Week 8 - Davis Cup Play-offs - NTC

The Knight · Challenger qualifying

RE: Week 8 - Davis Cup Play-offs - NTC

Count Zero · Tennis legend

a few bits of info in there

baker out for 2 months

poor Jamie that's almost going to wipe his ranking out isnt it? he will have to qualify for futures soon :(

Ward has a cracking back hand and josh has been seeing a sports psychologist

The Knight · Challenger qualifying

i guess but Josh does have ranking and experience over Ward, plus making the final last week.

I've seen little of the two, i watched Josh in Rimouski and both of them at Queens; from that it appeared that James is the more talented player, but as i said, ive seen very little of them...

Count Zero · Tennis legend

knight my post was actually in reference to my previous one about the bbc blog, not your post.

at the moment josh is obviously above ward, however i think ward has the potential to go further. although if josh can sort out some of the mental issues maybe he can go higher, dont see josh making the top 100 tho.

The Knight · Challenger qualifying

oh right, sorry!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/othersports/article-1152318/Andy-8217-s-main-man-Roger-gone.html

I found this, and Andy seems to suggest that he feels Dan Evans is the most talented of all the players, but Fleming is the most mature

-- Edited by The Knight at 21:50, 2009-02-23

Drew · Feb 23, 2009

BBC report...HERE

steven · Tennis legend

... and the elusive match by match report from the LTA:

http://www.lta.org.uk/Articles/Davis-Cup---match-by-match/The-play-offs---Day-1/

Vandenburg · Futures level

this is sending me craz, players who arnt used to playing 5 sets could possibly play 3 5setters this week, and then my tired for davis cup and then need a week off after

so theyve lost 3 weeks on possible competition,i am furious.... this is more of a joke than noel edmunds house party in the mod 90s.

i am sorry to rant, but this is too far.

Mervatron · Masters Series Champion

I expect Ward and Goodall to come through these as the two 'winners'

I do think Dan Evans will end up the better player in the end but at the moment hes still imporving and not quite up there with the others

Mervatron · Masters Series Champion

Actually Vandenburg oi think its a good idea. These guys ghave to fight for the right to be in Davies cup and are not just given it by default.

Also they need to play 5 sets in order to get used to it. Only Josh and Chris have ever played 5 set matches before. This is great experience for the others so that their first time playing a 5 set match isn't in the Davies cup. In all honesty the players shouldn't be tired by their exploits this week otherwise their fitness is not good enough.

The they will get to train for the whole of next week. yes they might be missing out on playign tournaments but they have pleanty of oppertuinities for thsi throughout the year.

wolf · Tennis legend

Mervatron wrote:

Actually Vandenburg oi think its a good idea. These guys ghave to fight for the right to be in Davies cup and are not just given it by default.

This is something that really annoys me - what is it with the perception that if there are no play-offs the players are chosen by default. This is not just for the Davis Cup this is Wimbledon as well. I think if we pretend Boggo doesn't exist (I think we can all see the reasons why he was excluded from this tie) then we see Josh as our second best player, he has consistently won matches in the last 12 months and so is our second best ranked player. If then Lloyd then decided to go on ranking and not do a play-off then how has Josh gained a place by default? He has earned it by being our second best player over the previous twelve months.

The only good thing to come from these play-offs is the experience gained from playing 5 set matches.

Count Zero · Tennis legend

i agree with wolf, tennis , with the exception of funding for travel etc, is a level playing field by nature so rankings are are good indicator, yes there are the occasional oddity with players being over or under ranked, but they are not the norm.

The Knight · Challenger qualifying

wolf wrote:

The only good thing to come from these play-offs is the experience gained from playing 5 set matches.

I actually think that's a pretty good thing to come out of these matches, considering the almost complete lack of 5 set experience the players have

The truth is that Josh should be in on ranking alone, but the ball is in his court if he wants to get selected. He should beat all the others, and if he does he'll get selected.

The fact is Lloyd could have picked Goodall on ranking, but he did the same with Boggo and that didn't work out. Ability to win matches at challenger and future level isn't a perfect gauge of how a player will react to five set matches in DC, with the expectation on others on your shoulders. The playoffs aint perfect, but at least it is an attempt to see which players might react well to the challenge

-- Edited by The Knight at 14:20, 2009-02-24

Vandenburg · Futures level

its all could saying that representing your nation is best thing in the world but in tennis
wow we might win a world cup match for the fisrt time in ages, but does a player like goodall actually want to look back on his career and go

'yeh i only got a highest ranking of 180 but i was involvecd in the GB world group match win'

or

'yeh i had a steady career and broke the top 100'

tennis is all about yourself, and your represneting your country with yourself playing in tourneys and the davis cup aint that big a deal unless you have the time like murray

so when these guys are strugelling to defend points as it is, a 3 week pointless break is so stupid its like saying theres skill in 'deal or no deal'.

freerider · Futures level

lots of moneypennies if you make the team though = more foreign tournament traavel