yes thanks again also bob, in a way pleasing too know kyle didnt play overly well, bodes well seeing as he still dug this one out. A big one tomorow, no idea of what really to expect, dont suppose you saw this guy in action or have heard much bob? the prize of a complete pressure free in terms of result match against busta in tantilizing

Thanks Bob.

Glad he's still going to play RG, Wimbledon and USO Juniors. Not sure I'm bothered about any other Junior events, given his pro tour progress. If he were able to win RG and/or Wimbledon, I wouldn't worry about the USO Juniors either......unless it dovetails with other US tournaments that the team want him to play anyway.

I do hope he also gets some variety of WC into both Queen's/Eastbourne and Wimbledon. I recall he did well at Wimbledon qualies last year, winning a round, and losing in Q2 from a set up.

Fingers crossed for the weather this afternoon.....forecast looks awful.

BTW The #1 seed in next weeks Croatian futures has just dropped out, as has Oli. Which means Kyle is upto 11th rank in the MD already, with only the top ranked player inside the top 300. Dominik Thiem is a big talent, so might be one to avoid, although I think he may have been off injured or on a long training block in recent weeks.  

-- Edited by korriban on Thursday 28th of February 2013 09:48:54 AM

Morning Weather Report

It is atrocious !!

OK.  So you want more details ?  Yesterday was very much a day of localised showers and sunny intervals, all wrapped up in a cold biting wind.  Today has taken a turn for the worse.  After gale force winds and driving rain overnight, the morning arrived with dark black clouds in all directions.  It was one of those mornings where the duvet is your best friend and your alarm clock wishes it had life insurance.

The only ray of hope is that it looks slightly brighter on the horizon to the north - but Cartagena is firmly to the south of where I am.  It is quite common here for overnight rain to clear by mid morning and for us to return to blue skies.  I would estimate that 80% of our annual rainfall occurs at night.  But today, the weather looks pretty much set for the day.

Hope I am wrong, but don't be surprised if today is a washout.

 

Whilst I didn't see Korriban's request to ask about Kyle's scheduling, I did coincidentally ask Beechy about the rest of the season's plans. Great minds think alike eh Korri

However, my questions were more along the lines of how they plan to maintain the balance of junior and senior events, given the desire to develop move up the rankings and also the ongoing ambition to win a junior slam.  Kyle will play the three remaining junior slams this year, but apart from that he may only play one other junior event - Milan was mentioned ?

With RG in mind, Beechy also mentioned that to get automatic entry into the junior event, Kyle will need to be inside the top 550 (?) and they saw yesterday's point as a massive and perhaps pivotal step in that direction.  That was definitely an extra pressure on Kyle yesterday with that in mind.

Next week, he is playing in Croatia where he will be accompanied by Leon Smith.  It was only ever going to be a one week adventure so his pull out from the following week is nothing sinister.  Next week was really a choice between Croatia and Barcelona (Reus) and Beechy chose the former for two reasons.

1) It would be a slightly weaker event and eliminated the risk of playing qualies - as it turns out he would have made the MD in Barcelona but the perceived risk was higher

2) Variety of opponent - the guys in Barcelona next week will likely be the same ones that have been in Murcia and Cartagena and he wanted fresh faces around.

Then there will be a 3 to 4 week training block before Kyle heads off to the USA again to play 2 futures and ....... wait for it ....... two Challenger events.  I will let the "stat hounds" hunt around for exactly which events they will be as I didn't ask.

Didn't ask about the hard court/clay court situation this time.  Sorry

 

PS  Still raining here.

 

DavidC wrote:

---

Bob in Spain wrote:

---

Whilst I didn't see Korriban's request to ask about Kyle's scheduling, I did coincidentally ask Beechy about the rest of the season's plans. Great minds think alike eh Korri

However, my questions were more along the lines of how they plan to maintain the balance of junior and senior events, given the desire to develop move up the rankings and also the ongoing ambition to win a junior slam.  Kyle will play the three remaining junior slams this year, but apart from that he may only play one other junior event - Milan was mentioned ?

With RG in mind, Beechy also mentioned that to get automatic entry into the junior event, Kyle will need to be inside the top 550 (?) and they saw yesterday's point as a massive and perhaps pivotal step in that direction.  That was definitely an extra pressure on Kyle yesterday with that in mind.

---

 Thanks for the great reports and insight into Kyle's schedule. The Trofeo Bonfiglio in Milan is the usual event chosen as a warm-up for the French, and normally has the strongest field in terms of cut-off of all the junior events outside the Slams

With Kyle's banked ATP points he is certain to at least be accepted for qualifying in the junior slams, but 550 is indeed the requirement for main draw direct entry. If he achieves that, then he will not only be in the main draws but will be seeded, and thus avoid the likes of Kyrgios in the early rounds.

---

Thanks David.  That's useful to know and explains why Beechy felt yesterday's match was so important.  The extra point should get him into the top 550.  Of course a QF win would make absolutely sure.  Having defended the point he won in Cartagena last year by reaching the 2nd round in Murcia last week, I think he only has 2 points from Newcastle to defend before RG so chances to go even higher.  What is the cut off date for being in the top 550 - is it the week before RG or earlier ?

-- Edited by Bob in Spain on Thursday 28th of February 2013 07:22:07 PM

Despite the fact I have just had a mega thunderstorm pass over and the roads are flooded, it does appear that 45 minutes down the road, the tennis is in play. Sadly I am going to have to follow the live scores like the rest of you today. No chance of getting down there to watch.

thanks for the extra information, very interesting to read, and intriguing to hear about kyle's upcoming plans