Week 7 - ITF($10k) - The Wirral, UK (Hard)

vohor · Grand Slam Champion

RE: Week 7 - ITF($10k) - The Wirral, UK (Hard)

paulisi · Tennis legend

Slightly disappointing, but expected results bar Maia.

Maia had strapping on her leg and I was told she played nowhere the levels of the last two weeks.

Arcangioli is the best player on show by a mile.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

I'm not sure Laura D's result was 'expected' - although definitely 'hoped for'

Good to know that Arcangioli is playing so well, given that Tara beat her a few weeks ago, and Maia cams so close in Sunderland.

Interesting that Tess Sugnaux has put out the second seed, the 17 year-old junior, WTA ranked about 400.

paulisi · Tennis legend

We are about to have a 14yr old Brit pick up a doubles ranking....

insomniacfolder · Challenger level

Lauryn puts a cherry on a fabulous day, and the Pitak's roll on to a ranking.

R1: Drew/Zhang (GBR/CHN) lost to Pitak/Pitak (GBR/GBR) 6-7(4) 2-6

R1: Ghodrati/Ng (GBR/HKG) lost to Davies/John-Baptiste (GBR/GBR) 3-6 2-6

R1: Hutchinson/Sills (GBR/GBR) lost to Barritza/Njiric (DEN/CRO) 1-6 3-6

QF: Dart/Corning (GBR/USA) [1] vs. Pitak/Pitak (GBR/GBR)
QF: Drew/Zhang (GBR/CHN) vs. Pitak/Pitak (GBR/GBR) vs. Partaud/Sarrazin (FRA/FRA) [4]
QF: Davies/John-Baptiste (GBR/GBR) vs. Arbuthnott/Stephenson (GBR/GBR) [3]
QF: Askew/Nicholls (GBR/GBR) [2] vs. Barritza/Njiric (DEN/CRO)

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

well done, the Pitaks.

And that's not a 'doddle' victory over some GB wildcards (indeed, it was them who were the 'doddle' draw really)

Zhang is ranked top 700, Jazzamay top 900/800 (singles and doubles)

Very good win to the sister act.

wimdledont · Challenger level

Sorry, but it's only the elder Pitak sister picks up a ranking. Little Ola will just have to try harder. Short of winning the title here, I'd suggest she needs to have another go at beating Kat in another first-to-25-sets-is-the-winner domestic duel.

philwrig · Hall of fame

Maia's had a brilliant couple of weeks, but having to come through qualifying on top of playing just about everyday during the previous 2 weeks, was inevitably going to take its toll. Disappointed I didn't see her match at Sunderland, because it certainly looks like she's made a big jump during the offseason, and looks like a dead cert to be comfortably inside the top 500 by year end.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Well, Maia's basically done what Emily Arbuthnott did last year - suddenly piece together a couple of excellent runs in domestic tournaments.

Similar styles too.

I'm not sure I'd say either is a dead cert for top 500 this year. Partly because of other commitments (junior tennis, studies).

But I'm probably 100% wrong

philwrig · Hall of fame

Coup Droit wrote:
Well, Maia's basically done what Emily Arbuthnott did last year - suddenly piece together a couple of excellent runs in domestic tournaments.

Similar styles too.

I'm not sure I'd say either is a dead cert for top 500 this year. Partly because of other commitments (junior tennis, studies).

But I'm probably 100% wrong

If I was a betting man I would be prepared to have a little side bet, that assuming she plays 15 or more tournaments this year, she'll prove me right. No pressure.

paulisi · Tennis legend

If Maia plays a full season, which I believe she will do, she will be top 500.

Lots of players family around being half term. I had a nice chat with Emily Arb's mum about all things tennis. PS Emily isn't funded

I told Lauryn's mum yesterday to book an extra night when I saw the doubles draw and I saw her today and for her she had a great draw and she didn't believe me. So I was right on both counts...

Didn't see to much of Savannah or Beth's matches, but Savannah got right into the match after a poor start and served for the first set. Beth seemed to play in snatches.
First time I've seen Laura Deigman and she looks like a solid 600-800 player. First set she wasn't hitting through the ball and she was getting out hit. However in the second and third sets, she starting playing with a bit of power and the French girl made loads of errors.The locals nicknamed Gervais the school teacher, as she had thick glasses and old fashioned haircut and non matching top and shorts.
Emily draw the best player in the tournament for the second week in a row. The first couple of games had some fantastic tennis with winners coming on both sides and some terrific tennis. Emily just couldn't get past her terrific defences and Manon took advantage at the right times.
Emily has huge potential, but without the financial support of the LTA, US college is a no brainer. Manon will win the tournament if she keeps those levels, she was head and shoulders above anyone today.
Only caught Lucy's match after the comeback in the first set and she was playing really well. She had a MTO at the end of the set for what I believe may be the same injury that has kept her out for a while. Second set flattered the Slovak and a lot of the points and games very close, similarly in the third set. The umpiring in this match was atrocious and in general the standard of umpiring was disappointing.
As posted earlier, Fran has totally lost her confidence. There were flashes of talent, but coupled by loads of errors and lack of belief. Emma didn't play as well as yesterday, but she didn't need to. I think Emma plays better against hard hitting players.
Didn't see to much of Maia's match. Toby Smith was there and it looked very comfortable in the first set.
Lauryn was very solid again today. She came back from 3-0 down early on and looked in control for the rest of the game, bar a couple of wobbles. Very athletic, excellent defensively and plenty of power. As Jaffa mentioned, the Belgium got very down on herself and a few years appeared as well in the second set, but Lauryn was far more consistent.
Didn't see too much of Jazzamay's match, but the Romanian is quite useful and will be a handful for Harriet tomorrow. Jazzamay looks 900-1100 player only.
Jodie v Harriet was a great game to watch. Lucie Ahl was there again and the first set was very tight. Jodie still has that power and attacking game, but Harriet was the steadier of the two. Harriet had some strapping on her leg, but I expect her to come through tomorrow and anything else is a bonus. Her mum is down with her this week.
Easy wins for Lauryn and Megan in the doubles and a supervision for the Pitak sisters who dominated their match and were comfortable winners. For those not aware they are based in Somerset and coached by their father and are of Polish descent.

wimdledont · Challenger level

I think Maia has shown that she currently is playing well enough to be competitive with the seeded players at 10k level - around the 300-500th best player in the world. But she would need an average of about 4 points per tournament, assuming she plays 15 tournaments, to make the top 500 - about 60 points.

There are NO opportunities for her to take on other players in this ability-range in the UK until September or so; and then only in 10k competitions - where she needs to make the semis, on average, to pick up 4 points. If all goes to seeding, she needs to consistently beat 2 seeded players to even reach the semis. She can also play 10ks abroad, if she can find a way to fund her travel and accommodation.

French, Italian, American, Australian, Canadian, Egyptian, German, Swiss, Dutch, Spanish, etc, girls with Maia's obvious talent would immediately get wildcarded into domestic 25k tournaments, where you get more points for winning 1 match (5) than you get for winning 3 matches at 10k level(4).

I'm afraid it's "Tough, love" for Maia and those of her ilk. Though she may be among the top 500 tennis players in the world at age 18, she finds herself in competition for resources with LTA staffers who are ranked in the outer 2,000s for coaching ability, at age 45-50. And they've got a vote in the committee meetings; and they've won.

paulisi · Tennis legend

I think Maia may have some funding from the LTA, with Toby coming down today and a few trips to Egypt or Turkey will generate enough points to climb up those rankings.
I'm pretty sure, she will play the grass 50ks in the UK and pick up some points there as well.

indiana · Tennis legend

I would take both Maia and Gabi Taylor to be top 500 if they play stay got and play a good number of tournaments.

I'd expect one or two big weeks to turn up, maybe in the grass season particularly for Gabi, just like Freya had her big 25K final week late last year, and that sure helps moving up the rankings

-- Edited by indiana on Tuesday 16th of February 2016 08:34:46 PM

wimdledont · Challenger level

I disagree. I think you are both, indi and paulisi, being very naive about the system.

If it was the same as football, say, and players/entities/teams of comparable ability played all against one another, and you get 3 points for a win, 1 for a draw, 0 for a loss, then I think Gabi and Maia quickly rise to 300-500 in the world.

But American girls of, imho, questionable ability, get to play in 100k tournaments like Midland, where there is 10x the points on offer, or more. It's like Man Utd tell Leicester City that they have more money, so their home wins are worth 30 points, not 3. And they hold their home games when everybody else is away on international duty; whereas our big home tournaments are scheduled to attract the stiffest-possible international fields.

If Maia and Gabi reach WR500 - So what? They still have to play 10ks, for less than 1/4 of the points of the women playing at 25k level. They need to be about WR300 to regularly compete at 25k level.

The system is deliberately designed to make it nearly impossible for women of extreme talent, but from minor markets, such as all of Eastern Europe, to compete with women of mediocre talent, but from major markets, such as the US, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK, Australia.

As the LTA has now arranged a programme for 2016 which, aside from the June grass events for established members of the top 200 elite, offers nothing to emergent talent. The Pitak sisters would give themselves a much better chance of professional advancement by re-registering themselves as Polish. In terms of opportuniities for emergent talented players, the LTA's 2016 programme now lags behind Poland.

OTOH, in mediocre middle-aged tennis coaches, we are world leaders.