My choices for wild cards....



I guess that the ones who are confirmed because of their high rankings are -

Dan Cox (can get a direct entry).
Graeme Dyce.
Neil Pauffley.
Josh Milton.
Marcus Willis.


For winning the Nationals -

Tim Hewitt.



It's tough to decide on the other two because no one stands out in that sense. I guess that it's between Matt James, Dan Smethurst, Michael Thompson and Sean Thornley.

I don't know if Lewis plans to take part.

-- Edited by Arka at 23:00, 2007-05-29

Not much, I'm afraid.


While the LTA and the AELTC do have points (which are rubbish in any case) with not awarding wild cards to people outside the ATP top 200, awarding wild cards to non Brits in Juniors is just a little short of heresy.


People aren't even bothered with Juniors, so there's no chance that they'll sell even a single ticket in that way. And since grass is something alien to most young foreign players, British wild cards probably have a greater chance of winning a round or two than quite a few direct entrants.


Last year they gave Bessam Beidas of Lebanon a wild card.
There should be a limit to how stupid tournament directors can get. 

-- Edited by Arka at 01:04, 2007-05-30

Well, maybe the advantage is more psychological than training related, but I think that Brits do far better on grass than people from other countries.

Atkinson took the title at Queen's last year after beating players who were far better than him. Plus the wild cards at Roehampton and Wimbledon were mostly impressive against superior players.

And even at Futures! Five of the eight semifinalists at the two grass Futures in 2006 were Brits.

-- Edited by Arka at 22:03, 2007-05-30

I think that Cox now gets the SE spot and someone else can have the wild card.


Qualies first round is tomorrow.

Yep, James gets it from what I know.

Niall Angus

David Rice [32] vs. Roberto Maytin [50] of Venezuela

Rice, who missed two weeks of tennis with a wrist injury, has a good first round draw against a clay courter. Maytin has lost both of his international matches on grass so far.


Niall Angus [416] vs. Thomas Fabbiano [14] of Italy

Fabbiano is in great form as he reached the last eight stage this week. Angus will need to do something very special to win.


Sean Thornley [Unr] vs. Rupesh Roy [48] of India

Roy is one of the few players in the Junior circuit who can be classified as a grass specialist. He has two Grade 3 titles on this surface.


Marcus Willis [177] vs. Hsien-Yin Peng [19] of Taipei

Peng is pretty good, but his ranking is badly inflated with points that he won in weak Asian tourneys. Milton beat him this week and I'm sure that Marcus can do it, too.


Graeme Dyce [59] vs. Daniel Alejandro-Lopez [41] of Italy

Lopez thrives on clay but he is definitely capable of winning matches on grass. Last year he won a round out here and then nearly beat Robin Roshardt. Dyce will need to play very well to win this.


Josua Milton [163] vs. Andrej Martin [112] of Slovakia

Josh is in good form but Martin is very good on grass. He reached the second round of singles and the finals of doubles last year. Plus he won the Roehampton doubles title last year.


Daniel Cox [58] vs. Cesar Ramirez [54] of Mexico

Ramirez is a clay specialist who has lost both of his matches on grass this year. Cox should win if he plays properly.




Will post the other rankings and stuff later on.