Week 4 - ITF ($15K) - Lima, Peru Clay

Peter too · Tennis legend

Week 4 - ITF ($15K) - Lima, Peru Clay

steven · Tennis legend

So much for finding a 15K with a relatively weak entry list - Alves was ranked as high as 132 back in 2005, has won 25Ks in the past and won four 10Ks in 2011, a year she also won a couple of doubles titles with Samantha Murray.

korriban · Challenger level

Of the 4 matches completed in the women's draw to date, 3 were won in straight sets, 6-0 or 6-1. Reminds me a bit of the Aussie Open to date, with Serena and Sharapova demolishing the rest of the field.

There really do seem to be huge step jumps in class at a number of different levels in the women's game, and it seems this tournament is yet another example.

Sabrina was 0-5 first set against Alves, now 2-5 so hopefully just nerves or rustiness......hope she acquits herself well today, but the omens aren't great.

steven · Tennis legend

Sabrina ended up losing in straight sets, which isn't exactly a big surprise given her draw, but bet365 doesn't have the final score recorded.

Peter too · Tennis legend

R1: BAMBURAC, Sabrina (GBR) 826 lost to ALVES, Maria-Fernanda (BRA) 2 404 2-6 0-6

blob · All-time great

pretty rotten luck with that draw

Ratty · County player

In a spirit of enquiry, no criticisms intended ...

I wonder what the end-game is for these globetrotters in the lower rankings. Yes, there MAY be some relatively easy points floating about - but boy do they cost, and travelling huge distances is hardly conducive to playing well - but to what end?

If one's goal is (say) to "make a living from pro-tennis" (ie - top 200 minimum), surely the only way to go is to get seriously good. And I don't quite see how globetrotting - an exhausting and expensive strategy - is better for this purpose than simply staying in the UK and playing the large number of $10Ks that we put on.

But, each to their own ...

Peter too · Tennis legend

Ratty wrote:
In a spirit of enquiry, no criticisms intended ...
I wonder what the end-game is for these globetrotters in the lower rankings. Yes, there MAY be some relatively easy points floating about - but boy do they cost, and travelling huge distances is hardly conducive to playing well - but to what end?
If one's goal is (say) to "make a living from pro-tennis" (ie - top 200 minimum), surely the only way to go is to get seriously good. And I don't quite see how globetrotting - an exhausting and expensive strategy - is better for this purpose than simply staying in the UK and playing the large number of $10Ks that we put on.
But, each to their own ...

See the world and play some tennis. Learn to manage their time, transport, accomodation, training, food, medical care and budget. Even if they never become a high flying tennis player they still learn skills and self reliance that will benefit them in other possible future careers.

AliBlahBlah · All-time great

Yes, I think the practical realities of life force a lot of people to have to make a practical assessment and hedge their bets in the manner Peter too eloquently described. Much as they'd like, I'm sure, to commit everything to their tennis dream, sometimes it's just not possible.
Some people might, and do suggest that this just proves that they were never made of stern enough stuff to succeed in the first place; they're uncommitted, losers/quitters and deserve to fail if they can't go those extra (million) miles. Personaly I find that view unfair and somewhat removed from reality and the quotidian concerns of living ones life.

Anyway, Sabrina really did get the short end of the stick on this trip. In doubles she is up against the number 2 seeds in R1

Bamburac/Nefedova (GBR/RUS) vs Melander/Roma [2] (SWE/SWE)

AliBlahBlah · All-time great

Sabrina lost in the doubles, 4 & 1