Boggo and Josh will be in the main draw here and it looks like the plane arrived this year and we actually have a qualifying competition - either that or players turned up for the sign in hoping they'd get straight through to the main draw again!
QR1: Alex Slabinsky WR 351 v (WC) Matthieu Meyzen (FRA) UNR QR1: (q6) James Ward WR 280 v (WC) Christophe Godot (FRA) UNR
They couldn't have asked for better QR1 draws! Slabba is 3rd on Centre after 10.00 NCT = 23.00 Friday GMT, but it'll be an even later night for anyone Waiting for Godot, because Wardy's match with him is 4th on Court 1.
The seeds in Slabba's section in the order he could meet them are (q7) Matteo Marrai (ITA) WR 287 and (q1) Alexander Flock (GER) WR 230, while the other seed in Wardy's section is (q2) Dieter Kindlmann (GER) WR 237. So it won't be easy for either of them to qualify, but these are the kind of players they need to start beating if they are hoping to make a big move this year.
-- Edited by steven at 22:49, 2009-01-02
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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!
QR2: Alex Slabinsky WR 351 bt (q7) Matteo Marrai (ITA) WR 287 6-4, 6-4 QR2: (q6) James Ward WR 280 lost to Nicholas Tourte (FRA) WR 1064 6-7(5), 5-7
Great result for Slabba who now plays top seed Alex Flock (WR 230) tomorrow for a place in main draw. Wardy had a tough one against Brit-basher Tourte who's been ranked 200ish.
Bad start to the season for Wardy. I wish he'd gone to Doha or Chennai. But I guess its the challenger circuit he has to try and crack this year rather than ATP.
Tourte is a complete ringer at 1064 though. Not that any of the detractors will pay a blind bit of notice to that.
Good result for Slabba vs Marrai - hope he can keep it going against Flock who hasn't been tested yet so hopefully Slabba is a set up before Flock notices.
tough opener for boggo, and we will get a 1st view at the new points difference - with him defending 14 from last year, but only 8 avalible for a 1st rd win.
would be surprised if alex has any joy here, he's never really enjoyed playing in the southern hemisphere, combined with a tough opponent doesnt look good. bitof side info for anyone who is interested, boggo will be using head racquets this year (as opposed to babolat), one of the micro-gel prestiges.
shame for ward to lose to a player outside the top 1000! but tourte is a well known brit-basher.
good win by slabba, lets hope he can keep it going vs flock.
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Count Zero - Creator of the Statistical Tennis Extrapolation & Verification ENtity or, as we like to call him, that steven.
Boggo could certainly have done without drawing a seed when he's trying to snap a 10-match losing streak, but you could turn that around and say he's a better player than de Voest and should be putting everything into this match because a confidence-boosting win here could be just what he needs to help him make a strong start to the year.
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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!
slabba won 3 and 4 got jenkins in main draw... slabba must have had a jolly good off season, that seemed easy to qualify considering his efforts last year in the us challenger Qs