Week 13 - ITF ($75K) - Monzon, Spain Hard

Silver · County player

RE: Week 13 - ITF ($75K) - Monzon, Spain Hard

Shhh · Challenger level

Silver wrote:

Oh, and YAY ANNE Brilliant second set Very pleased!

I must say, I read the tennis news on the Eurosport Ap and I was most nonplussed (oh my!) at their use of her tweet about tennis not being that important sometimes. If you haven't seen it:

TWEET OF THE WEEK:

Honourable mention: "Sometimes, tennis just isn't that important." - Murray's fellow Brit Anne Keothavong has obviously been delving into the philosophy section at the library. But appears to have not got any further than looking at the covers."

Congratulations on your wonderful journalism, guys. Be proud. [/sarcasm]

Given the context that Anne's Grandmother had just died when she made that Tweat, something I would have thought the journo would have known(????) If so, what a petty minded t*@%er for getting a cheap line out of the situation. Probably never achieved 5% of what Anne's achieved in her career so made one of knocking other people.

Maybe I've got the wrong end of the stick on all this but, journo's can get my goat sometimes furious

Josh · Challenger level

Would you expect a British tennis journalist to know details like that. We see how often the BBC get it wrong, they were talking about Dan Ward for almost a whole day after the DC so I wouldn't be surprised if the journo just saw the twitter post and saw some more fuel for the British tennis is failing story. No excuse of course, it's his job to know the facts but a job most journalists fail to fulfil.

JT · Junior player

scottie1 wrote:

sorry yes mean naomi cavaday too much criticism in my view

Yes I agree with Scottie1. When you look at Naomi's ranking it is a little concerning and we all know she's a better player than that but so far this year it's looked more positive than negative. Took Chan to 3 in Brisbane, won a round in Australia qualifying, then according to Tutu she didn't play well in Sutton but in Stockholm she lost 7-6 in the third to the girl that made final, in Germany she lost to the top seed (ranked 70) and Minsk she lost to the girl that made the final of the $50k the week before and took her to 3. The last 2 weeks have been concerning but in Jersey the girl that beat Naomi went on to beat the top seed 6-2, 6-0 and this week it looks as though she struggled from the first match. We all know she should be higher than she is but I wouldn't say "I really fear for her career". She's still only 20!

Good results from Naomi B, Kucova's form has not been good but she's tough. 20 points so far, looks odds on for 250 by Wimbledon so she'd get the wildcard, could she make French qualifying cut? Anyone know what is was last year or when the cut off date is for it?

Anne's doing great and I think it's a real credit to her to come back twice from the same injury. Tough match tomorrow but I think she'll have the fight to come through. She'll be back up where she belongs very soon playing better than ever.

Katie's having a tough time, she does go up and down but she's really not had the wins this year - outside Fed Cup she's played 10 singles, 1 doubs and just 2 wins. She'll get her confidence back up soon and break back inside 100 again.

I think we've all got to be positive towards the girls, they've all got the games to be inside 100. Mel and Georgie are having a tough time too and the more we can support and encourage the less pressure they will feel - I'm sure they read these pages too just like they pick up the papers every year at Wimbledon.

Remember - the girls are much better than the boys!!

-- Edited by JT on Wednesday 31st of March 2010 05:53:03 AM

-- Edited by JT on Wednesday 31st of March 2010 05:53:47 AM

indiana · Tennis legend

I agree with a lot of what you say, JT, and there are many really good things happening this year, particularly with Bally and at a lower level Anna. These performances have been widely acknowledged.

Also as you say the girls are progressing generally so much better than the boys.

What I would say is that I will always expect this forum to have balance in what it says ( actually it undoubtably balances towards being kind which is as it should be ). I don't see much unfair criticism and where it appears, often when other folk have relevant additional information, people are often quick to make counterpoints.

We presumably almost all support British tennis in wanting the players to do well but intended valid criticism should always have a place here and any discussion it provokes.

I would be surprised if players ( guys and girls ) would not accept that. Of course it's great to read nice things and in general this forum is still very encouraging even when criticising. At times it simply crticises with intended honesty.

I am very possibly making more of your words on this point than you really meant, but just saying...

-- Edited by indiana on Wednesday 31st of March 2010 06:27:51 AM

philwrig · Hall of fame

JT wrote:

scottie1 wrote:

sorry yes mean naomi cavaday too much criticism in my view

Yes I agree with Scottie1. When you look at Naomi's ranking it is a little concerning and we all know she's a better player than that but so far this year it's looked more positive than negative. Took Chan to 3 in Brisbane, won a round in Australia qualifying, then according to Tutu she didn't play well in Sutton but in Stockholm she lost 7-6 in the third to the girl that made final, in Germany she lost to the top seed (ranked 70) and Minsk she lost to the girl that made the final of the $50k the week before and took her to 3. The last 2 weeks have been concerning but in Jersey the girl that beat Naomi went on to beat the top seed 6-2, 6-0 and this week it looks as though she struggled from the first match. We all know she should be higher than she is but I wouldn't say "I really fear for her career". She's still only 20!

Good results from Naomi B, Kucova's form has not been good but she's tough. 20 points so far, looks odds on for 250 by Wimbledon so she'd get the wildcard, could she make French qualifying cut? Anyone know what is was last year or when the cut off date is for it?

Anne's doing great and I think it's a real credit to her to come back twice from the same injury. Tough match tomorrow but I think she'll have the fight to come through. She'll be back up where she belongs very soon playing better than ever.

Katie's having a tough time, she does go up and down but she's really not had the wins this year - outside Fed Cup she's played 10 singles, 1 doubs and just 2 wins. She'll get her confidence back up soon and break back inside 100 again.

I think we've all got to be positive towards the girls, they've all got the games to be inside 100. Mel and Georgie are having a tough time too and the more we can support and encourage the less pressure they will feel - I'm sure they read these pages too just like they pick up the papers every year at Wimbledon.

Remember - the girls are much better than the boys!!

-- Edited by JT on Wednesday 31st of March 2010 05:53:03 AM

-- Edited by JT on Wednesday 31st of March 2010 05:53:47 AM

I think you may be targetting my earlier post where I raised my concerns about Cav's current form. First of all I would like to say that first and foremost I am a huge supporter of British Tennis and I originally started following the girls more closely because of their apparent marked progress compared to the boys. The successes of Andy and Laura only led to my interest being increased. Under Nigel Sears the girls appear to have a renewed belief and much harder work ethic off the court which has resulted in most of them reaching their potential something which hadn't happened for many years.

I like to think that my criticism is fair and I will tend to edge to being positive but overall I like to say it 'how it is'. A bit like following your favourite football team you know when they are not performing as they should be given the talent they have on the field.

Anyone can put a positive slant on an individual players performances but in Naomi's case I am running out of such language. I don't think anyone if being serious could be happy with Naomi's current progress. A player who during matches has shown much more potential than her current ranking is and where it is heading.
I feel Naomi is the one player who has not yet made the most of her undoubted talent. I would be the first to celebrate if she could turn her current form around and actually get beyond a quarter final something which she hasn't done for a long long time. Sometimes a bit of tough love is what a player needs. If Cav didn't have the talent my comments wouldn't be as strong. My comments about her career being in potential jeopardy are probably a bit too strong but her current form progression worries me greatly. Mind you as an outside supporter who doesn't know the inside line my comments maybe completely wide of the mark. Heres hoping they are. Yes she is only 20 and so has plenty of time on her side to get her act together.

Conversely I am much more positive about Georgie who showed very encouraging signs in her last tournament. A player who gives her all on the tennis court and is making the most of her talent.

Peter too · Tennis legend

R1:CAVADAY(GBR)/MARINO(CAN) 480 beat DANIILIDOU(GRE)/WOEHR(GER) 1 173 6-3 6-3

SMC1809 · All-time great

Naomi B lost 4-6 5-7. cry

philwrig · Hall of fame

Naomi lost 6-4 7-5 but still a highly competitive score against a top 80 ranked opponent. Overall a much better week from Naomi and more of an indicator that she could be a top 200 player by the end of the year than the top 250 one I suggested last week.

It will be interesting to see what the LTA recommend re. her wildcard status for Wimbledon if she can breach the top 250 before the cut off date. I suspect they will only recommend a QWC given she is not part of the 'incrowd'.

Silver · County player

But surely, if she falls inside their criteria, it would be extremely petty and wrong if they decided against it... or is this another use of the "recommended for" status?

Shame for Naomi but what a great effort against someone ranked inside the top 100. Shows she's more than capable, just the wrong end of it today.

JT · Junior player

philwrig wrote:

I think you may be targetting my earlier post where I raised my concerns about Cav's current form. First of all I would like to say that first and foremost I am a huge supporter of British Tennis and I originally started following the girls more closely because of their apparent marked progress compared to the boys. The successes of Andy and Laura only led to my interest being increased. Under Nigel Sears the girls appear to have a renewed belief and much harder work ethic off the court which has resulted in most of them reaching their potential something which hadn't happened for many years.

I like to think that my criticism is fair and I will tend to edge to being positive but overall I like to say it 'how it is'. A bit like following your favourite football team you know when they are not performing as they should be given the talent they have on the field.

Anyone can put a positive slant on an individual players performances but in Naomi's case I am running out of such language. I don't think anyone if being serious could be happy with Naomi's current progress. A player who during matches has shown much more potential than her current ranking is and where it is heading.
I feel Naomi is the one player who has not yet made the most of her undoubted talent. I would be the first to celebrate if she could turn her current form around and actually get beyond a quarter final something which she hasn't done for a long long time. Sometimes a bit of tough love is what a player needs. If Cav didn't have the talent my comments wouldn't be as strong. My comments about her career being in potential jeopardy are probably a bit too strong but her current form progression worries me greatly. Mind you as an outside supporter who doesn't know the inside line my comments maybe completely wide of the mark. Heres hoping they are. Yes she is only 20 and so has plenty of time on her side to get her act together.

Conversely I am much more positive about Georgie who showed very encouraging signs in her last tournament. A player who gives her all on the tennis court and is making the most of her talent.

I'm not saying there's negativity on here at all, I wouldn't follow it if I thought that and I agree that people do need to be honest on here - that's part of the fun reading it. I was just agreeing with Scottie1 that there was too much criticism. She's having a tough time, like Mel and Katie and we want them all to do better.

Tough result for Naomi B but she'll be getting closer to that 250 mark and I don't see how the LTA could not recommend her for the WC. It would be interesting though if Naomi B and Anna S were inside 250 and got the WC's as they're both not on "Team Aegon".

philwrig · Hall of fame

Regarding the allocation of wild cards I can only see Wimbledon allocating a maximum of five or six to Brits which given the current rankings are likely to go to. Katie, Anne, Cav, Mel , Laura and Heather. With the next in line being Georgie . Due to not being part of the LTA crowd Naomi and Anna would be next in line. Obviously both Katie and Anne could be DA and thus not need one but at the moment thats probably unlikely.

seagull · Hall of fame

Will Anne not use her PR?

SMC1809 · All-time great

Wouldn't it be better for Anne to go through the qualifying and pick up some cheap points? (And some extra grass-court practice along the way). Same goes for Mel too.

philwrig · Hall of fame

Not if she doesn't have to from a selfish point of view.