Wimbledon WC's

Salmon · Tennis legend

RE: Wimbledon WC's

Bladetiger · Pro player

Arka wrote:

Boggo
Baker
Bloomers
Kasiri
Ward
Cox
Evans
Play off

Come off it, Arka, let the lads win a couple of games at Challenger level before you throw them to the wolves.

No one outside top 500 should be considered in my view, unless they have shown world class potential.

At this stage,I'd say

Baker
Boggo
Bloomers
Goodall/ Slabba

with opportunity for Kasiri, Seator and Ward if they show they might be able to live at that level, but I'd want to see at least a sign they could qualify for a challenger or win a round before putting them in at grand slam level.

-- Edited by Bladetiger at 21:27, 2008-02-21

Bladetiger · Pro player

Count Zero wrote:

its also quite close to snatch which is a negativeish term.

Are you sure, it's one of the most positive words I know! wink

Salmon · Tennis legend

Yeah, I know that there's a good chance of them getting thumped 6-1 6-2 6-1 or something like that, but honestly I'm not sure if Seator, Kasiri or Ward (with all due respect to them) are capable of doing much more than that at the moment.

And I don't want them to go to non-Brits (unless they are traded).

Salmon · Tennis legend

And besides, miracles happen at times. Janowicz beat Mahut last month and I'm quite sure that both Evo and Cox are better than him (or at least were last year). Sometimes you have to take chances with young players...

After all, barring Boggo and Baker (and Bloomers, Josh and Marray to some extent), no one has more than 10% chance of winning a match. I think that when you're gambling, you should choose younger players.

But of course, I agree that they shouldn't be given WCs unless they do wll at Futures/Challenger level.

DJ · County player

johnnylad wrote:

Never heard of "Natch". (26 years old by the way for the polls!)

From my perspective, 26 is positively adolescent!

steven · Tennis legend

"Are you sure, it's one of the most positive words I know!"

Talking of adolescents, you can always trust Toby to lower the tone, can't you. Moving on ...

Count Zero wrote:
as for seator, i wouldnt worry about home or abroad. the coverage tennis gets here means that it doesnt matter where you play.

I read it as Jezza meaning that he hoped that the LTA would have heard of him. aww

We know Paul Hutchins has, so hopefully he'll get what he deserves, whether that's a MD WC or a Q WC.

However, if attracting the crowds is what people are worried about, we could just hope a certain journo is doing his research here again (where's the wicked grin emoticon when you need it?) and decides the lack of balls in Nigeria is a worthwhile follow-up to the lack of racquets in Chile ...

He could then cover it in a serious way as another story about the LTA being left behind (i.e. even Nigeria have a proper website for their Futures and they don't have even 1% of the cash the LTA has ... you know the way it goes wink

) but here's a brave, enterprising GB player doing the African safari tour off his own bat in his quest to hit the (shhh ... you know what), even surviving his balls getting ''chopped" in the process.

The tabloids could pick up on the last bit and run it with their usual bending (more like snapping) of the truth (there's even an opportunity for the obligatory dodgy mention of sharia law) under the headline "British tennis ace gets balls lopped off in Nigeria" (sorry, that's a bit long, Toby can probably do better) and Bob's your uncle - curiosity value guaranteed!

Even if he lost, the LTA could say that at least they only give WCs to players so dedicated that they're willing to become a eunuch just to get a few ranking points!

Um ... I'll get my coat (and head back to the asylum) now. biggrin

-- Edited by steven at 01:08, 2008-02-22

gazzpash · Club Coach

I would give one to Baker and Boggo as they are the players most likely to do something. I know Boggo hasnt in the past, but now he has Gilbert as coach the Lt would want to show some kind of return on investment.

As for the others, unless Goodhall and Bloomers improve their rankings then I cant see them recieving one. I would like to see Marray get one if back fit.

It would be interesting to see how the next bunch of players perform. I think Kasari has a shout as on the up and been Wimbledon Juniors final before. Slabba is starting to take in Challengers so hopefully he'll get one. And also Seator and Ward are taking big strides this week into Top 500. If they continue to rise then why not.

The 2 big outsiders are Eaton and Skupski and Eaton. Ken's shown what he can do in only 6 months on the circuit. Hopefully he'll get given at least WC to quallies. As for Eaton he got to 2nd round quallies and faired well against Zverev. Again have to see how he does for the year.

I would also suggest telling the youngsters a WC will be given to the top performing for the year so far, giving them a target and a goal.

Just a stab in the dark, but would Fleming be back playing as well by Wimbledon?

Therefore I would give my WC to: Baker, Boggo, Slabba, Marray, Kasari, youngster and either Seator, Ward, Skupski or Blooms

jezzauk · Lower Club Player

steven wrote:

Count Zero wrote:
as for seator, i wouldnt worry about home or abroad. the coverage tennis gets here means that it doesnt matter where you play.
I read it as Jezza meaning that he hoped that the LTA would have heard of him. We know Paul Hutchins has, so hopefully he'll get what he deserves, whether that's a MD WC or a Q WC.

_________________________________________________________

Yeah that is what i meant. I certainly wouldn't expect most brits to have heard of him fine, but i'm sure i remember a couple of occasions when various lower ranked players have been mentioned to LTA people in interviews and they've replied they've not heard of them. Can't remember examples though . It may have been Andrew Castle come to think of it. You get my point though.

As for play offs, didn't they get dropped last year? They had the potential to be good, but generally just meant extra matches to be played at the possible expense of tournament play. If the qualies started a couple of days later, then wildcard playoffs could be played mon / tues. With some of the losers either entering qualies out right or filling the wc slots in the qualies.