Week 43 - Great Britain F22 ($10,000) - Tipton (Hard)

A1 tennis academy · Satellite level

RE: Week 43 - Great Britain F22 ($10,000) - Tipton (Hard)

freerider · Futures level

I don't know if anyone has posted this buttttt.....

www.windsorobserver.co.uk/sport/results/articles/2013/10/26/94435-exclusive-slough-tennis-ace-marcus-willis-targets-wimbledon-wildcard/

A1 tennis academy · Satellite level

spud wrote:
A1 tennis academy wrote:
So it's a bit of a dilemma because Lewis is now focusing on doubles and is ready for challengers but its a nice problem to have
Interesting if this is definite. If true, i wouldn't be surprised if it has been down to the pretty dismal year he's had in singles, especially watching Marcus fly through whilst he has just hovered around 700.
Lewis has a big game and he probably will have a lot success in doubles should he choose to go down this route (A younger BBD in my opinion). He's still very young though and if we look at the top doubles players they're literally all 30 and over so he has so much time on his hands if he wanted to go down this route.
He still does have a game that will unsettle big players on the quicker courts in singles so maybe playing the challenger qualies alongside some doubles - but then it may be the case of needing to play a few futures to get his singles ranking high enough to make qualy cuts...
Worked out if Lewis and Marcus could win another 3 futures titles this year it would put both their rankings into the top 300, so a combined of under 600 which would be great to build on in 2014

Lewis has hit a wall in singles over last 12 months ranking + or - 3% 690-700 . He has never won a singles title but has 17 futures doubs titles and is a junior Wimbledon doubles finalist . Lewis is not recieving support from Aegon but he became an attractive doubles partner when he recently decided to focus on doubles . This was highly attractive to both myself & Marcus

Lewis Was highly attractive partner because he was the winner of an extensive recruitment & screening program :

1. Keen to commit to A1 Pharmaceuticals aegon team which demonstrated that street wise - I liked that and it's missing in a lot of players who wanted the funding but rejected the team suggestion & failed the acid test

2. Perfect location

3.doubles specialist

4. Chemistry

5. Synergy

6. Enthusiastic

7. Great team player

8 Committed to our shedule

9. Mutual respect

10. Highly successful doubles player

11. He was superior on & off court to all the other players we experimenterd with

Lewis can be to Marcus what Sean thornley is to David rice and vice versa but I believe this A1 doubles partnership now that Lewis has decided to focus on doubles can break into the doubles top 100 and become the no1 all GB doubles pair in the 25 & under age group . Its likely if can keep Lewis 's funding going that this doubles partnership Could flourish to top 100 . The longer the pair can stay together the greater the understanding

Played 10 tournaments together started slow but 5 titles & RU in last 7 equals "Eureka"

I asked most of GB current top 100 doubles players then experimented with a huge number partners

As i said lewis ticked all the boxes he is also beyond any reasonable doubt the best doubles player that Marcus has combined with in 2013 & will make sure he gets some singles coaching but his focus is definitely doubles . He has the volleys of a top50 doubles player And with the right management /coaching this pair could in the future become Britains future 1st choice doubles pair !

Edited out the bit about other players and the reasons given for them not having been included, since it was presented as fact and we have no way of checking, making it potentially unfair to the players concerned. S

-- Edited by steven on Sunday 27th of October 2013 03:13:18 AM

A1 tennis academy · Satellite level

If Marcus could get a WC for wimbledon it would enable A1 help other players because MW would be fully funded .

We have a 50% tournament win ratio in doubles - so could describe that as domination of futures doubles

Because only 1 of 10 tournaments did bomb & burts fail to reach SF . So we are ready for the step up to challenger doubles

But our success in singles has been a significant improvement but hardly "bullying " on average 2 tournaments have yielded 1/4f & a SF . But last 2 tournaments only gained a single point we are therefore not ready in my opinion for challenger singles .

So it's a bit of a dilemma because Lewis is now focusing on doubles and is ready for challengers but its a nice problem to have

and I guess we should do a mixture of the 2 types of tournament

A1 tennis academy · Satellite level

Will look to qualify for all GS in 2014 with exception of Aussie open

indiana · Tennis legend

Folk always need to be aware that in previous years the LTA has made it clear that top 250 does not guarantee a Wimbledon MD WC i.e. it is a necessary but possibly not sufficient achievement.

I think some performance level shown above futures may be helpful here.

indiana · Tennis legend

..or rather - does not guarantee a recommendation for a Wimbledon MD WC.

Ratty · County player

Salmon wrote:
BUT. Purely on tennis terms, I think he immediately needs to concentrate on trying to beat top 200 players, instead of bullying people in Futures.

Marcus has certainly played a lot MORE tennis in 2013 than he has before. But let's set aside the barrage of self-adulation from you-know-who, and think about whether he's actually playing BETTER tennis?

An interesting fact: in 2013 he has beaten 2 players ranked inside the top 200 (and both were in January). In 2010 he beat 3.

Shhh · Challenger level

I think as fans we (I) can be guilty of plotting a course through "easy" points to get to a target. Surely its more important for the player to develop and improve his skills, then the points and ranking should follow? Are the tournaments selected for Marcus based on potential points return or where he'll be challenged and grow more as player?

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Grigelis def. de Lore 6-3 6-3

so that's two in a row for Grig.

indiana · Tennis legend

I am not without understanding of the strategy in the short term. But more particularly, if top 250 GUARANTEED a Wimbledon MD WC, which it does not, although one can argue how harsh it would be not to give one to a quite young improving player.

The concern at the moment would be the lack of challenger success, indeed attempts, and as Ratty points to, the shortage of wins against top 200 opponents.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Shhh wrote:
I think as fans we (I) can be guilty of plotting a course through "easy" points to get to a target. Surely its more important for the player to develop and improve his skills, then the points and ranking should follow? Are the tournaments selected for Marcus based on potential points return or where he'll be challenged and grow more as player?

I agree but i can see that it's a difficult balance.

There was a big weight of opinion a few months back that Dan Cox was playing too many Futures, risking injury and just doing more and more of the same.

But, on the flip side, by doing that he got a lot of 'easy' points, got a higher ranking and so when he moved to Challengers he was more likely to be seeded in qs and therefore be more successful.

While the 'big picture' is surely the most important, we can never know in advance exactly what is the best strategy for the big picture, so falling back on amassing points is not unreasonable.

And., for someone like Marcus, if his funding from A1 is going to finish at the end of 2014, then he may well need to get the best ranking, the best GB player position, just to have the best chance of getting a new sponsor. (Unless he really thinks he can make the top 200 by that time in which case he'd be pretty much self-funding).

My gut feel is that, if it's like last year, the LTA will give him a WC if he's nicely within the top 250 (they were SO short this year, I think they'd have taken anyone!). But if he's played NO challengers, and he's ranked 247 or something, then my guess is no - you couldn't possibly recommend giving a MD WC in a Grand Slam to someone who's never played above 10 k/15k level !!!

A1 tennis academy · Satellite level

Coup Droit wrote:
Shhh wrote:
I think as fans we (I) can be guilty of plotting a course through "easy" points to get to a target. Surely its more important for the player to develop and improve his skills, then the points and ranking should follow? Are the tournaments selected for Marcus based on potential points return or where he'll be challenged and grow more as player?
I agree but i can see that it's a difficult balance.
There was a big weight of opinion a few months back that Dan Cox was playing too many Futures, risking injury and just doing more and more of the same.
But, on the flip side, by doing that he got a lot of 'easy' points, got a higher ranking and so when he moved to Challengers he was more likely to be seeded in qs and therefore be more successful.
While the 'big picture' is surely the most important, we can never know in advance exactly what is the best strategy for the big picture, so falling back on amassing points is not unreasonable.
And., for someone like Marcus, if his funding from A1 is going to finish at the end of 2014, then he may well need to get the best ranking, the best GB player position, just to have the best chance of getting a new sponsor. (Unless he really thinks he can make the top 200 by that time in which case he'd be pretty much self-funding).
My gut feel is that, if it's like last year, the LTA will give him a WC if he's nicely within the top 250 (they were SO short this year, I think they'd have taken anyone!). But if he's played NO challengers, and he's ranked 247 or something, then my guess is no - you couldn't possibly recommend giving a MD WC in a Grand Slam to someone who's never played above 10 k/15k level !!!

We discuss it as a team & run it like Marcus Willis & Lewis burton plc

Of course it is great to make the transition to challengers and beyond

But in my opinion over the next 3 months it's a matter of focusing building points & protecting the 18 points from Glasgow in 2013 . It's also important to keep winning matches this maintains & builds morale .

When we have exhausted the £5000 of LTA futures bonus's and we have achieved a 200-250

Ranking then I believe the timing would be right to step up and focus on challengers and ATP events .

We need a 150-200 doubles ranking get in doubles main draw and this will certainly be the focus in the 2nd half of 2014 . In 2014 we should do nottingham challengers & attempt to qualify for french , US open & of course Wimbledon . Just me it's not very glamerous on tour in Tipton & Preston it would be great to move on !

A1 tennis academy · Satellite level

Grigeklis as expected wins back to back futures titles Surely he should be stepping up to challengers

Salmon · Tennis legend

Coup Droit wrote:

There was a big weight of opinion a few months back that Dan Cox was playing too many Futures, risking injury and just doing more and more of the same.
But, on the flip side, by doing that he got a lot of 'easy' points, got a higher ranking and so when he moved to Challengers he was more likely to be seeded in qs and therefore be more successful.
While the 'big picture' is surely the most important, we can never know in advance exactly what is the best strategy for the big picture, so falling back on amassing points is not unreasonable.
And., for someone like Marcus, if his funding from A1 is going to finish at the end of 2014, then he may well need to get the best ranking, the best GB player position, just to have the best chance of getting a new sponsor. (Unless he really thinks he can make the top 200 by that time in which case he'd be pretty much self-funding).
My gut feel is that, if it's like last year, the LTA will give him a WC if he's nicely within the top 250 (they were SO short this year, I think they'd have taken anyone!). But if he's played NO challengers, and he's ranked 247 or something, then my guess is no - you couldn't possibly recommend giving a MD WC in a Grand Slam to someone who's never played above 10 k/15k level !!!

I think Coxy is a bad parallel. Dan doesn't have much past success in Challengers, but he has long been capable of giving the good Challenger players a match - the wins over Bellucci (when he was 17) and Zemlja, running Mayer so close etc. Marcus needs to find that ability from somewhere, and he won't get it by winning Kuwait F3, in all honesty.

Of course, it's fairly likely that Marcus will struggle if he moves up to Challengers now, but he has to take the risk, or he'll never get there in any case.