I know this thread is going to seem very premature but, there has been a big change in our point scorers since the summer with the rise of Ed Corrie and Liam Broady whilst anybody called Dan seems to be dropping away.
Its such a long haul for a player to climb to the top in this sport, goal setting and targets along the way seem to me to be essential. One such target may be being top 250 for Wimbledon so they can be considered for a WC for the event and the prize money that even an appearance will bring. Its certainly a worthy goal (amongst others) for many of our players. If you only consider the points they have from post Nottingham(wk 1) last year...............ie the only ones in the bag towards this years total, the top ten changes quite a bit. Its also very different to last year.
190pts is a rough guide to making the Top 250 (James Ward already far exceeds that), 550pts should see you around the cut for the main draw. Ed is closing in on it fast whilst one who made the cut in 2014, Dan Smethurst, isn't actually too far off where he was this time last year!
Any chance of putting the points at this time last year in brackets next to each player for comparison?
I hadn't realised how few points Dan S had picked up in the latter part of this year. When did he start his big points run last year? I seem to remember it was before the year end.
He went to the States in August, seemingly nursing some niggle, lost in the first round a couple of times (retiring once) and then came back and has been recuperating from some injury (not sure exactly what) ever since.
He's said that it's 'nearly better' but it seems to have been 'nearly better' for quite some time now.
His big points run basically started late-Jan 2014 but he did have a rather one-off great tournament at Champaign in the autumn which clocked him up a mega 32 points, so you could say it started then if you want.
The 27pts Liam added this evening puts him in 2nd place for a WC next summer. 11 scoring tournaments since Wimbledon, 6 of them double figure scores. Alex Ward has won 3 Futures events yet is hardly ever fit. I wonder where he could be with a solid 12 months play on the scoreboard?
The 27pts Liam added this evening puts him in 2nd place for a WC next summer. 11 scoring tournaments since Wimbledon, 6 of them double figure scores. Alex Ward has won 3 Futures events yet is hardly ever fit. I wonder where he could be with a solid 12 months play on the scoreboard?
Liams final appearance means that he has amassed enough points for a Wild Card into next years Wimbledon already. It should be more than that though as it frees him up to play ATP events before and often a few Brits get WC's for most weeks. To play 4 weeks solid of main tour tennis is not only lucrative, but if he can compete well, he could come out of it a much better player for the experience. Of course he's got the rest of this tour to go, and the Aussie Open to start the year but whatever else he has planned next year, I hope he is in this most recent form when the grass comes around.
The WC cut-off is arguable - I know a lot of people on here would support effectively getting rid of wildcards or something not far off.
The bonus top-up seems an excellent idea, though. For all. A refelction that ITF prize money is a disgrace. And a reflection that the LTA does not provide a UK tennis industry that can finance those players in any other way.
If Bob Brett were to make tennis a good business in the UK, then fine - cut the bonus top-up. Until he does that, leave it in place. It hardly costs anything, big picture, especailly with the £5k ceiling for futures bonuses.
I saw an interview a month or so back (it may well have been posted on here), with Bob Brett saying he was focusing on 12-16 year olds. And i thought: here we go again. How many times do the British tennis public have to hear the same old story ? With the same lack of logic ? And - almost certainly - with the same results ? Having Andy Murray has done nothing for tennis figures in the UK. If Bob produces another Andy, or two of them, then great. But it will still do nothing for British tennis. The only logic in focusing on 12-16 year olds is that you've then got about ten years before anyone can point the finger and say you've failed.