Week 11 - Great Britain F4 ($15,000) - Wirral (hard)

paulisi · Tennis legend

Week 11 - Great Britain F4 ($15,000) - Wirral (hard)

sherbert · Lower Club Player

Vandenburg wrote:
British futures events are joke with respect to entrants.

If you are aged over 24 and in still playing futures you need to take a hard look in the mirror. Fair enough if you are coming back from injury like Evo, but others welll.....

You are probably right with what you are saying - but there is always that 'chance' of breaking through. And if you ask a guy at 24/25 who has known nothing but tennis since they were 5, it's not an easy dream to give up. So I see what you're saying...but telling them they need to 'look in a mirror' seems very harsh to me.

Oakland2002 · All-time great

The futures tour is what it is, a fantastic opportunity for younger players to learn and develop into elite ATP tour pros, part of that development is learning now to beat older stronger more experienced players. If a player has a real love for tennis and despite the relative hardship due to limited income and high expenses the desire and belief to battle on I have absolutely no problem with it.

The standard is still phenomenally high unfortunately only the elite players generate an audience big enough to produce a financially viable tour with big incomes for participants. Having never been good enough to play sport at such an elite level but really enjoyed every second of playing at the highest level I could I completely understand the motivation, you have one life live it and if possible do what makes you happy and if someone will pay you for it well ....

They make an enormous contribution to the success of the ITF as a curriculum (college tennis isn't really git for purpose in terms of developing elite players) and by its very nature only very few are going to succeed, they do however have to be part of a critical mass. The two UK 16 year olds playing the main draw will have learnt an immense amount this week not only about playing tennis but about the broader curriculum that elite tennis players have to follow to make the grade. So to say 25/26 year olds should give up in the wider scheme of things is a bit simplistic

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Vandenburg wrote:
British futures events are joke with respect to entrants.

If you are aged over 24 and in still playing futures you need to take a hard look in the mirror. Fair enough if you are coming back from injury like Evo, but others welll.....

Leaving aside the stat argument, I don't quite understand if this is a specifically British vehement dig or not. Why the emphasis on 'British' future events? Why is Evo the only one with (and this is actually funny, in a sad sort of way) an 'excuse' to play futures?

Van der Drum (top seed) is 27

Westerhof (seeded two) is 29

Mertens, seeded 4, is 27

Should they not play either? Should they be banned?

(Well, that would suit the Brits so good idea . . . )

And the same is true of the other futures events. The top seed in Switzerland is 33. The third seed there is 28.

I'm sure they'd all love to be top 100. But they're not. And the fact of futures is that a lot of older players play it. And not just because they're coming back from injury, or used to be higher and took time off whatever.

Whether the federations should fund these players is a valid question. But whether they should be ridiculed for 'still' being in futures events when they should 'look in the mirror' and see that they're, by implication, going nowhere, is not. I don't think that's fair.

TMH · Futures qualifying

I think it's a quite frankly absurd notion.

I mean, how dare they play the sport they love. Who are you to tell them what they should and shouldn't do?

Only so many people can be top 100. Well... 100 at any one time, weirdly enough. There's absolutely no shame in being 300th, 400th or even 500th in the world, just because they're not 'young' any more (in the sporting context). I'd give my left arm to be that good at a sport. Although that probably wouldn't help matters...

chavkev · Intermediate Club Player

The older players are vital in many ways, toughening up the youngsters is one of them. Look at the recent matches of this young player:

www.itftennis.com/procircuit/players/player/profile.aspx

You will note that three of his last four defeats are against Balleret. This lad will be a better player for the experience of trying to beat Balleret on clay.

It is only a short career in sport, if you enjoy it and still want to carry on then who am I to suggest otherwise?

indiana · Tennis legend

Certainly if they are not being funded ( and we know the LTA's attitude to funding and bonuses after age 24 and indeed younger for some matters ) then what frankly is it anyone's concern if they pursue the sport they love in futures and are simply maybe not unfortunately good enough to step up to challengers on any consistent level ?

I am sure very many people if they were good enough and had the funds or to an extent just the desire to play futures tennis would love to do so with no cause to look in any mirror!

Futures is a level of tennis. Yes, it helps to develop the better players for higher levels, but ultimately it is a level and most players find their level - you have Slams, Masters, ATP tour, challengers and futures, none of which have any reason to be aged restricted.

Madeline · Admin:Moderator + Tennis Legend

The older players in Futures also provide a very useful challenge to young players. If they only had other young players to play against, how would they ever improve? They need the experience of playing all sorts of opponents to fit them for the move up to Challengers - or they risk being steam-rolled once they make the attempt.

But then, this was started by our own pet troll, Vandenburg. Long time no see, Vandenburg, where have you been?

A1 tennis academy · Satellite level

Madeline wrote:
The older players in Futures also provide a very useful challenge to young players. If they only had other young players to play against, how would they ever improve? They need the experience of playing all sorts of opponents to fit them for the move up to Challengers - or they risk being steam-rolled once they make the attempt.

But then, this was started by our own pet troll, Vandenburg. Long time no see, Vandenburg, where have you been?

Marcus Walters apparently confused on how to deal with Marcus's game

A1 tennis academy · Satellite level

Marcus v Dan C don't have to be an stats expert to realise that Dan is the favourite but the probability of Marcus winning is greater than previously . Marcus still not fully recovered from his illness but improving so that could be a factor .

Spoke about a new strategy for this match with Marcus last night with the previous defeats in mind let's hope new strategy works .

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

chavkev wrote:
The older players are vital in many ways, toughening up the youngsters is one of them. Look at the recent matches of this young player:

www.itftennis.com/procircuit/players/player/profile.aspx

You will note that three of his last four defeats are against Balleret. This lad will be a better player for the experience of trying to beat Balleret on clay.

It is only a short career in sport, if you enjoy it and still want to carry on then who am I to suggest otherwise?

I love Balleret. The guy's a monster. Kicked a**e against Kyle last year, I seem to remember too.

And, LTA take note, another example of a player whose parent was also a professional tennis player - got to about WR 300, I think, played a lot of Davis Cup....

paulisi · Tennis legend

Dan is a set up
Neil is a break down

EddietheEagle · County player

Players who languish about in Futures tournaments are, by definition, going nowhere as far as reaching the ATP top 100 is concerned. If they choose to 'live the dream' that way as a relative bottom feeder, they ought to do so within their own means.

Futures are for getting into and out of as fast as possible for those with a serious intention of becoming a top 100 player, preferably by the age of twenty.

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

Marcus fighting hard. Dan just served for the match at *5-4 in the 2nd but Marcus has broken back.

Neil is down a set and a break

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

And as I type the above, Neil breaks back to love.

Neil at *2-3 in the 2nd set