Week 2 - Futures F1 ($15K) - Glasgow, GBR - indoor hard

Silver · County player

RE: Week 2 - Futures F1 ($15K) - Glasgow, GBR - indoor hard

steven · Tennis legend

Wow, that's a surprise, but great to see Chris doing the business at the level he needs to do it at for now :-0) - I hope now he must have realised that it's worth the hassle, it won't be a one-off.

As things stand at the moment, he'll soar to GB no. 7 (from 11) after the AO unless Morgan wins today or other players overhaul him with points scored over the next two weeks.

zarrafak · Lower Club Player

Just in from the Baker Eaton match. Eaton served brilliantly, and hardly missed a volley. These are very fast courts and Baker was often pinned 10ft or more behind the baseline, and was made to miss quite a few drop shots. Chris hit off the ground with depth, accuracy and power from both sides. He looks much stronger and quite a bit faster than last year. If the courts are fast in Lithuania he must be considered in this form. I'd still put Jamie's name down first though - he's the guy for the big occasion.

clayfan · Lower Club Player

Just got back from the match. Chris had far too much power for Jamie today. It is not only the serve but his groundstrokes. Sure, he does not want long rallies, but some of the power off his groundstrokes was blistering. He thoroughly deserved his win and this was appreciated by the large crowd of spectators, 300-400 strong, who had come in anticipation of seeing Jamie win.

As for other surfaces, it remains to be seen. But if Chris can keep up this form and pick his tournaments wisely, he should certainly move up the rankings this year. He has surely always been in the frame for Davis Cup, especially on fast indoor surfaces, after battling well in the tie against Ukraine. He is also an excellent doubles player. It may be too risky selecting 2 out and out doubles speciallists in Fleming and Skupski. Colin has been concentrating on doubles and his singles game is bound to suffer. Chris can claim to be good enough at both, at least at the level we are now at. However if Flemski are both selected I would still go for Ward and Baker at the moment on a slower surface. I think Dan Evans has too many frailties and was put in before he was ready. He needs to develope a bit more. If Josh can recover from illness and his layoff and get back into shape, he must also be a contender. But what is the betting we have another competition!

spud · Challenger qualifying

Cheers Zarafak and clayfan- Great news hes in good form. Looks like a very solid, consistent performance in the final.

-- Edited by spud on Saturday 16th of January 2010 04:33:45 PM

zarrafak · Lower Club Player

Flemski must be a given for the DC - it's an established regular partnership, proven to get the results. All the othe top countries get success that way.
Other than that, currnetly I'd select Baker and Ward on a slower surface for the singles, with Eaton as the 5th man for singles/doubles cover. On a fast surface I'd select Eaton and Baker for the singles, with maybe Ward, Evans or Goodall as the 5th man.

spud · Challenger qualifying

zarrafak wrote:

Flemski must be a given for the DC - it's an established regular partnership, proven to get the results. All the othe top countries get success that way.
Other than that, currnetly I'd select Baker and Ward on a slower surface for the singles, with Eaton as the 5th man for singles/doubles cover. On a fast surface I'd select Eaton and Baker for the singles, with maybe Ward, Evans or Goodall as the 5th man.

Yeh, i'd go with that. Good choice.

spud · Challenger qualifying

I hope he can react to winning his first singles tournament in a good way and be hungry for more success at futures level which im sure he is. Then he can push up into the bigger events where he enjoys playing his tennis.

Hope all this singles and doubles form can carry into sheffield next week and have more success there.

johnnylad · Tennis legend

What is the surface for Sheffield?

James · Satellite level

johnnylad wrote:

What is the surface for Sheffield?

Indoor hard (Acrylic)

So shouldn't be too different from Glasgow - although a lot can depend on the age of the courts, the longer they've been down the quicker they get.

DUSTY DICK · Club Coach

Good one Chris.

spud · Challenger qualifying

James wrote:

johnnylad wrote:

What is the surface for Sheffield?

Indoor hard (Acrylic)

So shouldn't be too different from Glasgow - although a lot can depend on the age of the courts, the longer they've been down the quicker they get.

Lets hope they're ancient then, for Chris's sake.

johnnylad · Tennis legend

hear hear

Madeline · Admin:Moderator + Tennis Legend

clayfan wrote:

. . . this was appreciated by the large crowd of spectators, 300-400 strong

So many spectators at a FUTURES????

Last time I attended one I seemed to be one of only two spectators not with one of the players! (The other was another bt.net poster)

imoen · Admin: Moderator+Tennis Legend

congratulations to Chris, sounds like he was just much better than Baker on the courts on the day

I, like everyone else here, hope this is the start of a great year for him and he begins to build some consistentcy though I'm afraid I'm not going to start counting chickens just yet.