Boggo and Goodall get Queen's Wild Cards.

imoen · Admin: Moderator+Tennis Legend

RE: Boggo and Goodall get Queen's Wild Cards.

Salmon · Tennis legend

Yeah, I get your point but Jamie should improve his singles game for the sake of the DC team. A freak injury or two and maybe he'd need to play a live rubber someday. And although dead ones don't matter, I'm sure we prefer 5-0 to of 4-1!

Sheddie · administrator

If that's the case it's a stupid decision to be quite honest..........

Tbh, Jamie Murray would probably lose in straights on grass to Boggo, Goodall, Slabba and Bloomfield....I don't think he'll fare any better in the elite Queens field. He's a fantastic doubles player but doesn't move well enough laterally for singles and doesn't serve big enough to win with serve-volley on a singles court.

The final wildcard choice is obvious - it should go to Slabba....for some reason he seems to be overlooked in these wc debates even though he's the British no 5 so next in line, has increased his ranking over 500 places in the past year (more than most Brits), has a great game for fast courts - huge serve and forehand and beat Bloomfield in straights in their last match.

Ok Bloomfield's won a Wimbledon match in the past but he's not having a great season apart from a couple of weeks in Sunderland and Bath, is now 370ish and could drop out of the top 400 unless he has another good Surbiton.

Don't get me wrong, I want to see Bloomfield back at his best and in the top 200 where he should be but his game seems to have gone downhill this year, he's got that mammoth serve but the baseline game doesn't cut the mustard atm for top 250 players, still remains as erratic as 2 years ago. He had his chances last year in the ATPs and I'd definately give him a Wimbledon wildcard but for the two ATPs I'd give Slabba a shot at the big time....Bloomfield's easily capable of coming through both qualifying sections on grass anyway

If the LTA want to make some kind of statement by giving the final wildcard to an unranked player then give it to Jonny Marray (after all he made rd3 in 2004 and never got a return chance the following year)

Salmon · Tennis legend

I'm not sure if Jamie would lose to Goodall or Slabba. He took a set off Haase, so is probably a much improved player than was in 2006, and the crowd would all be behind him.

Don't get me wrong... I'd of course prefer it if it went to Bloomers or Slabba.

-- Edited by Greenleaf at 23:26, 2008-05-25

Sheddie · administrator

Hmmm, I'm fairly sure he wouldn't beat either.....he didn't make it past a futures quarter-final before he became a doubles specialist full-time in early 06.....forehand and returns have definately improved with all the doubles but I still doubt he'd win a futures title now

and also, the grass is a lot slower (with the exception of Wimbledon qualifying courts) than the fast indoor surface where he played Haase.......and in that match he was playing off a huge adrenaline high having won that doubles rubber the day before

Salmon · Tennis legend

He wouldn't beat either at a Futures, I'm sure, but if say he faced Slabs at Wimbly, I won't be shocked if he got it.

Anyway, I can't prove it.

But you have to agree with the DC point. Jamie surely should improve his singles play, whether he takes a WC or not. He probably has more than a decade of ties left ahead of him and it's quite possible that someday, somehow, he'll need to win a match that matters.

Salmon · Tennis legend

Actually looking at Jamie's recent record, he isn't that bad, you know.

Jan 2008 - lost to Granollers-Pujol by 4 and 2 on clay. That's probably more than what every single Brit barring Andy, Boggo and Baker would manage.

Jun 2007 - lost by 2 and 6 to Delgado on grass. Of course I don't need to say much about Delgy on grass so that wasn't very bad, eh?

April 2007 - lost in three sets to Haase. I am not sure if anyone barring Andy and Boggo could take a set off Haase.

Dec 2006 - beat Levinsky (once ranked 239 but quit singles for doubles) by 4 and 4.

lost to Cakl by 4 and 1. Okay, bad loss...

Sep 2006 - lost to Zverev by 6 and 1. Again, more than what most Brits can manage.

And those aren't his best results or anything. They are his last five tournaments.

Those aren't the results of the player of a career high of 834, you know...

Of course, it's all wishful thinking. Jamie will probably never make a comeback.

Salmon · Tennis legend

This is what the piece in The Times says -

"I would think that Denis Istomin, an Uzbek who received a wild card into the main draw at the Australian Open this year, or Pablo Cuevas, doing his bit to put Uruguay on the map may come into consideration and, of course, there is the blindly optimistic wave of support for lower-ranked Brits whose world ranking is upwardly mobile - in the past year Alex Slabinsky leapt almost 60 places, James Ward is up over 80 spots and Ken Skupski has risen 77 places.

Imagine the Net Post's astonishment to discover then that the fifth spot in the second most prestigious grass court tournament in the world may go to a Wimbledon champion who has not played singles match on the tour proper since an ATP Futures in Cuba in 2005 and who does not, now, possess a singles ranking. Step forward Jamie Murray!"

Harman's normally very good with WC info. I remember when he said that Henman would get one into Paris, but his name wasn't in the draw and it turned out that Tim was sick or had a minor injury or something like that.

Count Zero · Tennis legend

if jamies want to restart his singles career thats fine, bit it sohuld be in the qualies. give him a queens Q WC i have no probs with that. (do we think he will still be at the french that late?)

also wasnt the hasse match a dead rubber?

i wodner if queens are doing this, if it turns out to be true, just to get more support? i think its well attended anyway tho.

Salmon · Tennis legend

Yes, the Haase match was a dead rubber.

And I agree that he should be getting a qualies WC and the main draw one should go to Bloomers or Slabba.

-- Edited by Greenleaf at 08:10, 2008-05-26

Sheddie · administrator

Harman badly needs to get his ranking facts right before being quite so cynical !!!

In the past year......

Slabinsky has risen around 500 places

Ward has risen 400-450 places

Skupski has gone from unranked to top 600

johnnylad · Tennis legend

I think if we took Harman's statement to mean, "since January 1st..." the figures would be correct.

But I agree that the last calendar year is more indicative...

steven · Tennis legend

What on earth is the point of giving a precious Queen's singles WC to a player who doesn't give two hoots about his singles ranking?

Count Zero · Tennis legend

daily mail has an interview with jamie, confirms he has requested singles WC's for both queens ans wimby. for the aparent reason of cause he feels like it, and aparently all the other singles players are c**p and he cant do much worse. well in that case why dont you go out and get a proper singles ranking!!!

this has really annyoed me, in some ways i hope he gets his WC and gets absoulutly trashed by some top 100 journeyman

steven · Tennis legend

If he really said that, he's even more arrogant than I thought. They probably twisted what he said to suit the story, but even so, how pointless it would be to give him a WC if he's not thinking of playing singles regularly again.

Edit: Well done to Paul Hutchins for saying: "Jamie is entitled to ask for a wildcard and Ive got nothing against that, but I cannot recommend him for one because it has to be my job to promote players who are committed to playing singles. Its a matter for Wimbledon."

-- Edited by steven at 22:30, 2008-05-26