Week 42 - ITF ($15K) - Bangkok, Thailand - Hard

Oakland2002 · All-time great

Week 42 - ITF ($15K) - Bangkok, Thailand - Hard

indiana · Tennis legend

I think if Katie had been less good the college option really appealed to her.

But increasingly her darn standard of tennis makes that very much less likely.

-- Edited by indiana on Tuesday 20th of October 2015 06:27:38 PM

Peter too · Tennis legend

R1: SWAN, Katie (GBR) 548 def LERTPITAKSINCHAI, Nicha (THA) 3 372 6-2 6-2
R1: STEPHENSON, Francesca (GBR) 589 lost to KIJIMA, Mizuno (JPN) 622 4-6 0-4 Ret.

R2: SWAN, Katie (GBR) 548 v MOMKOONTHOD, Tamachan (THA) Q 936 =CH, 18yo JCH=74
H2H 1-0
Osaka Mayors Cup World Super Junior Tennis Championships 2014 6-0 6-1

The Optimist · ATP qualifying

GBJ wrote:
Coup Droit wrote:
BeefyDeedz wrote:
Great win for Katie. I knew that it could well happen but that score line is certainly a strong one. Whilst points are in no way my biggest area of interest regarding Katie at the moment, I have to admit that it'll be interesting to see her gains from her brief forays into the women's tour.

Yes, i agree.
And i wonder if she is taking the prize money or only expenses, to keep her college options open, which is something she mentioned a while back, but may well have changed .....
A bit off topic but I've always wondered what reasons there are for not just turning pro straight away. So can you only apply for college if you've not turned pro? Any idea why?

The US tennis scholarships are designed with US students leaving high school at 18 in mind. Foreigners can be awarded scholarships but if they have signed with a sports agent, earned more than $10K in professional prize money, have a significant gap between leaving education in their home country and applying for university and that time has been spent playing full time professional tennis.....well, they're just not on a level playing field and are closely scrutinised and probably won't be allowed a scholarship by the NCAA (the authority governing US college sports).

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Re the college discussions, I remember reading an interview a while back (probably last year in fact) where Katie said that she wasn't taking the money because, as Indy said, college really appealed and - very sensibly - she might get injured, or anything might happen, and it would be stupid and very short-sighted to completely rule out her chances of playing college tennis later for the sake of a few, pretty minor pay cheques now.

However, as time goes on and she confirms her talent, there obviously comes a point where that calculation no longer makes sense. I would have though that her pay cheques at the moment, after expenses, are still too low to warrant taking the risk. There's nothing really to be gained (well, a few dollars, but nothing more) and a lot (possibly) to be lost.

But if she carries on as she's going, the college route certainly would seem unnecessary and (arguably) inappropriate. So at some point, if she starts playing bigger, richer tournaments, you'd say 'enough's enough' and take the money.

The Optimist · ATP qualifying

Katie is both from a well-off family and has always been well (now fully) funded by the LTA, so not accepting prize money is neither here nor there for her. Personally, I would think the only reason Katie would go the college route would be to have a couple of years growing up away from the public eye whilst still developing her trade. This is a reason given by a number of very high profile students in recent years for choosing college (few of whom have completed their 4 years).

tony_orient · ATP qualifying

Really good win for Katie today - while ranking points are not the be all and end all for her, I would have thought Katie will be playing senior events more often next year, and more ranking points will give her more choice in which events to play.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

The Optimist wrote:
Katie is both from a well-off family and has always been well (now fully) funded by the LTA, so not accepting prize money is neither here nor there for her. Personally, I would think the only reason Katie would go the college route would be to have a couple of years growing up away from the public eye whilst still developing her trade. This is a reason given by a number of very high profile students in recent years for choosing college (few of whom have completed their 4 years).

I wouldn't expect her to go to college either. And as far as I remember she didn't say she was going to. But she was very clear that she didn't want to close that door stupidly, or for no good reason. (Cici Bellis gave a very similar answer when asked the same thing after her US Open success when she also didn't take the money - Cici being, of course, a very good friend of Katie's and also from a well-off family).

TennisLover · Strong Club Player

It's all well and good for those who are not only from well to do backgrounds (parents have the means to sponsor them from their own pocket) but are also bankrolled by their governing body to say they won't collect money to keep college route open. The mere mortals can't afford not to collect to help cover part of their expenses no matter the amount.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

TennisLover wrote:
It's all well and good for those who are not only from well to do backgrounds (parents have the means to sponsor them from their own pocket) but are also bankrolled by their governing body to say they won't collect money to keep college route open. The mere mortals can't afford not to collect to help cover part of their expenses no matter the amount.

Tennis is, in the main, a rich man's sport, there's no getting away from it.

However, the NCAA rules are clear that you can accept prize money to cover your "actual and necessary expenses to cover that event".

So it's not true that the mere mortals have to accept the prize money to cover their expenses and thereby lose their eligibility - everyone's allowed to accept enough of the prize cheque to cover all legit expenses, you're just not allowed to accept any more i.e. any profit.

TheTraveller2 · Lower Club Player

TennisLover wrote:
It's all well and good for those who are not only from well to do backgrounds (parents have the means to sponsor them from their own pocket) but are also bankrolled by their governing body to say they won't collect money to keep college route open. The mere mortals can't afford not to collect to help cover part of their expenses no matter the amount.

I think that's true. That is why you see younger players signing with agents as well as taking prize money from an early age. Regarding funding from a governing body, wasn't there a requirement for a while that players who received some sort of support (cash or in-kind) had to reimburse from their winnings.

LordBrownof · Futures level

Not having it all her own way 4-4 in the first.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Katie lost the first set 6-4

new to it · Social player

Who is out there with her? Jeremy Bates?

LordBrownof · Futures level

Eeek.