Bally stat in the Times today - am I missing something?

philwrig · Hall of fame

RE: Bally stat in the Times today - am I missing something?

tony_orient · ATP qualifying

I don't really have much of an opinion on who should be next Fed Cup captain beyond what several people have stated than they shouldn't have a definite allegiance to one player. At this moment in time barring injury it looks to be really close between Ann, Heather and Laura as to who should be sigles No. 2 (with the favourite betwwen them changing almost every week) so we could do with someone with a neutral perspective to make the call.

The doubles pairing will also be a tough decision with no combination between our top four players looking that inspiring.

PaulM · Tennis legend

Haha Steven. Flyering all the opponents teens with tenniswise flyers!

There probably isn't such a person as you stay Steven, but in the absence of a womens tennis figurehead that we had with Nigel I think a one-player coach would be the wrong move.

I think this is part of a wider issue of who we get in to replace Nigel. Leon said he wanted someone in quickly, anyone heard anything?

I think it makes sense to have the 'head of womens' tennis as Fed Cup captain, and I think we need someone in that role by the new season.

I don't think Claire Curran is a bad shout. Popular, hardworking, some relevant experience, seems to be coming through the LTA ranks?

philwrig · Hall of fame

PaulM wrote:
Haha Steven. Flyering all the opponents teens with tenniswise flyers!

There probably isn't such a person as you stay Steven, but in the absence of a womens tennis figurehead that we had with Nigel I think a one-player coach would be the wrong move.

I think this is part of a wider issue of who we get in to replace Nigel. Leon said he wanted someone in quickly, anyone heard anything?

I think it makes sense to have the 'head of womens' tennis as Fed Cup captain, and I think we need someone in that role by the new season.

I don't think Claire Curran is a bad shout. Popular, hardworking, some relevant experience, seems to be coming through the LTA ranks?

The Times article just mentioned Claire Curran, Iain Bates and Jeremy Bates as the potential candidates for Fed Cup captain.

philwrig · Hall of fame

tony_orient wrote:
I don't really have much of an opinion on who should be next Fed Cup captain beyond what several people have stated than they shouldn't have a definite allegiance to one player. At this moment in time barring injury it looks to be really close between Ann, Heather and Laura as to who should be sigles No. 2 (with the favourite betwwen them changing almost every week) so we could do with someone with a neutral perspective to make the call.

The doubles pairing will also be a tough decision with no combination between our top four players looking that inspiring.

If the team was picked today I would pick Bally and Anne for singles and Hev/Laura for the dubs. Of course it is outdoors and Anne's best form is indoors, but I would probably still pick her ahead of the other 2. I also like the idea of bringing in 2 fresh players for the doubles and Hev/Laura do combine quite well.

tony_orient · ATP qualifying

philwrig wrote:
tony_orient wrote:
I don't really have much of an opinion on who should be next Fed Cup captain beyond what several people have stated than they shouldn't have a definite allegiance to one player. At this moment in time barring injury it looks to be really close between Ann, Heather and Laura as to who should be sigles No. 2 (with the favourite betwwen them changing almost every week) so we could do with someone with a neutral perspective to make the call.

The doubles pairing will also be a tough decision with no combination between our top four players looking that inspiring.
If the team was picked today I would pick Bally and Anne for singles and Hev/Laura for the dubs. Of course it is outdoors and Anne's best form is indoors, but I would probably still pick her ahead of the other 2. I also like the idea of bringing in 2 fresh players for the doubles and Hev/Laura do combine quite well.

I think i'd be inclined to agree with you, although 3 weeks ago Anne would have been my 4th choice for singles so who knows what the situation will be in 3 months time.

There's also a case for picking the 2nd player based on the opponent (e.g. against weaker opponents I'd back Heather as the most likely to give a solid performance and maybe Laura fares the best against hard-hitting opponents).

In fact I'm looking forward to plenty more debate on this before the end of January...

steven · Tennis legend

Finally couldn't resist having a mini-rant on Twitter when the BBC repeated the incorrect stat about Bally in an article today or yesterday. That's one way to lose a few followers, I'm sure! (indeed, I'm sure someone will see it as anti-Bally, whennothing could be further from the truth - I think her achievements over the last couple of years reflect huge credit on her and don't need to be embellished by made-up stats passing through the media like Chinese whispers!)

I have also updated (and extended) the stats I keep for GB WTA year-ends - see the new thread at http://britishtennis.activeboard.com/t45966443/wta-year-end-stats-for-brits-now-going-back-to-1975/ for details.

philwrig · Hall of fame

It just seems to me that top 50 and a ranking in the 50's has clearly just been mixed up. If you had said top 60 in each of the last two years, I think the Beeb wouldn't have made the mistake, still they should have done better.

steven · Tennis legend

philwrig wrote:
It just seems to me that top 50 and a ranking in the 50's has clearly just been mixed up. If you had said top 60 in each of the last two years, I think the Beeb wouldn't have made the mistake, still they should have done better.

True (though only if we assume that's what they based it on), but then it wouldn't have been first time since the 1980s because Jo Durie finished WR 60 in consecutive years in the 1990s. I did even add a tweet to say I'd been very careful about the wording for that reason, so I'm not feeling the tiniest bit guilty about this one. LOL