Hmm. Given that Ward has a great work ethic and seems to be a good role model and to have the respect of people (eg Nadal's team) whose respect is worth having, I'll go against the prevailing trend and say that I'd be delighted to see him win.
Before slagging off the LTA from a position of "less than full knowledge", might I suggest that you ask anyone who was at the event last Sunday, about the rumoured circumstances of the 1-6 first set scoreline in the first round of qualifying ....
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"Where Ratty leads - the rest soon follow" (Professor Henry Brubaker - The Institute of Studies)
If Evo's been a naughty boy then i guess he is getting what he deserves in respct of lack of WC's etc, havent heard anyhting about his AEGON funding beign cut tho, anyone know if it has?
As for the LTA i hear plenty of what goes on, unfortunately I'm just not allowed to share it on a public message board.
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Count Zero - Creator of the Statistical Tennis Extrapolation & Verification ENtity or, as we like to call him, that steven.
Jamie Baker (Gbr) bt David Rice (Gbr) 7-5 7-6 (7-4)
James Ward (Gbr) bt Daniel Evans (Gbr) 7-6 (7-2) 6-2,
Suggets that maybe with Murray and Boggo not playing DC they got the two men correct for the team, and it will be great for their confidence to have both reached the final coming into the DC tie.
Would expect Ward to win the final as he seems to have been having the more convincing results all week, and probably is the better player on this surface.
Yes, really happy to see them not suffering any kind of DC selection 'curse' this week, when I assume players like Josh and Evo were out to show that they should have been picked instead. I can't wait to see Ward v Ilhan next Friday, which should be a great match - the rubber we shouldn't need, but it would be a huge boost if we got it.
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GB on a shirt, Davis Cup still gleaming, 79 years of hurt, never stopped us dreaming ... 29/11/2015 that dream came true!
Nothing against Evo or the LTA but Baker/Ward was the final I wanted and Ward was the champion I wanted so I am delighted!
I think people do misunderstand Ward's best surface. We all assumed he was a clay head at first 3-4 years ago when we first heard of him because of where he was playing and where he was learning but I think all that did was ground him in good basics. It then becae clear he was better on fast surfaces and we latched on to "hard". However, he doesn't get that many chances to play on grass compared to everything else and so now he's played on it for 2 years in a row at as many tournaments as possible despite the Lta's best attempts to halve his tournament quota I think his results show it could easily be his best surface now along with fast hard courts.
I just think with the big swings he takes on his groundstrokes and not the strongest of ability at the net, i would have thought he favoured slower surfaces to give him that time and the chance to avoid the net and grind it from the back. To me, he always looks a little rushed on grass, but with the results he's had this year on the surface, fair play to him.