Week 31 - Challenger ($100,000) - Vancouver, Canada (Hard)

paulisi · Tennis legend

RE: Week 31 - Challenger ($100,000) - Vancouver, Canada (Hard)

murray_2k9 · Challenger qualifying

Yeah he did...that was embarrassing. As much as I hate myself for saying it, I dont think I can cheer for Evans anymore. I would never wish ill on him but his attitude is just horrible, being a Brit just isnt enough unfortunately.

steven · Tennis legend

What a difference a few months makes

(Dan having beaten Daniel 2 & 2 in Dubai earlier this year)

L16: (5) Dan Evans WR 146 lost to Taro Daniel (JPN) WR 192 (CH 182 in May) by 4 & 5

L16: (6/SE) James Ward WR 157 beat Wayne Odesnik (USA) WR 165 (CH 77 in 2009) by w/o

James will be GB no. 2 again on Monday and probably needs another win to also be in the top 150.

I don't know how bad the knee problem is or if there are other things Dan is dealing with but it really is gutting that the kick-start he gave himself last summer seems to have withered away without any real breakthrough being made.

I thought back then, if he doesn't make the top 100 in the next 12 months (i.e. by August 2014), he never will. I hope he can still prove me wrong.

indiana · Tennis legend

You kind of just beat me to similar thoughts, Murray.

Clearly Dan has not made the best of his talents over many years. But last year I was encouraged by his public comments and admissions about this and how he knew he still had a chance to really make it if he sufficiently dedicated himself, and then we had those great North American challenger finals, followed by US Open qualifying and last 32 with very good wins.

BUT, build on that he hasn't, starting with the end if last year. Not the post US Open US challengers where he went out early, but I thought played OK, but the following Asian challenger series, which for Dan became an Asian Challenger singular when he cut short his entered program and came home, reported to be "tired" in spite of not having played that much in the previous month or so.

Just preferred being home, resting on his laurels, whatever, from that point I was worried again, and while he has no doubt been set back a bit ( how much is unclear ) by recent knee problems, I have found myself being unable to feel much sympathy for him. He could and should have improved his ranking further much earlier.

From how last year ended, I didn't expect Dan to make the top 100 this year, even though the tennis ability is really there in a way we maybe more just mouth about others.

The biggest opponent to Dan Evans is Dan Evans, and I'm not hugely bothered about who wins unless and until he gives me more evidence that he is sufficiently bothered himself.

RJA · Hall of fame

I have been a long time fan of Dan but to be blunt I no longer care how things go. If last summer's achievements couldn't make him take his career seriously then I doubt that anything ever will. If he ever decides to fully commit to his tennis career I might regain some interest in him but until then I will spend my time worrying about players doing their best to make the most of their talent, even if that talent is considerably less than Dan's.

DWH · Club Coach

It is a shame that Dan hasn't really found his groove. Without knowing the full extent of his injury its hard to say how much it has affected him but its worth noting I think that before it seemingly became a problem he started his year qualifying in Doha losing in 3 sets to Gulbis in R1, (Lost second round AO qualies), reached the Zagreb semifinals as a lucky loser losing to Haas in 3 sets, then qualified in Marseille losing to Stakhovsky again in 3 sets.

Granted that was way back at the beginning of the season but I thought at the time it represented a 'breakthrough' of sorts. Obviously things didn't quite move on from there but I guess my point was that it at least started well before injury apparently hindered him.

steven · Tennis legend

QF: (6/SE) James Ward WR 157 v (SE) Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS) WR 216 (= CH)

18-year-old Kokkinakis reached the semis in Lexington last week and upset 2nd seed Wang in R1 this week.

It must have happened before, but this is the first time I can remember seeing both special exempts from the same feeder event meet each other.

-- Edited by steven on Friday 1st of August 2014 12:29:20 AM

Spectator · All-time great

Impossible to call this one. Mr Kokkinakis has gone from 884 to 216 in a year and shows no signs of stopping; Mr Ward has the experience and the capacity, on a good day, to play at top 100 level. Which SE will win ....?

Oakland2002 · All-time great

Hey at last I know what SE means! But how do you get one?

Jaffa · Challenger level

^ If you get to the semi finals of a similar tournament the previous week, you can ask to be awarded a 'Special Exempt' entry which means that you would be accepted in to the tournament regardless of your ranking.

Miriambee · Futures level

It's not just entry into the tournament, it's getting into the main draw direct if you would otherwise have been entered for qualifying, because you are still at a previous tournament playing at SF or finals. There are other rules, eg the tournaments must be of similar level, I don't think you can go from a futures to a challenger.

Jaffa · Challenger level

^ Yes, I should've been more specific... And no, you can't go from a Futures to a Chally

steven · Tennis legend

The descriptions above of what a special exempt is are all more or less correct, but here's a more detailed description, without going through the whole of ATP rule 7.10. The bits in [...] are my comments, i.e. not based on the rules themselves.

A player is eligible for an SE into the main draw of a tournament the following week if he is are unable to play in qualifying because he is still competing in another event on the date qualifying starts, usually Saturday [i.e. if the SFs are on Friday, you can make the semis and not get an SE, whereas if the QFs have to be played on Saturday, you can get an SE even if you don't make the SFs] AND his ranking at the entry deadline would not have got him a main draw direct acceptance on the original acceptance list had he entered the tournament in the first place. [that would appear to exclude James, but he was a qualifying DA for Washington ATP 500 and there is an exception for players who have been accepted into the qualifying draw of an ATP 500 or above but end up not being free to play there - they can get an SE into a Challenger even if they would have been a direct acceptance for it had they entered in time]

However, if a player is still playing a match at the qualifying sign-in deadline (usually 9pm on Friday), they have to win that match to be eligible. [even though they wouldn't be able to play qualifying at the following week's event whether they won or lost]

To get an SE into a Challenger, the event you are still playing in must be a main tour event or a Challenger event in the same region (*), unless there are no Challenger events in the same region, in which case the player can get an SE into any of the following week's Challengers.

Challengers only have a maximum of 2 SE places, so if more than 2 players are eligible, the 2 highest-ranked of them get the SE places.

(*) the regions are:

1 - the Americas
2 - Europe, Middle East, Africa, western Russia & some parts of Western Asia
3 - Eastern Asia & Oceania

Spectator · All-time great

Brilliantly summarised, Steven. Thank you!

murray_2k9 · Challenger qualifying

Sad but unsurprised to see others echo my sentiments about Dan. For me twitter is one of the major giveaways, he is always retweeting pictures of mates in clubs, never really tweeting anything tennis related at all. Twitter has been fantastic for sports as fans can get first hand updates of what athletes have planned with their schedules (where relevant) and how they are recovering from injury, yet Dan doesnt even bother to keep the fans he has in the loop which I, were a tennis player, would make the effort to do.

I think seeing a player like Andy, Kyle, Dan Cox emphasises this further, they are physically in fantastic shape, chase every ball and show a lot of heart in every match, which I have seen Evans do but not nearly as regularly as those I just mentioned.

Anyways, Wardy v Thanasi - I would probably give the edge to Kokkinakis, but I hope I am wrong. I think if Kokkinakis is at his best, Wardy will lose, and I think Kokkinakis is very fired up to try and keep up with the other young Aussies breaking through. Fingers crossed for James to win though!