Week 26 - Belgium F2 ($10,000) - Havré (Clay)

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

RE: Week 26 - Belgium F2 ($10,000) - Havré (Clay)

SMC1809 · All-time great

korriban wrote:
AliBB, interesting chart. Most of the chart on the left hand side can be ignored, because it shows the pro ranking of the lads whilst they were juniors, and really depends on how many ITF tournaments (or higher) they played.
The interesting thing for me, and the reason I have my doubts, is that Oli seems to have gone backwards over the last 9-12 months. I would expect juniors to mature at different speeds, and for many to reach plateaus....either temporary or permanent.....but not to go on a long run of poor performances, where he hasn't won even a $10k for almost 14 months now and counting. After all, most of their matches are on the $10k Futures circuit against players ranked 300 and lower.
Actually, with the exception of Jiri, and perhaps Dominic Thiem, one could argue that none of that years (1993/94) crop of juniors look like future world beaters.
If you look at 95/96, you have Nick Kyrgios with a pro ranking already just outside 200, Kyle with a ranking inside 400, and Quinzi with a ranking about 420....these boys are still jts 17 and 18 and still playing juniors. You have Borna Coric and Alexander Zverev at 16 who look like very special players of the future, and Quentin Halys of France might well fall into that category.
That's the reality

Having 5 months out with injury can do that. There's a Spanish guy who took some time out recently with injury, and he went backwards as a result of it too. Prior to Oli's injury, he was progressing well and reached his career high of 418. In the same week Fratangelo was ranked 639, Saville 412 and Vesely 260, so whilst behind Vesely, he certainly wasn't lagging behind to any noticeable extent.

Even on his comeback from injury, it took Oli 6 tournaments before he reached the QF, so it would seem he was still playing his way back to fitness. I've watched him play a few times and he definitely shows brattish behaviour at times, but lets not write him off just yet.

korriban · Challenger level

SMC1809 wrote:
korriban wrote:
AliBB, interesting chart. Most of the chart on the left hand side can be ignored, because it shows the pro ranking of the lads whilst they were juniors, and really depends on how many ITF tournaments (or higher) they played.
The interesting thing for me, and the reason I have my doubts, is that Oli seems to have gone backwards over the last 9-12 months. I would expect juniors to mature at different speeds, and for many to reach plateaus....either temporary or permanent.....but not to go on a long run of poor performances, where he hasn't won even a $10k for almost 14 months now and counting. After all, most of their matches are on the $10k Futures circuit against players ranked 300 and lower.
Actually, with the exception of Jiri, and perhaps Dominic Thiem, one could argue that none of that years (1993/94) crop of juniors look like future world beaters.
If you look at 95/96, you have Nick Kyrgios with a pro ranking already just outside 200, Kyle with a ranking inside 400, and Quinzi with a ranking about 420....these boys are still jts 17 and 18 and still playing juniors. You have Borna Coric and Alexander Zverev at 16 who look like very special players of the future, and Quentin Halys of France might well fall into that category.
That's the reality
Having 5 months out with injury can do that. There's a Spanish guy who took some time out recently with injury, and he went backwards as a result of it too. Prior to Oli's injury, he was progressing well and reached his career high of 418. In the same week Fratangelo was ranked 639, Saville 412 and Vesely 260, so whilst behind Vesely, he certainly wasn't lagging behind to any noticeable extent.
Even on his comeback from injury, it took Oli 6 tournaments before he reached the QF, so it would seem he was still playing his way back to fitness. I've watched him play a few times and he definitely shows brattish behaviour at times, but lets not write him off just yet.

Oli injured himself in early January and returned to action early March. I think that's 2 months isn't it?

SMC1809 · All-time great

Okay, maybe I should have said he was injured and didn't play between w/c 22 Oct and 11 Mar. That's got to affect his ability to collect ranking points which is the real issue, not my ability to count to 5.

Spectator · All-time great

AliBB, thanks for your chart - really helpful.

ZooTennis linked yesterday to an interesting US assessment of where their young players are. They're the group which are between one and four years older than our most promising young players (the disparity in ages coming because two went to university and two did not) ... and most of them have really made their breakthrough this year. http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/tennis/2013/06/23/wimbledon-2013-american-men-fortunes-improving/2449893/

They seem like a really healthy, competitive but supportive group ... rather like the GB girls. Does make you wonder whether one thing that would be good would be if Leon Smith or someone could be given a role closer to that of Judy Murray with the girls. Or maybe that's what Rusedski is doing. But it feels more fragmented on the men's side, whereas on the women's it seems as if Judy Murray has a really clear mentoring role not only for the Fed Cup team, but also for the girls in the six or seven years behind them. Maybe that's not accurate .... very much an outsider here .... but it seems that way.

Tennis36 · Masters Series Champion

Oli 7-6(3) 2*-0 up, not been broken yet

korriban · Challenger level

SMC1809 wrote:
Okay, maybe I should have said he was injured and didn't play between w/c 22 Oct and 11 Mar. That's got to affect his ability to collect ranking points which is the real issue, not my ability to count to 5.

No time like the present to put the last 6 months behind him. A fine win today against the Belgian de Loore 7-6 6-1. No breaks conceded, pulling away in set 2. Nice!

Tournament win potential here? No obvious candidates in the field who would be outstanding favourites.

paulisi · Tennis legend

Good win and one more win, should guarantee a return to the top 500.

indiana · Tennis legend

Not sure ( though disclaimer : I am purely looking at the current ranking list )

Oli is on 58 points. Reaching the SFs would take him to 64 points.

On the current list you need 65 points to be in the top 500 with the one guy on 64 points WR 501.

If he gets there, there will be 16 top 500 Brits, the highest for a while.

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

QF: (1) Boy Westerhof (NED) WR 235 vs Oli Golding WR 529

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

So, I guess with Oli's win today, we managed to avoid the oldest pun in tennis - which would have been

He fought de Loore and de Loore ........ well lost in this case.

I know. You've all heard that one many times before. cry

Great win for Oli though.

paulisi · Tennis legend

indiana wrote:
Not sure ( though disclaimer : I am purely looking at the current ranking list )

Oli is on 58 points. Reaching the SFs would take him to 64 points.

On the current list you need 65 points to be in the top 500 with the one guy on 64 points WR 501.

If he gets there, there will be 16 top 500 Brits, the highest for a while.

I think i was looking at the in running rankings via the boiled egg site. It had Slabba at 495 and i think 62pts to reach top 500

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

No good:

QF: Romain Bogaerts & Alexandre Folie (BEL/BEL) UNR defeated (1) Oli Golding & James Marsalek WR 1146 by 6-3 3-6 [10-8] bleh

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Just to say, some amusing and pertinent tweets from Oli today. Credit where credit's due.

Good luck to him in his next match.

The Knight · Challenger qualifying

Bob in Spain wrote:
You beat me to it RJA - as always. Was just going to post the same.
Perhaps the reason the other guy was "winding Oli up" is because he knows he easy it is to "wind Oli up". Perhaps if Oli were to hold his emotions in check a little more (or at least release them in a more private environment), then maybe people wouldn't try to take so much advantage of his apparent volatility.

Steven seems to have given him the same advice, albeit in the most digestible/diplomatic way possible lol

Frustrating because it looks like from the past 4 tournaments that he's got back to his playing level of 2012, just the confidence/mental side that needs lifting now...

-- Edited by The Knight on Thursday 27th of June 2013 02:12:57 PM