RJA wrote:

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SMC1809 wrote:

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Ratty wrote:

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The theory is good, but ...

Most Futures venues don't have any facilities for spectators. The novelty of standing on a balcony soon wears off. And you only have to look at the entries in Turkey's 50-Futures-per-year programme to see that bumping up the numbers and the prize money will just mean handing over said extra prize money to Jonny Foreigner ...

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I think you're guessing again Ratty. Have you been to most venues to evidence this? Perhaps we should start a thread that lists venues and relative viewing facilities. Not to prove or disprove your point but more for the benefit of anyone wanting to watch.

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I can start you off

 

Frinton - Nice club, "main court" can be watched from outside the club house (quite a few chairs), 4 other courts easily watched from a grass terrace that runs behind them. All in all not bad.

Chiswick - Not suitable for anyone other than hard core fans. One court can be viewed from a terrace (although not that well). Some courts can be viewed from the side. Some can only be viewed from a tiny area at the back of the courts (between each courts back board)

Wrexham - Not suitable for anyone other than hard core fans. All courts viewed from ground level (side and or behind). Very few chairs. Lack of back boards on the courts means you have to be careful not to walk behind them while play is ongoing

Nottingham - Not suitable for anyone other than hard core fans. Very similar to Wrexham when it comes to the hard courts.

Cumberland - Not suitable for anyone other than hard core fans. Reasonable viewing positions available for some of the hard courts from an elevated level but very few chairs. Other courts not good to view.

 

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 I'd agree with you about Frinton, Chiswick and Nottingham.  Haven't been to Wrexham so can't comment, however Cumberland I thought was one of the better venues on the circuit.  It's possible to follow more than one match at once and the elevated level gives a much better perspective than the usual side-on ground level view.  I suppose it depends what you are looking for, I'm quite happy to stand to watch a match and am used to standing on the terraces at a football match for 2 hours every week.  For me the main points would be an un-obstructed view of as many courts as possible, ideally with viewing areas behind the baseline.

A couple more to add:

Bath - The basic and stereotypical balcony over-looking the courts.  Easy to follow many matches simultaneously, although can get a bit cramped during the early rounds.

Woking/Foxhills - Not great, couple of benches behind the two main courts and th rest are viewable from a small grass mound, similar to the show courts at Wimbledon quals but about 5 times smaller.

Bournemouth - Similar to Nottingham, few seats on either side, although difficult to see more than 2 courts at any one time.  Big stadium court with over 100 seats at the far end from the clubhouse and the other match courts which could surely be used more effectively

The Knight wrote:

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Nicely done Evo! Is he back in top 300 with this?

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Touch and go. As of Monday the 17th he will have 154 points. At present that would just be enough but he could end up just outside.

As for the match today, the result wasn't a surprise. Milton has some worthy qualities but he serves like a girl and has no way of hurting players of Evo's ability. For Milton to beat Evo the latter would have to play a really poor match.

Final: (1) Dan Evans WR 337 beat (3) Josh Milton WR 438  6-3, 6-1