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Post Info TOPIC: Meeting with LTA Chief Exec


All-time great

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Meeting with LTA Chief Exec


One thing that struck me recently was why doesn't GB involve itself in some of the Wild card swap systems the Grand slams have between the different countries? eg Australia awards US and France the right to have a WC, the French similarly (US example below)

www.usta.com/content/dam/usta/pdfs/2018%20Roland%20Garros%20Wild%20Card%20Challenge%20-%20Men.pdf

GB doesnt do this - given the debate that we don't fill all of our wild cards, and probably wont on the mens this year, might it not be more beneficial to give 3 of our cards to France, Australia and US (keeping 5) and then take a card into their events. Cam or Liam might have taken one in Australia, if looking at France Liam or Jay might be in line and perhaps Gabi or Katy Boulter on the ladies side.

Might this in fact be better for our players rather than taking someone ranked outside the top 300/400 who probably has no place at a GS maindraw and promoting them above their ability , when they might just be better off with a QWC??

thanks

Jon

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JonH


Tennis legend

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It's bad enough the other Grand Slam nations do that, glad we're not part of it.

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All-time great

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wolf wrote:

It's bad enough the other Grand Slam nations do that, glad we're not part of it.


 I guess that is down to preference. I would certainly favour a points linked system around the Challenger events at the very least to determine who gets a wildcard, even if GB players only. We now have 5 events before Wimbledon, if we took the best 2 or 3 results across them and allocated a wild card on that basis, even if just to Wimbledon, I think it would focus much more on evidenced performance rather than just who ever is flavour of the month, as well as creating a narrative across those events.   



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JonH


ATP qualifying

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We certainly used to do a swap with Australia because Bally got it one year.



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County player

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It depends what your policy is. It seems to be somewhat nebulous. There doesn't appear to be any formal arrangement with other grand slams although, as you say, there have been swap arrangements in the past.

In America, the player development people make decisons on wild cards and you can understand why they would be interested in the red stuff at Roland Garros. Here, there's an additional policy of promoting 'British interest' to consider: a broad term if ever there were, hence the parachuting in of a three stone overweight clown into the 2017 qualifying tournament, no doubt stimulated by his centrefold appearance in Hello magazine. Can't see that as a serious, player development decision, myself. But there again, didn't Tim Henman get his OBE on some anonymous civil servant's opinion that he would 'add a touch of interest' to that particular year's list? It seems to be the British way.

Presently, we have an LTA wild card committee which makes recommendations to another committee, a Wimbledon one - which makes the actual awards. There's more committee members involved than there are wild cards. One person could do that job quite competently, any one on this forum even. There's no player base to justify multiple committees or the application of rocket science.




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