Liverpool International Tennis 2008.

Salmon · Tennis legend

Liverpool International Tennis 2008.

johnnylad · Tennis legend

I've been to this tournament and tho there's no ranking points rendering it "nonsense" in your eyes I think it is excellent and a great way to guarantee grass court matches against top class opposition.

Ken gets in through family/local ties and although the line up is not as impressive as it has been in previous years I think he could really boost his cinfidence here.

I remember 2/3 years ago Nole played Youzhny in the final and since then they have really both made more of an impact on grass. And what a match that was by the way!

The other thing is that with the Nottingham tournament up for tender after this year this will be a front runner as the organiser is minted and desperate to make it a ranking tournament.

It will stand Ken in good stead for WC's if and when it is made an ATP event.

You never know, if he beats Malisse he might get the final WC spot for Queens!

Last year they persuaded Borg to play but he got injured. This years headline grabber is Tomic.

Salmon · Tennis legend

Sorry if that offended you. It wasn't a very serious tag!

Anyway, I'm never for players going for exhos instead of proper tournaments. But then, it is possible that they're paying Skupski some money for this given he's made a good impact in the last twelve months, so maybe there's some logic in it!

Silver · County player

I'm sure Ken has played here before! Or at least in something similar back when he was Britain's top junior. He along with a Norwegian tennis player (a what? Nor-weeee-gian? How many of them are there?) played some top class players. Vaguely remember him making a good showing actually.

Salmon · Tennis legend

Yeah, Ken plays here almost every year, I think.

His results from last year -

Fredrik Sletting-Johnsen (NOR) d. Kenneth Skupski (GBR) 6-4 7-6(5)
Bobby Reynolds (USA) d. Kenneth Skupski (GBR) 6-3 6-1
David Ferrer (ESP) d. Kenneth Skupski (GBR) 3-6 6-3 (10-7)

Johnnylad, it will be nice if this becomes a Tour/Challenger event, but unfortunately it is quite likely that a WC will go each year to a Norwegian player.

-- Edited by Greenleaf at 17:04, 2008-05-23

Silver · County player

AHHHHHHH. I didn't think my eyes were playing tricks on me, there really IS a Norwegian tennis player!

Dying breed. PROTECT THE NORWEGIANS!

johnnylad · Tennis legend

The tournament organiser is a Norwegian.

I think if it gets Nottingham's tournament the LTA would have a bit more say over the wc's though.

The women's side is probably a little more competitive recently but I have high hopes!

Shhh · Challenger level

This couldn't be an ATP event because how close it is to Nottingham. Its still very unlikely but, with the Nottingham ATP event moving to Eastbourne, technically I think it'd be possible.

Salmon · Tennis legend

The X Man is out because he's at Queen's. Chucho is out, too, and has been replaced with Capdeville.

Qualifying rounds

First round: J Guest beat O Paramo 6-4, 1-6, 10-6.

Second round: N Ajibade beat O Brennan 6-1, 6-0; A McCarthy beat J Hopley 7-5, 6-3; J McCulloch beat J Thompson 6-4, 6-4; B Mitchell beat Guest 6-1, 6-1; H Meehan beat L May 3-6, 6-3, 10-6.

Quarter-finals: M James beat Ajibade 6-3, 7-6; McCulloch beat McCarthy 6-4, 4-6, 10-4; S Jackson beat Mitchell 6-2, 6-3; N Skupski beat Meehan 6-1, 6-1.

Source - http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/sport/community-sport/2008/06/09/liverpool-bound-hingis-blames-boredom-for-retiring-64375-21042736/

johnnylad · Tennis legend

Looks like a great opportunity for some of those juniors!

Will it just be the one qualifier do you think?

Salmon · Tennis legend

I think they have two groups of four, and so far we have six players - Kendrick, Tomic, Capdeville, Sletting-Johnsen, Ken Skupski and Delic. That means they need two qualifiers, unless they sign someone for the main draw.

Salmon · Tennis legend

And I agree that this is a great opportunity for the younger players.
McCulloch and Matt James (assuming that 'M James' is our Mathew James) will gain a lot if they get to play top 200 players; and it'll also help Neal Skupski, who I think is about to follow his bro and join the Louisiana State University.

johnnylad · Tennis legend

Schedule of Play
Day ONE - Tuesday June 10th 2008

11AM Start

Olga Savchuk (UKR) v Chloe Murphy (GBR)
(Women's Singles)

Frederik Sletting-Johnsen (NOR) v Paul Capdeville (CHI)
(Men's Singles)

Not Before 2PM

Goran Ivanisevic (CRO) v Mikael Pernfors (SWE)
(Legends Singles)

Robert Kendrick (USA) v Ken Skupski (GBR)
(Men's Singles)

Mansour Bahrami (IRI) & Peter McNamara (AUS) v Mikael Pernfors (SWE) & Ilie Nastase (ROU)
(Legends Doubles)

Tamaryn Hendler (BEL) v Katarzyna Piter (POL)
(Women's Singles)

wolf · Tennis legend

Kendrick is an excellent grass court player (discounting the fact he once got beaten 0&0 by Murray at Newport once). I remember he took Nadal to five sets at Wimbledon a couple of years ago, he has a lovely serve & volley game.

Salmon · Tennis legend

That was a great match, yes.

Anyway, it's a nice chance for Skupski to impress us.