The qualifying draw is out, from which it would appear that Jay Clarke, Joel Cannell, Alexis Canter, Ryan Storrie, Ewan Moore and Finn Bass have main draw wildcards
(9/WC) Daniel Nolan (AUS) d. (WC) Marcus Walters 6-4 6-2
Jonathan Gray d. (11) Yibing Wu (CHN) 6-4 6-4
(3) Tung-lin Wu (TPE) d. Lawrence Perrin 6-2 6-2
(16) Yshai Oliel (ISR) d. (WC) Vincent Gillespie 6-4 7-5
(5) Emil Reinberg (USA) d. (WC) Jack MacFarlane 6-1 6-2
(WC) Charles Broom d. (14) Chien Hsun Lo (TPE) 6-4 6-2
(7) Alex De Minaur (AUS) d. (WC) Max Stewart 6-0 6-3
(8) Yuya Ito (JPN) d. Luke Oakley 6-1 6-4
FQR
Miguel Semmler (ESP) v Jonathan Gray
Johannes Ingildsen (DEN) v (WC) Charles Broom
Joel did not end up with a wildcard despite the fact that only 6 out of 8 were used. Jay gets the top seed while Ryan will play Michael Mmoh again in round 2 if both win their openers. Finn has a rematch from Roehampton.
FQR
Jonathan Gray d. Miguel Semmler (ESP) 6-4 6-2 (WC) Charles Broom d. Johannes Ingildsen (DEN) 5-1 rtd
R1 (L64)
(1) Taylor Fritz (USA) v (WC) Jay Clarke Ulises Blanch (USA) v (Q) Charles Broom Yosuke Watanuki (JPN) v (WC) Alexis Canter Ct 6 match 2 (Q) Jonathan Gray v (Q) Alberto Lim (PHI) (6) Marcelo Tomas Barrios Vera (CHI) v (WC) Ewan Moore (WC) Ryan James Storrie v Nuno Borges (POR) Ct 11 match 5 Miomir Kecmanovic (SRB) v (WC) Finn Bass Ct 11 match 1
Joel was coming back from an injury and had to retire at the Nike tournament so maybe not completely recovered yet.
There was also a rather unsavoury confrontation with him and Colin Beecher, right after his match, with Colin absolutely laying into him, effectively saying he'd played utterly, unimaginably stupid tennis during the first set ("what are on earth do you think you were doing? How could you be SO stupid"? etc. etc.).
I was some distance away, practically watching another court, but you could hear it loud and clear. Joel looked pretty upset (and tried to defend himself by saying it was his first match back in two months etc.)
But it left a nasty taste - Colin may well be a good guy but it seemed well out of order to me, very pointed, and right after that poor kid had had to retire.....
Don't know if it's got anything to do with it but it wasn't great . . .
Taking someone - especially a young person - to task in a public place and under those circumstances seems highly unnecessary. Really sorry to hear that.
Taking someone - especially a young person - to task in a public place and under those circumstances seems highly unnecessary. Really sorry to hear that.
Disappointing day with 3 defeats, albeit all competitive. Ryan was battling strongly and saved a couple of matchpoints to break back once but couldn't do it a second time. He was having to work hard to win all his points, not having the weapons to penetrate the Portuguese player and win free points.
R1 (L64)
(1) Taylor Fritz (USA) v (WC) Jay Clarke
Ulises Blanch (USA) v (Q) Charles Broom
Yosuke Watanuki (JPN) d. (WC) Alexis Canter 7-6(3) 7-5
(Q) Jonathan Gray v (Q) Alberto Lim (PHI)
(6) Marcelo Tomas Barrios Vera (CHI) v (WC) Ewan Moore
Nuno Borges (POR) d. (WC) Ryan James Storrie 1-6 6-3 9-7
Miomir Kecmanovic (SRB) d. (WC) Finn Bass 3-6 6-3 6-1
Doubles R1
Reinberg/Tsitsipas (USA/GRE) v (WC) Bass/Canter
(5) Kecmanovic/Ruud (SRB/NOR) v (WC) Oakley/Storrie
Borges/Dembek (POR/POL) v (WC) Clarke/Klein (GBR/SVK)
Raisma/Shapovalov (EST/CAN) v (WC) Gray/Moore
Shocked to hear the comments on Joels treatment. No excuses for that sort of bullying, public or otherwise. Who do these coaches think they are and what are they trying to achieve? Where has this guy succeeded I may ask?
There are two sides to every story and Beechy has a track record of bringing highly motivated juniors through and into adult professional tennis, most notably Kyle.
Whilst the details of the exchange on are very limited and our knowledge around Joel's development is limited, ie we cannot contextualise it, I think it would be difficult to draw a fair conclusion. But it will be interesting to see how things move forward from here.
During Wimbledon qualifying Josh Middleton was loudly contesting some line calls with the umpire, didn't look great. Most of the crowd all desperate for him to win sat quietly and watched. A bloke just in front of me lost his patience and bawled from the crowd " just bloody get on with it" . Josh continued eventually calmed down played on and got knocked out. Taken in isolation didn't look good.
However, in context. Said barracker from the crowd, waited until Josh emerged between the courts intercepted him descending on him "go and apologise to the umpire now!!!" Josh " but did you see the calls..... er ... ok" and almost straight away despite having just lost a tight match probably the most important of his career dives back between the court to apologise.... In context .. Looks much better.
Having been around for most of the week seeing Josh supporting other players, playing some great tennis, knowing he'd come of the back of a very good early grass court season, earning a wildcard, one can understand his frustration. Seeing him probably being bollocked by his dad from the crowd and then cornered by him and sent back to apologise which he did with very little hesitation frames his altercation in away that makes you think, despite it being a high risk cut throat business just below the main tour there are people within it, players and families who still have their heads screwed on when everything is seen in context.
I may be wrong but I feel Colin Beecher probably falls into that category.