Week 46 - ITF ($10K) - Edgbaston, UK Hard

scottie1 · Futures level

RE: Week 46 - ITF ($10K) - Edgbaston, UK Hard

korriban · Challenger level

I think Harriet has a great shout for another win tomorrow - I'm quietly confident.

Seems to be something good happening with the younger GB girls - Dunne (17), Boulter and Dart (16), Brogan (15) and Plews, Taylor, Lumsden (14) all have shown flashes of real promise at world level this summer.

Of these, Jazzi Plews at 14 is the youngest having a crack at the U18 Eddie Herr and Orange Bowl junior tournaments in late November/early December - although some of the others will also be there. Definitely worth watching out for, as she has ripped up the Grade 4 and Grade 3 tournaments all year - first big test with the better older girls.

2 further thoughts.

1. All this is good, but its still a very small number of girls to be talking as future "stars" about across different 4 year groups for a country of our size and ambition in tennis. Most won't fulfill their early promise, which is normal, so its a numbers game.

2. Echoing an earlier post - where has Eleanor Dean gone? She's still 16 I believe, is still in the top 100 juniors, and still is promoted as one to watch by the LTA - but hasn't played for a long while in ITF seniors or juniors - an injury perhaps. Any info.

DavidC · Tennis legend

Eleanor last played in July and was forced to pull out of the Maureen Connolly Trophy in August at the last minute, but is on the entry list for the Orange Bowl in the first week of December - so hopefully she will be back in action soon.

philwrig · Hall of fame

Yep I suspect Eleanor has had an injury plagued season to date. Huge potential but needs to stay injury free for a sustained period to start to fulfil some of that potential.

I think Harriet is a good example of a girl maximising her potential, smallish in stature but the heart of a lion.

Katy D is probably someone who always had decent potential but lost her way and Katie B certainly always also showed ability.

I don't know much about Anna Brogan other than her results have been good, but Jazzi Plews is a name which has always been raised when discussing potential stars of the future. She had a disappointing result at The Orange Bowl last year but has had a spectacular year and looks the real deal.

Gabbi Taylor and Maia Lumsden are another two who I don't know much about, but are progressing nicely.

The 99 age year group shows loads of potential as well.

steven · Tennis legend

Kinard has just won the 1st set 6-2 against Anna.

steven · Tennis legend

QF: BROGAN, Anna (GBR) WC UNR lost to KINARD, Tori (USA) 687 by 2 & 4

A really good week for the 15-year-old though. Clearly today's opponent was just too 'kin 'ard (as they used to say at school LOL) ... igmc

Peter too · Tennis legend

Jade's match is on Bet365

steven · Tennis legend

The nice thing is, this no longer seems like a big shock ...

QF: DART, Harriet (GBR) WC 964 beat DANIELS, Carolin (GER) 564 by 4 & 5 biggrin

SF: DART, Harriet (GBR) WC 964 v KINARD, Tori (USA) 687

steven · Tennis legend

QF: WINDLEY, Jade (GBR) 6 497 beat MELNIKOVA, Marina (RUS) 3 380 by 3 & 3 biggrin

korriban · Challenger level

I was reasonably confident, and the scoreline suggests a good solid win for Harriet and a well deserved first ITF semi.

With 2 Brits who have already played Kinard, including her friend Anna, she ought to have some decent intel. on strengths and weaknesses - so if her form holds, and with the right info on tactics, another win in the semi is arguably the most likely result. Certainly hope so.

Harriet's another of the junior crew off to the Eddie Herr & Orange Bowl tournaments in a couple of weeks - imagine what this must be doing for her confidence!

philwrig · Hall of fame

One further comment to make about Harriet is that she seemed to struggle against her peer group given how good her senior form was prior to the summer. However since the team comp against the US at New Haven, her junior form has picked up substantially and now back to seniors her form in that sphere is better than ever, very encouraging.

indiana · Tennis legend

Another great win for Harriet smile

Will take her into the GB top 20 on Monday week ( and GB no 18 on 19 ranking points if she wins her semi final ), which while she has done very well more really highlights the awful lack of depth, after about the first dozen, in GB women's tennis just now, even allowing for such as Sarah Borwell nicking so many players to American colleges. and a few long term injuries. Actually even tails off after the top 20, GB No 25 has 3 ranking points !

-- Edited by indiana on Friday 16th of November 2012 11:59:57 PM

steven · Tennis legend

indiana wrote:
Another great win for Harriet
Will take her into the GB top 20 on Monday week ( and GB no 18 on 19 ranking points if she wins her semi final ), which while she has done very well more really highlights the awful lack of depth, after about the first dozen, in GB women's tennis just now, even allowing for such as Sarah Borwell nicking so many players to American colleges. and a few long term injuries. Actually even tails off after the top 20, GB No 25 has 3 ranking points !

I know, it's a real shocker and keeps getting worse - this week was the first week that just 3 points has been enough to get in the GB top 25 (Jess Ren is just above the other players on 3 points on tiebreak because she has 1 point from a main tour event - a qr1 loss in Birmingham) and on Monday, when another point comes off Alexandra Walker's total, all 5 Brits who are equal last on the ranking list (i.e. 3 points from 3 ITFs) will share 25th place (you'll see how I get around not giving them all separate lines when the new table comes out) and it will get worse again when one of Nicola George's points drops off on Monday week.

In fact, 3 unranked players would be ranked higher by Monday week if there were no 3-event threshold - Nicole Peterson (5 points from 2), Katie Boulter (4 points from 1), Anna Brogan (4 points from 1) and Katy Dunne (3 points from 1 but including 2 from a slam)

Compare all this though to the men, where you can now be top 750 with 23 points (i.e. Ashley Hewitt) and not make it in.

Compare also to the same week 2 years ago, when the 25th GB man was Chris Priddle ranked 1039 and to the same week 3 years ago, when the 25th GB woman was (coincidentally!) Sarah Borwell ranked 827, 60 places above the 25th GB man (Ross Hutchins) at that stage.

I wonder whether the pendulum will swing back in a few years - it might well do if this turns out to be a peak for GB teenagers making their mark on the ATP rankings and some of the over-25s among the men start retiring, while at the same time, the next crop of junior girls start making their mark in seniors and some of the 'Borwell babes' return from the US - hopefully not all as doubles specialists, as Brits who go to US colleges seem so inclined to do.

This possibility of the pendulum swinging back is the reason why I haven't changed the number of players in the tables to show more men than women. I'm tempted to impose a 10-point cut-off on the women, but the top 25 tables are quite well-known now among the more committed GB tennis fans and I don't really want to have to change the name every other week. If it gets any worse next year though, I'll find a way!

None of this takes anything away from Harriet, of course, who has made an extremely encouraging start in senior ITFs this year. biggrin

-- Edited by steven on Saturday 17th of November 2012 01:36:00 AM

Reeltime · Satellite level

There would be a justification for making the tables fb players in the top 1000, no?

-- Edited by Reeltime on Saturday 17th of November 2012 02:28:40 AM

insomniacfolder · Challenger level

Good luck to Jade & the Dartist in their semi's. Jade plays the top seed:

SF: WINDLEY, Jade (GBR) [6] 497 vs VORACOVA, Renata (CZE) [1] 297 (CH: 74, Oct 2010)
H2H: N/A