I remember a few years ago David Felgate said that the most promising British tennis girls were Katie Mel Jade Curtis and Claire Peterzan(remember her!) thankfully Mel is now reaching the top 100
So great for Mel. There must be dozens of ways to define how a player "makes it" in tennis, but I would say getting a DA for a slam is one of the big ones. If only for the financial rewards the slams are so important. I so hope she can get a win or two - it would make it that much more likely that she could keep her ranking at a point where she gets DAs into the other slams and mean she could skip a few lesser tourneys to ensure she stays healthy.
steven wrote:This is the first time two GB girls have got into the main draw of a slam without a WC in over 15 years - the last time it happened was when Jo Durie and Clare Wood were both DAs at the 1993 US Open.
Looks like the BBC have been making use of your research
steven wrote:This is the first time two GB girls have got into the main draw of a slam without a WC in over 15 years - the last time it happened was when Jo Durie and Clare Wood were both DAs at the 1993 US Open.
Looks like the BBC have been making use of your research
All on the same court, one after the other - good if you're there and a GB fan!
QR1: (q19) Elena Baltacha WR 134 v Anastasija Sevastova (LAT) WR 193 (CH=191 10/2008) Could meet Carly Gullickson in QR2, and is in the same section as (q1) Jelena Kostanic Tosic
Sevastova is 18 and has lost to all of the GB top 4 except Elena (who has not played her before) in the last year or so.
QR1: Katie O'Brien WR 160 v Sandra Zahlavova (CZE) WR 164 (CH=139 5/2007) Could meet (q3) Julie Ditty in QR2 and the other seed in her section is (q21) Betina Jozami (ARG)
Katie lost a close match to Zahlavova (not to be confused with Brit-basher Barbora Zahlavova Strycova) in 2007, though Anne K has a 3-0 H2H against the Czech and Naomi Cavaday has beaten her as well. Zahlavova won her last tournament of 2008, the 50K in Delhi, so must be feeling confident ...
QR1: Georgie Stoop WR 216 v Alexa Glatch (USA) WR 150 (= career high) Could meet (q15) Masa Zec Peskiric in QR2 and the other seed in her section is (q9) Anna Lapushchenkova (RUS)
Glatch comes into AOQ on a 3-match losing streak but won two 50Ks in the autumn. She also qualified for the 2008 USO, beating Katie on the way before losing to Anne in R1!
All three of them are on Court 14, starting with Georgie up 2nd at about 00.30 GMT with Elena following her and Katie following Elena.
-- Edited by steven at 07:39, 2009-01-14
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GB on a shirt, Davis Cup still gleaming, 79 years of hurt, never stopped us dreaming ... 29/11/2015 that dream came true!
When assessing Grand Slam qualies draws I look for three things: form, surface specific ability and (most importantly) previous Grand Slam experience.
On that basis Bally has an ideal draw, and I would be very disappointed if she loses,assuming her body does not fail her again.
It's a good draw for both Georgie and Alexa, since neither has great recent form nor won a Grand Slam qualy match abroad, but Glatch will be the slight favourite, having qualified for the US Open.
Katie has a tough draw though. Zahlavova not only won her last tournament, as Steven points out, but qualified for the last slam (US Open), and also qualified the last time she was in the AO (2007). All of Katie's wins in grand slam qualifiers have been against players who had only ever won 0 or 1 match at that level, so Zahlavova is a clear favourite, despite the equal ranking. The one crumb of comfort I clutch to is that Bally precedes her, and if she wins as expected, that should give Katie a lift.
That sounds like a good assessment - I like the idea that Katie could be helped by the Bally effect! I noticed someone on GBTG said Elena had a really rotten draw, but apart from the fact that she's in the no. 1 seed's section, I (like you) couldn't really see what they were getting at.
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GB on a shirt, Davis Cup still gleaming, 79 years of hurt, never stopped us dreaming ... 29/11/2015 that dream came true!