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

korriban · Challenger level

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

Ratty · County player

Well, that's an interesting take. I've never subscribed to the "happy training group spurring each other on" camp, which is quite popular on this board.

In a non-team sport like tennis, it seems a reasonable assumption that being more than usually self-regarding can give one a competitive advantage. But of course that makes one a lesser human being.

RJA · Hall of fame

L32: (1) Daniel Evans WR 327 v (Q) Joshua Page UNR
Non Brit Match
Non Brit Match
L32: (7) Neil Pauffley WR 463 v Ashley Hewitt WR 652
L32: (3) Daniel Smethurst WR 376 v (Q) Adam Thornton-Brown WR 1898
L32: (Q) James Ireland WR 1383 v Nicolas Rosenzweig (FRA) WR 821
L32: (WC) Clay Crawford UNR v (Q) Scott Clayton WR 1928
Non Brit Match
L32: (6) Alex Ward WR 443 v (WC) Jonny O'Mara WR 1768
L32: Marcus Willis WR 564 v Matthew Short WR 775
L32: (WC) Isaac Stoute UNR v (Q) Cameron Norrie WR 1396
L32: Richard Gabb WR 667 v (4) Jason Kubler (AUS) WR 401
L32: (8) Daniel Cox WR 507 v Jordan Thompson (AUS) WR 639
L32: (Q) Robert Carter WR 1258 v Luke Bambridge WR 798
L32: (Q) Toby Martin WR 909 v (WC) Evan Hoyt UNR
L32: Andrew Fitzpatrick WR 680 v (2) Axel Michon (FRA) WR 334

The 3 non Brit matches include 5th seed Julian Obry, who would play the winner of Crawford v Clayton. Coric plays Dayne Kelly in his opener and would then meet the winner of Pauffley v Hewitt.

-- Edited by RJA on Monday 6th of May 2013 04:16:01 PM

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

Main draw out on the ITF website.

http://www.itftennis.com/procircuit/tournaments/men%27s-tournament/info.aspx?tournamentid=1100028799

Sorry. Haven't got time to type it out, but I bet the Nº2 seed is quaking in his boots !!

Edit.

Alright. So RJA can type quicker than I can think cry

-- Edited by Bob in Spain on Monday 6th of May 2013 04:17:04 PM

chicken · Social player

Does anyone know the order of play today? It's not on lta website.

RJA · Hall of fame

chicken wrote:
Does anyone know the order of play today? It's not on lta website.

http://www.atpworldtour.com/posting/2013/725/op.pdf

chicken · Social player

Thanks.

Tough draw for Jathan!

Madeline · Admin:Moderator + Tennis Legend

I'm really spitting there is a tournament in my home town, (at my daughter's old club even), and I can't get to it as I'm tied to the house for the next month or more. I'll just have to follow it on here. Good luck to all the Brits, and especially our very own Fitzy.

murray_2k9 · Challenger qualifying

Ratty wrote:
Well, that's an interesting take. I've never subscribed to the "happy training group spurring each other on" camp, which is quite popular on this board.

In a non-team sport like tennis, it seems a reasonable assumption that being more than usually self-regarding can give one a competitive advantage. But of course that makes one a lesser human being.

I dont know what the evidence (if any exists) would say about comparing group training to individual training, but life on the tour can be a lonely existence, so I guess you would class me as a subsscriber to that theory. Why would spending 11 months of the year on tour, then spending the off season training alone just for the sake of it sound better? I can see it being good mentally to have other people your own age there - learning to socialise with your peers is a massive part of growing up.

I would assume the LTA have enough experience / right people in charge to ensure the group environment doesnt come at the expense of the training quality.

Korriban, I think you're rightly concerned as there has been a total lack of pushing on, though injuries are seemingly accountable for the vast majority of that. It is very interersting to see how Tom F has taken himself off to Turkey rather than doing the GB future circuit, got his head down and made big strides. Likewise Wardy has taken a solo trip over to China that has reaped big rewards. Perhaps the LTA is stifling the players flexibility and dictating where they should play too often?

steven · Tennis legend

It strikes me that there are (surprise! wink ) both advantages and disadvantages to going it alone and travelling with a supportive group of peers and that (surprise! again), some players are naturally more wired to go it alone and some react better with friends around. If I remember right, Greg was pretty much a loner and Tim was friends with quite a few of the top players on the tour ... though admittedly it was with those he tended to lose to! Bally seems to have been a loner too (at least as far as other players on tour go), Anne I'm not sure, Heather not so much and Laura definitely not!

You could certainly argue that being very self-sufficient is a vital trait in a sportsperson, particularly in an individual sport like tennis, but that doesn't seem to stop the top French and Spanish players from socialising with each other a lot and Andy seems to love plenty of banter (and video games), even if he doesn't take it onto Twitter very often.

However, at the level most of them are currently at, whether the group dynamic has a positive or negative effect must depend on whether there are enough of them wanting to work hard to spur each other on. Obviously if the dominant characters in the group are those going "don't be square and train more, let's go down the pub instead" or similar then there is going to be a problem and in that case, someone the players respect needs to step in and try to sort it out.

If we do get two or three of the young Brits into the top 100, more than one of them being at the big tournaments is very likely to be a positive thing, I think. But then, if two or three of the young Brits get into the top 100, that will automatically mean they are dedicated enough to have a positive rather than negative influence on each other!

philwrig · Hall of fame

Good perspective Steven, it shouldn't really matter in the end. As you say as long as the tennis side of things is the main focus.

Priesty · Challenger level

paulisi wrote:

Calf injuries heel quickly.

Yes, but do heel injuries calf quickly? wink

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

Nice to see the LTA site up to date for the Newcastle tournament. The Live Scores link takes you through to the ITF Live Scores but a blank page, the OOP link takes you through to the main ITF site and the Qualifying draw sheet hasn't been published yet.

Jeez. Anyone would think it was a Bank Holiday or something. wink

philwrig · Hall of fame

Madeline wrote:
I'm really spitting there is a tournament in my home town, (at my daughter's old club even), and I can't get to it as I'm tied to the house for the next month or more. I'll just have to follow it on here. Good luck to all the Brits, and especially our very own Fitzy.

That's a real shame, I played there alot when I was younger as well and it really is a beautiful venue with a great clubhouse. The weather is usually iffy at this time of year but lets face it, it is the North East!

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

Cameron Norrie has just tweeted that he has qualified for the MD.

Got the win 7-5 in the third to qualify in Newcastle 10k futures