Week 17 - Challenger ($75,00+H) - Santaizi ATP Challenger, Taipei, Taiwan (carpet)

spud · Challenger qualifying

Week 17 - Challenger ($75,00+H) - Santaizi ATP Challenger, Taipei, Taiwan (carpet)

Madadman · Masters Series Champion

Top stuff from Dan. Didn't play his best but dug deep. The key was hanging in there after Kravchuk was clearly better early on. Waited for the tide to turn a bit and then just held on. Unlike Edmund and ward who flirted with breaking the 100 for a while before breaking it Evo has did it at a relative canter!

RJA · Hall of fame

Evo will be ranked 97 when the rankings come out tomorrow. He will probably need to win a match or two in the next two weeks to stay there as he has 18 points coming off in two weeks time. If he can do that he should be safe for direct acceptance into Wimbledon.

Priesty · Challenger level

YES!!! Hopefully that now means we've been able to watch live the arrivals in the top 100 of both Naomi and Evo this year

Edit - just seen RJA's post wink

-- Edited by Priesty on Sunday 1st of May 2016 10:43:45 AM

DF · Tennis legend

Well done Dan ! biggrin

Michael D · All-time great

RJA wrote:
Evo will be ranked 97 when the rankings come out tomorrow. He will probably need to win a match or two in the next two weeks to stay there as he has 18 points coming off in two weeks time. If he can do that he should be safe for direct acceptance into Wimbledon.

Hope he gets the direct acceptance. That would be wonderful reward for his progress the last 9 months.

RJA · Hall of fame

Madadman wrote:
Unlike Edmund and ward who flirted with breaking the 100 for a while before breaking it Evo has did it at a relative canter!

In retrospect Ward's long 6 month+ struggle to break the top 100 was a sign of what was to come. For Evo to manage it at the first time of asking is a very good sign as was his reaction to winning today which suggested that while he was probably aware that it put him in the top 100 he didn't see that as a massive thing in itself.

stevemcqueen · Futures qualifying

RJA wrote:
Madadman wrote:
Unlike Edmund and ward who flirted with breaking the 100 for a while before breaking it Evo has did it at a relative canter!
In retrospect Ward's long 6 month+ struggle to break the top 100 was a sign of what was to come. For Evo to manage it at the first time of asking is a very good sign as was his reaction to winning today which suggested that while he was probably aware that it put him in the top 100 he didn't see that as a massive thing in itself.

Actually, I think his lack of celebration at the end was because he was exhausted!

RJA · Hall of fame

stevemcqueen wrote:
RJA wrote:
Madadman wrote:
Unlike Edmund and ward who flirted with breaking the 100 for a while before breaking it Evo has did it at a relative canter!
In retrospect Ward's long 6 month+ struggle to break the top 100 was a sign of what was to come. For Evo to manage it at the first time of asking is a very good sign as was his reaction to winning today which suggested that while he was probably aware that it put him in the top 100 he didn't see that as a massive thing in itself.
Actually, I think his lack of celebration at the end was because he was exhausted!

Yeah that might have had something to do with it. Mentally it was a pretty draining match.

I think my point still stands though. James admitted himself that breaking in to the top 100 was very important for him and while I can see it is an important milestone it shouldn't really be the ultimate goal. Evo has never struck me as someone who pays a great deal of attention to his own ranking beyond the practical implications of what tournaments it gets him into. I don't think he really cares that much over whether he is ranked 103 or 97.

Constant · Lower Club Player

He has a 0 0 2 as countable scores for ranking and with only 18 to come off before Wimbledon has a great chance to consolidate his top 100 place.
I would hope he gets a few WC's into the pre wimbledon comps and grab a few points there. If so then that would be the end of the futures for a while.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

I agree (and based purely on gut feel) that Dan's never struck me as a player who cares about rankings.

My take on it is that whatever ranking Dan has, he feels it's wrong, so it doesn't really matter i.e. he genuinely believes he's a top 10 player so why should he be excited about breaking into the top 100?

And that's not meant as an insult, quite the opposite really.

I just hope the LTA take note that Dan, Naomi and Joko have all made sudden huge leaps, all aged 'mid-ish' twenties.

NB I know the LTA gave a lot of help to Dan, and JoKo, so credit to them for that, and not saying it to poke a finger, but the age at which these career shifts take place is important, and bears noting.

steven · Tennis legend

Fantastic to see Dan finally make the top 100

and to do it in such style, with his 3rd Challenger win in six months, after a drought of 6 years following his first Challenger title. Last May day bank holiday he hit a low of 772, so his rise since then has been astonishing.

The last time I can find a record of 4 Brits in the ATP singles top 100 is the end of 1978 bit.ly/19781231 (Mottram at 28, Lloyd 66, Cox 68, Dowdeswell 75) but in reality, the last time would have been sometime in 1979 (mid-year ranking lists from back then are incomplete) - that was a time when there was far less competition, as evidenced by the fact that there were 11 Americans in the top 20!

There is also quite a battle shaping up for year-end GB no. 2 already - Evo has now picked up 302 points since the turn of the year, just ahead of Aljaz and Kyle, who have amassed 300 each!

RJA · Hall of fame

Okay lets have a look at the stats (Evo on the left)

Aces: 5 - 7
DF's: 10 - 0
1st serve in: 63% - 71%
1st serve won: 75% - 72%
2nd serve won: 40% - 56%
Break points won: 2/8 - 2/10
Total points won: 100 - 101

Michael D · All-time great

RJA wrote:
Okay lets have a look at the stats (Evo on the left)

Aces: 5 - 7
DF's: 10 - 0
1st serve in: 63% - 71%
1st serve won: 75% - 72%
2nd serve won: 40% - 56%
Break points won: 2/8 - 2/10
Total points won: 100 - 101

Yes, to tell the story of the match you have to break it down set by set! These are sets 2 and 3:

Set 2

Aces: 2 - 2
DF's: 3 - 0
1st serve in: 54% - 70%
1st serve won: 79% - 70%
2nd serve won: 50% - 60%
Break points won: 1/3 - 0/0
Total points won: 35 - 33

Set 3

Aces: 2 - 3
DF's: 3 - 0
1st serve in: 74% - 68%
1st serve won: 77% - 74%
2nd serve won: 36% - 36%
Break points won: 1/5 - 0/3
Total points won: 41 - 35

Big jump in Dan's 1st serve % and 1st serve won in the final set

Jan · Hall of fame

Brilliant news!
Very well done Dan