at the two British Tour events.

It hopefully also means that whatever was the reason for Ellie's retirement in her match in Sutton, it was nothing too serious.

NB Lots of other British girls out in the Azores too - looks like it'll be a fun time !

Looking at the list for Portugal - a fully fit Eleanor Dean could actually win the tournament. The event is really weak and there is no-one that I can see that would be a major issue for Miss Dean.
In fact it is that weak that Lisa Phillips has made main draw. Having seen Lisa play a few times, I'm not convinced she is ready to play ITF regularly yet. (Similar level to Lily Gohdrati, who I also categorise as not ready for ITF yet)

I believe Lisa left school after GCSEs and did not do A levels.  I seem to recall something along the lines of her school would not compromise and allow her to do less than 4 (at least that number to AS level) and so she decided to call it a day on education (you only need 2 for US uni + the right GCSEs).  She may have done A levels since by distance learning but I suspect she has a gap in education now which would make US college difficult.  My understanding is that she is having a serious go at being a full time tennis player.  In fairness to Lisa, I think she was a relative latecomer to the sport and so it's not surprising to see her bumping around at the bottom for a while before (hopefully) making some progress.  I'm not sure if I've got the right player here, but at one stage she may have been considering umpiring as a career.

Absentees from previous update - Laura Deigman and Emily Arbuthnott

Alex Ward seems to be hedging his bets for challengers

Table updated

There's a 25k+H in France and a 10k+H in Italy this week.

And yet no GB entrants.

Seems surprising when they're both reasonably close and so many players complain about the cost of board and lodging and want more +H competitions.

Coup Droit wrote:

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There's a 25k+H in France and a 10k+H in Italy this week.

And yet no GB entrants.

Seems surprising when they're both reasonably close and so many players complain about the cost of board and lodging and want more +H competitions.

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It is very surprising indeed, but the overall entry for the French tournament isn't very strong - 947 ranking gets into main draw and half the qualifiers are unranked. Looks more like a 10k, apart from the top 16 players.

Actually there is one made it into qualifying - KIVANDA, Sizya Ernest UNR CH1880, and two alternates (out of only 4), ALLI-FULANIA,Oluwatobi  UNR and TRIBE, Lee UNR

I'm a bit mystified at the low number of Brits in 10Ks and 25Ks in the last couple of weeks. None of the GB no. 7-16 women have played on the ITF Pro Circuit since week 32, though Katie Swan has been playing junior events.

It's a particular pity next week (i.e. week 36, the one on this thread) given how unusually weak many of the entry lists are, though that must mean it's not just the middle-ranking Brits who aren't going to be that active on the circuit next week.