Week 3 - Futures F2 (15K) - Sheffield, Great Britain

clayfan · Lower Club Player

RE: Week 3 - Futures F2 (15K) - Sheffield, Great Britain

indiana · Tennis legend

I have got the impression even before this Willis incident that man management is not the greatest asset among these generally in charge of British men's tennis, which may be one reason why general spirit and togetherness currently seems better aong the women players.

Vandenburg · Futures level

i can see baker being a top 100 player by the end of the year! does anyone remeber just before he got ill?
he won back to back 15k usa tourns n then got a wc for qualfying for a masters.

indiana · Tennis legend

Your recent optimism re British players Vandenburg is mm what's the word I'm looking for, let's say confusing smile

Unfortunately it was misplaced re all these British men qualifying in the Australian Open.

And while I really like Jamie B and have confidence that he may steadily move up the rankings this year, top 100 by the end of the year - nae chance.

Vandenburg · Futures level

i think hes deffo cert for davis cup selection tho, not only by ranking but also by the fact that him and lloyd are good pals and go out in watford on student night wednesdays.

Scratchy · Club Coach

indiana wrote:

Your recent optimism re British players Vandenburg is mm what's the word I'm looking for, let's say confusing

Unfortunately it was misplaced re all these British men qualifying in the Australian Open.

And while I really like Jamie B and have confidence that he may steadily move up the rankings this year, top 100 by the end of the year - nae chance.

I take your point Indiana, but I think we should actively encourage and embrace Vandenburg's new found enthusiasm for the success of British players, even if it is slightly misplaced.
I believe it's at least 4 months since Vandenburg wrongly announced the downfall and imminent retirement of Boggo or any other British player for that matter.
Long may it continue. Happy Days!

Just out of interest, I still haven't forgiven myself for predicting 2 British men qualifying for the Aussie open...........yet another Scratchy jinx!

The Knight · Challenger qualifying

Unsurprisingly Inglot and Goodall's match had a couple of tie-breaks, unfortunately a couple of disappointing results in the end

Joshua Goodall (Gbr) bt Dominic Inglot (Gbr) 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-3)
Stefano Galvani (Ita) bt Jamie Baker (Gbr) 6-0 7-6 (7-4)

alex03maccy · Grand Slam Champion

damn.

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

Oh no bleh :

QF: (4) Josh Goodall WR 309 beat (WC) Dominic Inglot WR 736 by 7-6(2) 7-6(3)

QF: (5) Jamie Baker WR 314 lost to (3) Stefano Galvani (ITA) WR 255 by 0-6 6-7(4) cry

For the sake of completeness:

QF: beat Romain Jouan (FRA) WR 456 by 6-3 7-6(1)

QF: (Q) Ervin Eleskovic (SWE) WR 671 beat (7) Olivier Patience (FRA) WR 342 by 4 & 4 disbelief

So,

SF: (1) Uladzimir Ignatik (BLR) WR 191 vs (4) Josh Goodall WR 309

steven · Tennis legend

It's not like Jamie to let himself get fed bakery cry

... being the Baker, he usually dishes them out.

Sounds like I wasn't the only person here with a slight preference for Inglot to win the Battle of the Brits either ...

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

At least Dom got one win under his belt today:

SF: Uladzimir Ignatik & Milos Raonic (BLR/CAN) WR 971 lost to (2) Chris Eaton & Dominic Inglot WR 528 by 6-3 3-6 [7-10] smile

In tomorrow's final:

(1) Olivier Charroin & Andis Juska (FRA/LAT) WR 449 vs (2) Chris Eaton & Dominic Inglot WR 528

* Fingers crossed for back-to-back titles ...

-- Edited by Stircrazy on Thursday 21st of January 2010 04:36:40 PM

Tennis36 · Masters Series Champion

i dont mean to be negative, but it puzzles me a bit how you all think baker(all credit to him for what he has done in recent months) should be a shoe in for davis cup, it is as if most people don't realise he is playing at a lower level (futures). Same with eaton, he wins a future tournament last week, and people were calling him for davis cup, comon. At the moment i believe the top 3 (bar murray) are our 3 best, and are almost being critisiced for losing in higher ranked tournaments. Think about the opponents? not just the result?

just my opinion wink

steven · Tennis legend

Don't worry, there have been plenty of comments on other threads to the effect that the top 3 (bar Murray) shouldn't be penalised for actually managing to get into AO qualifying, winning a round then losing to higher-ranked opponents, and about it being barmy to say Eaton should be in the DC team based on one good week.

Jamie Baker is a bit of a special case because he's almost certainly under-ranked having only been back from injury/illness for about half a year.

Count Zero · Tennis legend

Some of us have been pointing this out, in the DC thread. i would say the posters here are aware of they differences between the quality level at a futures in Glasgow and a Slam qualies in Oz, but the media don't seem to be (which then will mean the general public aren't aware either). The same even applies to challengers, with players who opt for the tougher route not usually given as much credit as players who stick to futures.

but also when talking about DC we also have to take into account JL's haphazard selection policy, which mainly consists of making sure his **** is covered if it goes belly up (again).

zarrafak · Lower Club Player

Yeh, but you have to remember that Jamie is on a meteoric rise thru' the rankings and return to form after a long illness and then an injury. Before which, in 2008, he actually qualified for the Aussie Open main draw, only to lose in 4 sets to Karlovic - another rising star at the time. He also won a Davis cup rubber within a month. OK on paper it was a 'dead' rubber - but it was against Calleri, a guy who appeared intent on staking his claim as a first choice in the Argentinian team on his home court. - Not something too many other Brits have managed.
He was disappointing in last week's final against Eaton, who was on a roll and thrived on the fast surface. Today's result was really disappointing though - I'm sure he and his coach would have been confident of a victory.
- So there is a now a question to be answered.
I would have thought the Aussies could have given him a wild card into their qualifying last week I'm sure he would have thrived on that - but maybe they were running scared!