Week 40 - ITF ($100K+H) - Tokyo, Japan

RedCabbage · Club Coach

RE: Week 40 - ITF ($100K+H) - Tokyo, Japan

indiana · Tennis legend

RedCabbage wrote:

It feels weird having a british girl as third seed in a $100k event. It feels doubly weird that she's actually living up to her seeding. It feels trebly weird that it's only the british #3.

What is this country coming to!?

Yes, it is a quite shocking state of affairs

Never mind, if Katie wins here semi, she'll be the British no 2 so that may make it feel more appropriate smile

Actually could be a good fight to be year end no 1 between Katie & Elena since unfortunately, assuming Anne doesn't play again this year she will drop below them both. This is mainly due to her being unable to defend 150 ranking points from her Krakow title win last November.

philwrig · Hall of fame

Racking up big points by taking advantage of weak draw great stuff.
I really believe Katie can stay in the top 100 now. I must admit I had my doubts with her woeful form during the summer but now shes back on track.

indiana · Tennis legend

Peter too wrote:

What I am suggesting is that the WTA have had to increase the points available for winning early rounds in higher level tournaments because otherwise women would not enter them. Women would often prefer instead to enter lower ranked tournaments where they would be seeded and stood a very good chance of collecting winners points.

If I was a professional player ranked around 350-100 I would enter big tournaments for the experience of rubbing shoulders with the stars but $25Ks would be my bread and butter.

At present you win 50 points for winning a $25K final, a $50K SF, a $75K QF or two rounds of a Grand Slam Qualifier. A 200 ranked player would I suspect be less likely to meet a someone they couldn't beat in the $25K than in any of the others.

Ah, got you, sorry

I was thinking you were saying the points system somehow helped encourage this supposed preference of women to stick to lower tournaments, which didn't make sense to me.

But more sensibly, you are saying it's designed to try and encourage them to enter the higher tournaments.

I'm not sure they've got the points system right, but I do understand.

I did actually sort of wonder if that's partly the Grand Slam reasoning. Please enter qualifying and we'll give you good points just for winning one qualifying round, though whether that's really necessary. Maybe it is.

Anyway, thanks for coming back on this, I get there in the end smile

-- Edited by indiana on Friday 9th of October 2009 08:41:30 AM

steven · Tennis legend

RedCabbage wrote:

It feels weird having a british girl as third seed in a $100k event. It feels doubly weird that she's actually living up to her seeding. It feels trebly weird that it's only the british #3.

What is this country coming to!?

DavidC · Tennis legend

Impressive consistency from Katie in big value challengers with weak fields - though drawing 3 up and coming but inexperienced youngsters here was a great help.

Katie earns a chance for revenge against Savchuk, who recently reached the quarter-final of a WTA Tour event and is slowly returning to the form which took her into the top 100. The pair met in a Tour event in Bangalore last year, when Katie had several matchpoints before losing.

philwrig · Hall of fame

Savchuk will be a real test.

Shhh · Challenger level

A test too far. Katie sadly lost a real close one, 6-3, 4-6, 6-7(4)

Drew · Oct 10, 2009

thats a shame but good week again...whats her next evenrs?

jb288 · Satellite level

Didn't expect that, a real shame - though perhaps the typhoon winds didn't help our resident indoor specialist... Here's hoping for a decent draw in Osaka.

philwrig · Hall of fame

A very good effort I think she won more points than her opponent next stop Osaka.

indiana · Tennis legend

Ah, pity Katie couldn't make the final, but some good points gethered.

She's now only 8 points behind Elena so with some decent points in next week's 220K in Osaka she could be no 2, and unfortunately for Anne, both will overtake Anne before the year end.

Also, since she can only lose 4 points before the Australian Open, since she can replace the 14 points she has to defend with 10 points, she has now surely well and truelly sealed a place in the Australian Open Main Draw.

DavidC · Tennis legend

Katie has now garnered enough points not only to guarantee Australian Open entry but to effectively ensure top 100 at the end of the year (her points total for the year is greater than the total for the player ranked 101 at any point this year - always in the 600s).

Katie's problem is her inability to make an impact on top 75 players. So far I can only recall 3 wins (Craybas, Bardina and Pironkova) and all of those opponents have since dropped out of the top 75. Her points pointfolio is fairly tightly bunched (no 100+ pointers like Bally) and there are few opportunities to get 100+points without beating top 75 players. Hence her longevity in the top 100 is going to depend on either:

1) Finding some improvements to her game to beat higher-ranked players or
2) Taking advantage of an occasional good grand slam draw (it is very difficult to remain top 100 with a flat points portfolio if you are weighed down with 4 mandatory 0/5 pointers in grand slams) or
3) Consistently doing well in the weaker 100/75Ks like Tokyo/Johannesburg where she can avoid the top players until the later stages.

jb288 · Satellite level

I think it all might change once she feels she belongs among them; so much of Katie's game seems to be in her head that a small change in how she sees herself in relation to other players could have huge consequences for her abilities on court.

Peter too · Tennis legend

It was only 26 months ago when Anne became the first of our present team of girls to win a tournament above the $25K level when she won her first $50K.
8 months later Elena upped the stakes by winning a $75K and has since won another $75K.
Anne then chipped in with a $50K and $50K+H before finally winning a $100K+H 11 months ago.

Katie's best so far is a $75K F, a $100K+H SF, a $100K SF, a $75K F and a $145K QF.

Mel has reached a $75K SF, two $50K SFs and a $200K QF

Naomi has a $50K SF and a $75K QF.

It has taken time but I think they all now go into these higher level ITF events believing they have a very real chance of winning the title. That is quite a change from even 3 years ago.