Week 29 - Ireland F1 ($15,000) - Dublin (Carpet)

thejester · Satellite level

RE: Week 29 - Ireland F1 ($15,000) - Dublin (Carpet)

Jan · Hall of fame

Well done Dan!

philwrig · Hall of fame

Top work Smethy.

Spectator · All-time great

Excellent all around.

A1 tennis academy · Satellite level

playing county week each year instead of Dublin futures continues to baffle me ! Clock ticking for the 25 & overs Marcus would certainly with his serve on carpet been capable of making the final in Dublin yet choose to go to county week and Berkshire not promoted - another eg of a series of poor choices in my opinion . berks don't go up and missed opportunity to gain valuable points

In contrast a player of josh Milton enters a challenger gets 17 points does not go to county week and South Wales still promoted - wise decision

Personally don't think any of the mentioned players will reach top 100 although Evo is capable of it , if I was Marcus I would now turn my focus to making a living as a top doubles specialist while still entering singles equally as talented as Jamie Murray as a doubles specialist but even a goal of top 100 doubles would need more focus , dedication , as well as a suitably dedicated partner . I don't think it will happen but I hope it does !

My experience is that players will rarely listen to a mentor that has not done it on tour themselves if was the same in football we would never of had mourhinio

-- Edited by A1 tennis academy on Sunday 26th of July 2015 04:17:33 PM

-- Edited by A1 tennis academy on Sunday 26th of July 2015 04:37:23 PM

Jaggy1876 · Grand Slam Champion

Is Marcus not still past of A1 Gary have you went separate ways or have I missed something.

Oakland2002 · All-time great

Gary I understand your frustration, competitive tennis on the ATP tour is unforgiving, assessment brutal, failure public. I went to see "Red Lion" last night and there was an excellent piece in the programme by Mike Brealey acknowledging the gladiatorial nature of sport where there are only two outcomes, all the more poignant given the collateral damage inflicted on the mentor.

All these guys have immense talent but given the decision making you describe some no understanding of what it takes.

, Brydan I think has always got it and if anything his drive has taken him over the top of the curve, this year Evo and Milts strike me as being on message and seeing the results.

Indeed Like a great diviner I now have a feeling in my water that sometime in 2016/17 we will be looking forward to Evo being dragged down to Murcia for his anointment by BiS as a Boba fide member of the top 100. He has a great summer so far.

Now that's going out on a limb!

A1 tennis academy · Satellite level

It's a particularly tough sport and not possible like in football to rely on 10 other players to carry you when having a bad day , prize money at futures level is insufficient and the odds are stacked against you . I have no regret in helping the players that I have helped over the years , none of them really listened to advice otherwise more could have been achieved but I feel I made a difference & least gave it a go .

The failure of players to listen to advice is the reason that I now prefer to focus on supporting team tennis For me it's not difficult if you got the talent but of course talent as we all know is not enough on it's own .

paulisi · Tennis legend

I'm not quite sure on Marcus' logic. He(along with several others) need to push on now or they are never going to make it.

I understand there are financial pressures, but at some stage you must take the risk and go for it, like Josh has.

Marcus' first aim must be to break into the top 300 and get direct entry to challengers and then you virtually cover costs.

I've no idea whether county week over Dublin was a financial choice or not, but with easy points and fairly cheap location to get to, you would have thought it would be the best option.

I see now he is playing Spain 10ks rather than having a crack at the challengers. It also points to be risk averse and finances first, but there may be more than meets the eye...

thejester · Satellite level

I seem to recall Gary mentioned Marcus got £200 for playing in County week. I can't seem to find anything listing the prize money breakdown but I would assume that living up to (what would have been) his seeding in Dublin would have earned him more than that anyway. Obviously he was just being paid to play in County, rather than relying on winning, but I'd hope Marcus would have enough confidence in his game to expect to win a few matches in that field

bigboyjumbo · Lower Club Player

county week when i played is a great week to forget the pressures of playing a lone sport and help your team to try to secure promotion. Very competitive matches in a great environment with some quality doubles on display, as well as having a relaxed team atomsphere dont blame him for playing as its a chance to still work on his game but unwind at the same time!

As i posted in the county week thread.

No one will be complaining if he goes and wins the next futures will they? it was his decision and i think the above comment more than backs up his reason for playing

Spectator · All-time great

Really good points about county week and the positives it offers. Thank you for making them.

bigboyjumbo · Lower Club Player

£200 and no outgoings is a plus aswell! Anyway well done to Dan and congrats to Evo on continuing his excellent form hopefully onthe road back to where we all know he belongs. Lets hope he does too

Topemp · Strong Club Player

bigboyjumbo wrote:
county week when i played is a great week to forget the pressures of playing a lone sport and help your team to try to secure promotion. Very competitive matches in a great environment with some quality doubles on display, as well as having a relaxed team atomsphere dont blame him for playing as its a chance to still work on his game but unwind at the same time!

As i posted in the county week thread.

No one will be complaining if he goes and wins the next futures will they? it was his decision and i think the above comment more than backs up his reason for playing

I know of several players who say that playing 9-15 games or so in a few days really gets their eye in, it is an enjoyable one week off (there are still 40 odd other weeks when they can do the grind) doubles doesn't take too much out of them, but is really good practice, so I think bbj might well have a point.

Truth is if it was left to us we'd have them all playing virtually the whole time, but is a balance to strike between freshness, practice and point chasing.

How often do you see a player who has been out injured and comes back fresh and goes straight thru to the final.

Hope that Marcus justifies his choice with a great few weeks from here.