Week 19 - ITF ($50K) - Kurume, Japan - Grass

steven · Tennis legend

RE: Week 19 - ITF ($50K) - Kurume, Japan - Grass

Julia Carrot · All-time great

biggrin biggrin biggrin

Love it ( and the result)

indiana · Tennis legend

Ha ha very good and she certainly seems to be able to tough it out.

Interesting that she says she was so tight in what was just a first round match. Looks like getting inside the top 250 may well have been in her thoughts.

indiana · Tennis legend

By the way, what's with this astro turf and sand combination ( and occasionally lots of sand judging by some of Emily and Katie's tweets ) at these Japanese tournaments ? I assume there is logic to it confuse

steven · Tennis legend

indiana wrote:
By the way, what's with this astro turf and sand combination ( and occasionally lots of sand judging by some of Emily and Katie's tweets ) at these Japanese tournaments ? I assume there is logic to it

I'm not sure, but this pic gives some idea of what it's like http://p.twipple.jp/zyJqd - looks like a disaster to me!

indiana · Tennis legend

Thnaks Steven. Whatever, doesn't seem to do Emily much harm !

Assuming she is in the top 250 on cut-off date, which she certainly should be now, with only 4 points to drop off, based on the current WR 250 points, then assuming Wimbledon do give her a MD WC ( tough one, meets WR 250 target, in very good form, likes grass ) then maybe Emily can persuade the relevant folk to spread some sand over the Wimbledon courts ( or at least her one ! ) wink

murray_2k9 · Challenger qualifying

Ive played on astro with sand a lot, its a nice surface actually, though that court looks OTT with the sand tbh. Its basically like a halfway house between a fairly fast hard and grass ie. lower bounce than usual but not as low as on grass, and the sand allows you to slide if you are able to do so.

jb288 · Satellite level

I play on sand-topped carpet/art grass all the time, love it! Beats proper no-sand astro by a mile, more consistent than grass and a much lower bounce than hard which suits me. Nice to move on too, IMHO.

murray_2k9 · Challenger qualifying

Agreed! I had no idea it was even rare or uncommon, I've seen it quite a lot! Its better to play on damp too compared to grass - win win really!

philwrig · Hall of fame

I also have to concur, always loved playing on artificial grass. Much better than playing on hard. Might be wrong about this but don't they use sand to lengthen the playing life of the surface.

steven · Tennis legend

4 minutes after the tournament twitter reported that Emily was 6-1 4-3 up, she tweeted to say that she had lost in 3 sets:

"lost today in 3 after a near perfect 1st set of tennis.need to learn to stamp my authority on the match during 2nd sets.gave what i had but was not enough, a missed opportunity :( need a new pair of feet for 2mro's doubs,mine are blistered+bleeding....that one hurt today!"

philwrig · Hall of fame

Seems to have ran out of steam a little, but at least no further injuries.

indiana · Tennis legend

Pity cry Though do like the "need to learn". I sense real enthusiasm for how things have been going and she just wants more and to get better.

One more win would have really made absolutely sure of top 250 for 6th June ( Wimbledon WC ranking target date ) As it is she is possibly OK now but it is tightish.

On the existing rankings she is WR 253 on 215 points. The one win here takes her to 224 points which is currently equivalent to WR 243. She has points to come off on 6th June which would put her back to 221 points, currently equivalent to WR 247. Current WR 250 is on 218 points. With this week and the 2 weeks of Roland Garros for ranking moves it clearly just isn't set in stone yet.

Emily is playing a 25K in Japan next week for which she should be seeded. Just get one win there and that shoiuld sort the WR 250 thing. I see she has withdrawn from another Japan 25K the following week, which seems sensible since she will have played 4 weeks in a row, think it will be time to head home.

Peter too · Tennis legend

R2: WEBLEY-SMITH, Emily (GBR) 271 lost to WEN-HSIN, Hsu (TPE) 266 6-1 4-6 2-6

Peter too · Tennis legend

Emily is down to play a $25K in Japan next week but it looks as if she may decide to take a well earned rest before the grass season.

Emily:- 28 weeks alone on the road.29 flights.19 cities.67 matches:40 won,27 lost.one hell of an adventure.....