Jeanpierre must be good though - he beat James Ward 6-4 6-0 this year!

I have to say im founding this conersation bewildering. How many times have either Arka or 'JohnnyLad' seen Cox or Evo Play. Im assuming GoldenSlam as seen a lot more of him then both of you have? It seems to me that you basing your entire opinions on sets of results and a schedule. Whereas GoldenSlam seems like hes had contact with Cox, don't you think he knows a little bit more the both of you?

But we are taking into account attitudes towards matches. One of you principle arguments is that Dan is perhaps lacking motivation to play juniors. I don't think results on their own could give accurate measurement about wether someone is up for the match or not. Therefore I would say Golden Slams input here is invaluable in figuring out what exactly is wrong with Dan's game atm.

It's also fair to suggest that just because you dont neccessarily want to play somewhere doesn't mean you dont try you hardest to do well. Theres plenty of guys playing futures really worried about accomadation and their saefty in a foreign country, but still try their hardest to get result. If Dan is not trying his hardest in theses games because he wants to play mens or doesn't fancy the junior environment, and this is pure speculation on my part, then he really has no future in this sport.

Lets also not forget, Dan is his own man, the lta can't force him to play anywhere that he doesn't want to. If he really feels he is ready then I'm sure he will stand up and say so, I am sure the lta would back this. Dan could have had a lot of influence over these sechduling., whose to say he doesn't want to play juniors.

-- Edited by XCW4EVA at 17:15, 2008-05-26

I know, Im not disagreeing per se, I just felt that people were disregarding what GoldenSlam was saying. When to be perfectly honest, hes far more likely to have an accurate opinion on the subject, we merely, are just speculating.

And it goes without saying that I hope that Goldenslam is right.

Dan as do all players working within the LTA have a huge say in their own tournament planning. One of the pathways to the top, set out in the blue print, having been researched indepth was to have players competing at the junior grand slams in their final junior year at the latest.
Now Dan was not ranked high enough to get in to Roland Garros/Wimbledon a couple of months back so his plan was changed to enable him to pick up some wins & some points at junior level to gain DA in to those events, as well as pick up some much needed match confidence to carry over to futures events, now I hope you can see it is long term plan made up of short term goals such as these.

Dan is now entering the phase of his periodised plan where I suspect he is looking to peak for Roland Garros, Roehampton, Wimbledon - he will also play Nottingham Q's as well as the British grass court futures.
He now has a huge oppotunity to play the main bulk of his matches for this year in a shot space of time, which is both taxing mentally & physically but will enable to him to go skywards with success, as we all hope Dan Evans & Smethurst do too.

After Wimbledon the only junior events you are likely to see these guys in are the Euros, Canada G1 & the US Open. For financial/sponsorship reasons if any of our British guys have a chance of finishing top ten then they may take in Osaka, Eddie Herr & Orange Bowl but I can assure you that they will be playing far more futures from Wimbledon onwards - you could look at it this way, that the first half of the year has been preparation for the next 12 months.

I would like to finish by saying that whether Dan reaches the top 10 ATP or stays where he is, it comes down to one person & that is Dan himself, he has the oppotunity to work with some truely world class coaches but what ever  advise is giving to him, can only be delivered on the match court by Dan himself.

In Britain we enjoy the fall back on the LTA or the coaches if things dont go how we had hoped but the truth is the player is the one in control on the match court, where ultimately the are judged & make a career for themselves.
I would like to see in the future players, parents, fans etc encourging the player to take control & accountabilty for what is happening on the match court.

The coaches our British players get to work with have worked with several grand slam champions & world number ones, so it is obvious it is not the coaches! I was fortunate enough to work with a Russian coach who again was blamed for not producing but the truth is, she worked players harder than anyone ever before or since but was realeased & within a few months was sitting in the box of her new player at the final of the French Open!!!
We have the expert coaches & the talented players but we need to stop as players & fans expecting the coaches to do it all!! Coaches BUILD players, players MAKE players!!!

Unfortunately Niall joined Cox on the sidelines in R1 losing 7/5 5/7 6/3 to SPIR JUAN-CARLOS (COL)

But Thompson pulls another cracker out of the bag defeating 4th seed and #8 ranked MARCELO AREVALO from El Salvador 6/1 7/5


In the girls draw

Amy Askew lost to Bartnik 6-0 6-3

Emily Askew lost 6-3 6-0

Jade won R2 6-3 6-3 against KATARENA PALIIVETS of Belguim and now faces PITER KATARZYNA (POL) the 6th seed.