Anna Smith has a wildcard into the main draw ! Great news for Anna, thought she was going to miss out due to her great results in NZ but not now
I guess that there must have been some kind of exchange between the LTA and Tennis Australia. Expect an Aussie girl to get a surprise wc for one of our challengers sometime this year.
Jade Curtis, Madelaine Brooks and Lucy Fletcher will be in the qualies which start on Sunday
ultimateshedman wrote: Btw, I'll be getting score updates from Perth tonight. Play starts at midnight so it's going to be something for the night owls !!
Did you fall asleep?!
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Jade had the easiest rd1 draw. She plays Mauritius' Marinne Giraud next in rd2. If Jade's going to get to the final qualies round she'll need to up her level massively as Giraud is ranked 610 (career high of 516) and Jade hasn't beaten anyone ranked that high for ages. Prior to this tournament, Giraud has just played two tournaments, 10Ks in Portugal. She lost in rd1 of Vale de Lobo and in qualies for Montechoro. She enjoyed a good 2006, making a final and 3 semis on the 10K circuit.
Lucy Fletcher has played Brycki 5 times now since October, lol Lucy won the first one 6-0, 6-2 but then the 17 year old Aussie won 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 in November and has won all 3 of their matches this year. The closest was in Hamilton qualies last week, Brycki won 6-2, 3-6, 6-0. Worryingly for Lucy, their encounters are getting progressively more one-sided.
Brycki has been in great form this year, qualifying for the Melbourne 25K and qualifying and winning rounds in Wellington and Hamilton. She came close to beating Anna Smith last week.
The Panda Bear wrote: Expect Dokic or someone at Wimbledon.
Lol, LTA seem absolutely hopeless at getting a good deal with Tennis Australia. Wouldn't be at all surprised if they've got us to swop a 25K wc for a slam wc
I remember in 2003 when Bally got a wc into the Aussie Open as a result of an LTA - TA deal, the arrangement was that two Aussies would get main draw wcs into Wimbledon while in exchange only 1 Brit got a main draw wc and the other got a qualies wc, talk about being short-changed.
The Panda Bear wrote: Expect Dokic or someone at Wimbledon. I remember in 2003 when Bally got a wc into the Aussie Open as a result of an LTA - TA deal, the arrangement was that two Aussies would get main draw wcs into Wimbledon while in exchange only 1 Brit got a main draw wc and the other got a qualies wc, talk about being short-changed.
What the hell are you talking about? One Aussie got a Main Draw WC (Stosur) and one got a Qualifying WC (Dellaqcua).
Mental note to self: always check stats before making a post in this section
I think it may have changed later on because I remember reading that Jan that 2 Aussies would be main draw wcs at Wimbledon and feeling outraged. Either that or maybe the BBC just got it wrong
Luckily Anna hasn't drawn a seed. Wheeler will be tough though, she's ranked 350 and has been as high as 147 (though that was back in 2003). Anna's a lot better than her current ranking, her playing strength is more like a top 400 player so it could be close. Wheeler made the final of a 25K in Melbourne in mid-Feb (the field was pretty weak though), she beat Jade Curtis 1 and 1 in rd1 there. Wheeler's best results of 2006 were quarters of two 25Ks, she beat Dani Brown, Melissa Berry and Jessica Jackson in the summer.