Week 42 - Great Britain F21 ($10,000) - Loughborough (Hard)

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

RE: Week 42 - Great Britain F21 ($10,000) - Loughborough (Hard)

steven · Tennis legend

L32: (1) Ashley Hewitt WR 376 v (Q) Jonathan Parkes UNR
(non-GB): Tucker Vorster (RSA) WR 617 (CH 616 last week) v (Q) Piotr Lomacki (POL) WR 1544 (CH 1479 in Aug)
L32: (Q) Scott Duncan WR 1786 v (WC) Harry Meehan WR 2054
L32: (7) Tom Farquharson WR 486 v Kevin Griekspoor (NED) WR 663 (= CH) - H2H 0-1, 3rd set t/b, juniors in NED 2009

L32: (Q) Isaac Stoute UNR v (4) Joris de Loore (BEL) WR 418 (CH 409 in Aug)
L32: (WC) Sam Hutt WR 1250 v Pirmin Hänle (GER) WR 879 (CH 526 in 2009)
L32: Josh Goodall WR 520 v (WC) Imran Aswat WR 1328
L32: (5) Neil Pauffley WR 447 v N Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND) WR 798 (CH 501 in Apr)

L32: Lewis Burton WR 690 v (6) Laurynas Grigelis (LTU) WR 405 (CH 183 in 2012)
L32: Rob Carter WR 904 v Jathan Malik WR 999 - H2H 1-0, 4 & 0, Bournemouth 2013
L32: George Coupland WR 925 v (WC) Tom Allen UNR - H2H 1-0, 3 & 5, Shrewsbury 2013
L32: (3) Marcus Willis WR 346 v Myles Orton WR 1059

(non-GB): (8) Sam Barry (IRL) WR 495 (CH 489 in Sep) v (Q) Nicolas Rosenzweig (FRA) WR 1476 (CH 687 in Sep)
L32: (Q) Bruce Strachan UNR v (Q) Jamie Malik UNR
L32: James Marsalek WR 638 v Marcus Daniell (NZL) WR 586 (CH 569 in Jul) - H2H 0-1, 3 & 2, Israel 2012
L32: (2) Dave Rice WR 380 v (Q) Clay Crawford UNR - H2H 1-0, 2 & 4, Cardiff 2012

paulisi · Tennis legend

Strongest doubles draw i have seen for a while a future level, 4 or 5 good partnerships.

As for the singles - Marcus has a reasonable quarter with Grigelis a big danger if he is back to last year's form, Dave Rice has two dark horses in Marzi and Daniell in rd 2 which will be tough, expect Josh G to get through his quarter at the expense of Neil P/De Loore and Ash has Tucker and Tom F in his quarter which is not easy.

Also set to get another player ranked with Bruce(will he ever get a point) Strachan against Jamie Malik.

Troubleshooter · Improver

A1 tennis academy wrote:
I am taking bomb & burts up in the morning to
Loughborough Very strong field could be a tough week .
Great Harry got a WC be nice if he can pick up some singles points
In the doubles be nice to play rice & Thornley ideally in the final see where we are at!

Bomb and Burts seeded 3 Rice and Thornley seeded 1 got bye into quarter final. They are in the same half of the draw so due to meet in the semi final.

Bomb should be seeded number 1 as he is the lowest ranked player in the tournament but is seeded 3 due to meet Rice in the semi final as he is seeded 2 come on Marcus you can do it.

Troubleshooter · Improver

steven wrote:
Salmon wrote:
A1, I'm going to pose a fairly uncomfortable question, but I've been thinking about it for a while. Feel free to ignore it if you want.

Willis is ranked inside the top 350 now and Burton is a good distance away. It's still fine, they can target the same 10Ks, where Marcus will be one of the top seeds and Lewis will get in directly. But very soon, Marcus will have to move on to Challenger qualifiers and I think it'll be ideal for Lewis's singles career that he stays back in Futures for another year, because he's not ready for Challenger qualies. But if that happens, playing doubles together will be a problem, so how are you going to tackle this issue?

You're not the only one who has been wondering about this. Given that Dave and Sean appear to be facing exactly the same situation as Marcus and Lewis, there is an obvious solution that would keep all four of them in all-GB pairs, with Marcus and Dave playing Challengers and Lewis and Sean continuing with Futures for a bit longer and potentially dominating in doubles at that level.
Of course, that's easy to suggest - whether it is actually a realistic option (or even whether the players feel that there is a problem that needs to be solved in the first place) is just about impossible for an outsider to know. I have no idea how well the four of them get on or whether the swapped pairs would complement each other anywhere near as well as the existing pairs. However, if it did work out, it could be a very amicable way to find a solution that might be good for all of them in both singles and doubles.

Steven that is a really good suggestion thinkong about that could work Marcus and dave playing doubles think it worth a try at the very least. If you don't give it a go you will never know.

steven · Tennis legend

Troubleshooter aka A1TA aka Gary - Marcus is the highest-ranked player in the tournament but is seeded 3 because main draw seedings are always based on the previous week's rankings. He has a chance to prove he is the best player there though, obviously

indiana · Tennis legend

Looks a pretty good draw, with Josh G avoiding the Ashley, Dave and Marcus quarters.

spud · Challenger qualifying

steven wrote:
L32: (1) Ashley Hewitt WR 376 v (Q) Jonathan Parkes UNR
(non-GB): Tucker Vorster (RSA) WR 617 (CH 616 last week) v (Q) Piotr Lomacki (POL) WR 1544 (CH 1479 in Aug)
L32: (Q) Scott Duncan WR 1786 v (WC) Harry Meehan WR 2054
L32: (7) Tom Farquharson WR 486 v Kevin Griekspoor (NED) WR 663 (= CH) - H2H 0-1, 3rd set t/b, juniors in NED 2009

L32: (Q) Isaac Stoute UNR v (4) Joris de Loore (BEL) WR 418 (CH 409 in Aug)
L32: (WC) Sam Hutt WR 1250 v Pirmin Hänle (GER) WR 879 (CH 526 in 2009)
L32: Josh Goodall WR 520 v (WC) Imran Aswat WR 1328
L32: (5) Neil Pauffley WR 447 v N Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND) WR 798 (CH 501 in Apr)

L32: Lewis Burton WR 690 v (6) Laurynas Grigelis (LTU) WR 405 (CH 183 in 2012)
L32: Rob Carter WR 904 v Jathan Malik WR 999 - H2H 1-0, 4 & 0, Bournemouth 2013
L32: George Coupland WR 925 v (WC) Tom Allen UNR - H2H 1-0, 3 & 5, Shrewsbury 2013
L32: (3) Marcus Willis WR 346 v Myles Orton WR 1059

(non-GB): (8) Sam Barry (IRL) WR 495 (CH 489 in Sep) v (Q) Nicolas Rosenzweig (FRA) WR 1476 (CH 687 in Sep)
L32: (Q) Bruce Strachan UNR v (Q) Jamie Malik UNR
L32: James Marsalek WR 638 v Marcus Daniell (NZL) WR 586 (CH 569 in Jul) - H2H 0-1, 3 & 2, Israel 2012
L32: (2) Dave Rice WR 380 v (Q) Clay Crawford UNR - H2H 1-0, 2 & 4, Cardiff 2012

Have the seeds been jigged around a bit or something from 4-8, I'm seeing some differences to what you've put down Steven

A1 tennis academy · Satellite level

It's a good point , spent the day with Marcus & Lewis and can verifiy that we have a shared plan that we have all contributed In other words we are all singing from the same hymn sheet .

Marcus looked very fit and looked sharp in training .

There is a strong possibility of a Doubles SF clash between Thornley & rice v Marcus & Lewis the winners of which would be most people's favourites of lifting the doubs title

This gives A1's harry Meehan & his new coach & Doubs partner josh Goodall a decent chance of more doubles points & a possibly another final .

Aswat khan got the short straw and faces josh Goodall Nobody appeared to be relishing that challenge in R32

Bruce Strachan ( north of scotland ) overcame Kents Sam taylor qualify for the main draw and Harry Meehan got a WC .

A1 tennis academy · Satellite level

The suggestion at first glance of a swap of doubles partners appears logical but Lewis would be getting the short straw & would not be short of stronger partners than the one suggested . It was not long ago that Lewis was with considerable success achieving significant results with Evo prior to his focus on singles he is also a junior Wimbledon doubles finalist of some considerable talent.

Doubles partnerships are based on teamwork , committment and Mutual respect . Marcus and Lewis both have full respect for each other both on and off court which is critical to their recent success as a pair . One must admire David Rice's committment and loyalty to his doubles partnership which I am sure Marcus and Lewis are keen to emulate .

In the event that Lewis needs a doubles partner which I hope is never or certainly a long time hence I am confident that I could be trusted to procure a more appropriate Partner than the one that the gentleman with good intentions suggested .

Tennisnow · Lower Club Player

spud wrote:
steven wrote:
L32: (1) Ashley Hewitt WR 376 v (Q) Jonathan Parkes UNR
(non-GB): Tucker Vorster (RSA) WR 617 (CH 616 last week) v (Q) Piotr Lomacki (POL) WR 1544 (CH 1479 in Aug)
L32: (Q) Scott Duncan WR 1786 v (WC) Harry Meehan WR 2054
L32: (7) Tom Farquharson WR 486 v Kevin Griekspoor (NED) WR 663 (= CH) - H2H 0-1, 3rd set t/b, juniors in NED 2009

L32: (Q) Isaac Stoute UNR v (4) Joris de Loore (BEL) WR 418 (CH 409 in Aug)
L32: (WC) Sam Hutt WR 1250 v Pirmin Hänle (GER) WR 879 (CH 526 in 2009)
L32: Josh Goodall WR 520 v (WC) Imran Aswat WR 1328
L32: (5) Neil Pauffley WR 447 v N Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND) WR 798 (CH 501 in Apr)

L32: Lewis Burton WR 690 v (6) Laurynas Grigelis (LTU) WR 405 (CH 183 in 2012)
L32: Rob Carter WR 904 v Jathan Malik WR 999 - H2H 1-0, 4 & 0, Bournemouth 2013
L32: George Coupland WR 925 v (WC) Tom Allen UNR - H2H 1-0, 3 & 5, Shrewsbury 2013
L32: (3) Marcus Willis WR 346 v Myles Orton WR 1059

(non-GB): (8) Sam Barry (IRL) WR 495 (CH 489 in Sep) v (Q) Nicolas Rosenzweig (FRA) WR 1476 (CH 687 in Sep)
L32: (Q) Bruce Strachan UNR v (Q) Jamie Malik UNR
L32: James Marsalek WR 638 v Marcus Daniell (NZL) WR 586 (CH 569 in Jul) - H2H 0-1, 3 & 2, Israel 2012
L32: (2) Dave Rice WR 380 v (Q) Clay Crawford UNR - H2H 1-0, 2 & 4, Cardiff 2012
Have the seeds been jigged around a bit or something from 4-8, I'm seeing some differences to what you've put down Steven

Yes it looks as though they have Barry up to 7, Griegelis up to 4, De Loore down to 5, Tom F up to 6, Pauffers down to 8

indiana · Tennis legend

Gary, I don't think anyone is questioning Lewis's doubles ability or anyone's respect or loyalty, now or in the future.

To me, it was more just thinking out loud how Lewis would be effected if and when Marcus moves up to singles challengers. If he is happy to play challenger qualifying singles and / or effectively almost just commit to doubles then actually there is no reason to break up the Marcus / Lewis partnership at all. And clearly it is a partnership you have much belief in.

But if Lewis still has singles asperations then there are clearly potential issues ahead, which I would imagine have at least crossed you guys' minds.

Dave and Sean have been / are in a not dissimilar situation, with both Lewis and Sean being currently below challenger level in singles ( though I don't know what singles asperations Sean actually still holds ), which is why their names were brought up, clearly more relevant if Lewis would prefer to continue playing futures singles.

I don't think anyone is expecting answers here. As I say, just seemed some thinking out loud.

A1 tennis academy · Satellite level

No seriously it was a great post had Marcus , Lewis and myself cracking up Absolute classic

indiana · Tennis legend

Gary, senior tournament seedings are always based on the rankings of the Monday of the previous week, well when they don't **** up and use the week before that or whatever they originally did here.

I presume it is written into ATP / WTA / ITF rules that that is how the seedings are done, and that makes absolute sense. You can't apply different rankings for seedings dependant on when a particular tournament draw is made !!

But anyway, nice idea. Me and myself were cracking up. Absolute classic.

steven · Tennis legend

A1 tennis academy wrote:
Let's say other issues apart from tennis prowess must be taken into account when developing successful doubles partnership other wise it's unlikely that Sean & david would have presumably got together in the first place .
Its also a matter of not being an "Arthur "

I do not understand that if the ATP rankings wee updated this morning why a draw that was effectively completed today at 2.30-3pm could not have recognised Marcus 's latest ranking ?

I think it's probably because main draws are not always done when the new rankings are already out (e.g. some Futures have Sunday draws, Challenger/ATP draws are always done at or before the weekend and once in a while, the rankings are delayed because am ATP or Challenger event has a Monday final) so it's fairer and less ambiguous if the same seeding convention (i.e. using the previous Monday's rankings) applies to every Futures event each week.

In a year's time, Marcus will get the benefit of keeping the points that got added today for an extra week for seeding purposes - it might not make a difference to his seeding position then, of course, but long-term the approach they use is more even-handed than sometimes using the new week's rankings and sometimes not, even if it's a bit confusing in the odd case like this when it means the highest-ranked player is not the top seed.