Jaggy1876 wrote:

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My 'general' point as you put it is a lot of these players are trawling round the globe looking for ranking points and more often than not suffering heavy losses, or making little progress in the draws.

I'm also curious as to why people mock Robyn Beddow who does that very thing yet seem to jump down someone's throat for questioning a player being double bagelled at an overseas 10k.

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While Danielle may have got double bagelled this week, there is no comparison between her results and Robyn Beddow's in general - you can compare them on ITF if you want to.

Also, long-term regulars here will know that while we can't resist the odd grin at certain players' adventures (especially when it seems likely that they are being indulged by rich parents, probably through being a bit envious that we weren't able to do stuff like that ourselves LOL), most of us are rooting for them to have a big (by their standards) win, or in some cases, any win - the Robert Dee saga a few years ago being a great example.

Of course, some of them may actually be working their way round the world to fund their tennis dream, in which case all the more reason to cheer them on, even if they aren't that good.

Also, it's not just Brits doing this (otherwise there wouldn't be 3000 ATP/WTA ranked players) and if players can find a way to do it, why shouldn't they give it enough of a go to stop themselves having to look back years later and thinking 'what if'? They probably pick up some great life experiences on the way and it's a lot more constructive than the things a lot of teenagers do - a point Camille Goodman (in her blog that is linked to from the SM di Pula 10K thread) and, if I remember right, Robert Dee's dad both made.

In fact, some of my best memories come not from the 'boring' things I've been successful at but from limited successes at things that were much more of a struggle (albeit more fun!) and I'm really glad I had a go at them when I was young enough to see how far I could go even if I was never going to make pots of (or indeed, any) money from them as a competitor.

Leaving everything else aside (about which I could give splenetic vent for hours): who here has mocked Robyn Beddow?

I find her appearances fascinating, even more so because even with today's communications and inter-connectivity, nobody seems to be able to shed any light on her at all. She pops up somewhere, gives it her best shot and then melts away, vanished without trace, only to resurface fleetingly in some other untrodden corner of the world.

I'd love for someone to catch up with her and get some details about the whats, hows, and whys of her tennis career. Also whether Sam Beddow is indeed her brother (as we generally presume) , or even related.
Actually perhaps that would be the worst thing possible, as it would remove the mystery, the enigma.
Best to just watch the entry lists and see where in the world Robyn next is found, be glad that the saga continues, and hope that she wins whatever matches she plays there.

The Camille Goodman piece, quite apart from being astonishingly well written, was a very telling reminder that the expectations and assumptions that we impose upon any or all of the players, at all levels, of why they do what they do and what they expect to get from it, are often, at best, ill informed speculation and supposition.

Jaggy1876 wrote:

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Long term regulars what does that actually mean other than being patronising of course? Oh that's right it means they have superior knowledge silly me.

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You know full well that's not what I meant.  I said it in the context of long-term regulars being more likely to be aware that we are happy to see these players (the ones you think we laugh at) doing well. Long-term regulars will have better knowledge of what's happened in the past on the forum and be more likely to remember the Robert Dee saga, for example (that's just stating the obvious), it's not suggesting for a moment that they have superior knowledge in general.

Perhaps she enjoys touring the world and likes playing tennis, so she combines both.

I can remember several other players with similar itineraries but perhaps without the dedication of Robyn. One had two periods in the rankings, mainly by putting their name forward as standby at WTA events.

Another used to be the butt of comments on the lines of "rich daddy", however after doing some research I could find no rich daddy, in fact I couldn't find a daddy of any sort, only a music teacher mother.

The only point I am trying to make is that unless we know the players personally it's unlikely that we can guess their motivation, aims or source of funds. In some cases it could be a legacy that allows them to tour for a year or two, see the world, watch and play some tennis. In others it could be a research project to gather material for a book, but who knows apart from them? It's their life to do whatever they choose to do.

Wow, that's some itinerary, Steven, even more extensive than I ever imagined.

Robyn really is a fascinating mystery girl. I suspect she has a really enjoyable time and has so many stories to tell, but all is just speculation, because we know so little.

I'm up for some wild and probably wrong, and definitely pointless speculation!

A Robyn Beddow played USTA junior events and has Bradenton FL listed as her home town for some of them. Flordia is also where Samuel Beddow plays most of his tournaments, so may well be her brother. It possibly also means she went to the Bolliteri's IMG academy. She had an 89-89 win/loss record in juniors