TA posted some pics from yesterday's action, which includes one each of Oli & Alex. I hardly recognised Oli - if his face his anythign to go by, he has slimmed down a bit http://www.tennisalternative.com/spain-f15-madrid-futures-monday-report-and-photos-rn2342.html

korriban wrote:

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Yet another case of Mr Golding being able to fly into another new country for a $10k Futures tournament for just 1 week on his own (although Mr Ward is a last minute arrival), then head off somewhere else (presumably back to the UK to hit the grass).

In the main our men and women seem to have tournament schedules that you can get your head around - when abroad they try to stay for at least 2 weeks and often 3 or 4, and tend to play in groups, to maximise tournament and practice continuity and minimise overall costs.

With Oli this year, usual rules seem not to apply. This comes across as a bit daft really.

 

I think you should check your facts really. he played 3 in a row in egypt and then 3 in a row in italy. that doesnt sound totally random to me. He was also the only british player on the clay at the time so he didnt really have a choice to play anywhere else! As for Alex, yes an unexpected result but we shouldnt forget that Becker is a tall player with a big serve, perfect for the quick altitude conditions in madrid. He also played well in Dusseldrf. So yes, dissapointing but not as bad as it seems on paper. I find it highly unlikely that Golding will play the grass as it would seem strange preperation to play a 10k on clay the week before! But i guess we will soon find out....

thefollower wrote:

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korriban wrote:

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Yet another case of Mr Golding being able to fly into another new country for a $10k Futures tournament for just 1 week on his own (although Mr Ward is a last minute arrival), then head off somewhere else (presumably back to the UK to hit the grass).

In the main our men and women seem to have tournament schedules that you can get your head around - when abroad they try to stay for at least 2 weeks and often 3 or 4, and tend to play in groups, to maximise tournament and practice continuity and minimise overall costs.

With Oli this year, usual rules seem not to apply. This comes across as a bit daft really.

 

I think you should check your facts really. he played 3 in a row in egypt and then 3 in a row in italy. that doesnt sound totally random to me. He was also the only british player on the clay at the time so he didnt really have a choice to play anywhere else! As for Alex, yes an unexpected result but we shouldnt forget that Becker is a tall player with a big serve, perfect for the quick altitude conditions in madrid. He also played well in Dusseldrf. So yes, dissapointing but not as bad as it seems on paper. I find it highly unlikely that Golding will play the grass as it would seem strange preperation to play a 10k on clay the week before! But i guess we will soon find out....

 

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Excuse me, but Oli travelled out to Spain earlier this year for just one single $10k tournament, then travelled immediately to Croatia for another single $10k tournament, then travelled home for just 1 week, before travelling out to Egypt. Accept your point about Egypt and Italy (3 weeks each) which is the normal route. But I made the comment because after Italy he flew to Germany (ATP so fair enough) for a week, then has flown to Spain for what appears to be just a single week again. I don't think I'm wrong.

Does anyone know anything about Kevin Sielmann ?

He doesn't seem to exist on the ITF or ATP databases. I believe that this is his first ever tournament.

Is he the junior coach from the local club down the street ? The organiser's nephew ? If so, does Oliver realise this ?

Edit : just found a match played in 2010 . . .

-- Edited by Coup Droit on Thursday 30th of May 2013 11:50:27 AM