Week 19 - Great Britain F11 ($10,000) - Newcastle (Clay)

Bob the Ball Boy · Junior player

RE: Week 19 - Great Britain F11 ($10,000) - Newcastle (Clay)

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

SF: Ashley Hewitt WR 652 defeated (3) Dan Smethurst WR 376 by 4 & 1

****

Final: Ashley Hewitt WR 652 vs (2) Axel Michon (FRA) WR 334

indiana · Tennis legend

Yes, Bob, I think RJA summed up the position succinctly.

Without any further real info other than dropping in further possibly intriguing snippets re yourself, which then ( understandably if true ) you are unable / unwilling to enlarge on, I don't see this has anywhere further to go for now.

indiana · Tennis legend

Well done to Ashley. I certainly wasn't anticipating such a decisive win today.

philwrig · Hall of fame

Spectator wrote:
Well done, Messrs Bambridge and Norrie. That must be a boost. French Open partnership?

Yes.

Bob the Ball Boy · Junior player

great win from ash... hes a very gifted player and hopefully these past few weeks will give him some confidence to rise up the rankings more quickly than he has been able to in the past!

philwrig · Hall of fame

I don't think Ash is getting the credit he deserves for his performances this week. Dan didn't play his best after a great start and got frustrated leading in some way to the more lopsided scoreline in the second set, but Ash has played spectacularly well all week and fully deserves to win this title as Michon is solid but not unbeatable.

I didn't see alot of Evo's match yesterday other than the final part which was very competitive. The standard of the tennis in the TB was very high.

steven · Tennis legend

Interview with the dibbles chimps (*):

http://www.itftennis.com/procircuit/news/video/video-pro-circuit-interview-with-cameron-norrie-and-luke-bambridge.aspx

(*) to be fair, Cameron's kiwi accent is quite mild, "hivvy" forehand was as good as it got

scottie1 · Futures level

some people on here were not very complementary about ashley earlier in the year. I have rated him since I saw him in Glasgow last year

indiana · Tennis legend

Bob, with Ashley's recent consistently strong performances that rise up the rankings is already very much happening.

From already at a CH 713 on 29/04, his SF in Bournemouth took him to his current CH of 652, and the last two weeks' SF and now final ( at least ) will push him up nearly another 100 places to probably about WR 560. And well into the top 550 if he were to win the final.

Bob the Ball Boy · Junior player

when i said 'the past', i was referring to the last 3 years of his senior tennis career... not the past 3 weeks.

clearly his ranking has jumped massively due to results this past month- what i meant was i hope he can continue in this fashion because, and lets be brutally honest here, 550 in the world isnt much of an achievement for someone like ash... he can and should be aiming much higher

indiana · Tennis legend

scottie, I think what was more mentioned re Ashley was that the Glasgow week rather seemed to stand out in isolation, maybe to an extent due to some injury issues ( I think some were mentioned ? ). So, more, I think folk were just very unsure about him.

Now, he has recently found much more consistency and also shown it on a surface and conditions very different from the fast indoor courts in Glasgow.

So, credit to the guy, with good reports from such as yourself and Phil who have seen him in action. Looks a guy very much on the up and worth following.

paulisi · Tennis legend

I agree that Ashley's recent form has proved that he can match and beat players ranked well inside the top 500, which would indicate he has the potential to get up to 350 quite easily.
Similarly with Tom F and Kyle

Compare that to Dan Smethurst, Alex Ward or Josh Milton who seem to be playing at the correct ranking level at present.

scottie1 · Futures level

dont know what to say about Dan Smethurst he certainly has a powerful game.

steven · Tennis legend

Ashley hasn't exactly seen his draw open up, has he - in order to win the title, he'll have had to beat the top 3 seeds, the 7th seed and Coric, probably the most dangerous floater in the draw.