Grass Season Wild Cards?

philwrig · Hall of fame

Grass Season Wild Cards?

Hoppy · Junior player

Cloud cuckoo land lol. Dreaming never hurts though

RJA · Hall of fame

Kyle and Evo look like they will both make it into Nottingham without the need for wild cards as they are 2nd and 4th alts respectively. Surprisingly Bedene isn't on the entry list.

Madadman · Masters Series Champion

Current cut off for MD at Manchester is 145, although I expect this to change. Ward is currently 9th alt, Klein 20th and Broady 26th.
Ward might get in. I'd imagine Liam would get a wildcard as it his 'home' tournament.

Vandenburg · Futures level

Madadman wrote:
Current cut off for MD at Manchester is 145, although I expect this to change. Ward is currently 9th alt, Klein 20th and Broady 26th.
Ward might get in. I'd imagine Liam would get a wildcard as it his 'home' tournament.

Stockport in Manchester? A bit harsh to all those from Manchester.

RJA · Hall of fame

Vandenburg wrote:
Madadman wrote:
Current cut off for MD at Manchester is 145, although I expect this to change. Ward is currently 9th alt, Klein 20th and Broady 26th.
Ward might get in. I'd imagine Liam would get a wildcard as it his 'home' tournament.
Stockport in Manchester? A bit harsh to all those from Manchester.

Regardless of geography Liam is a member of the club where the tournament is played, hence 'home' tournament.

goldenboy · Club Coach

Tournament in south Manchester, it's v near Stockport!!

Very strong field this year

RJA · Hall of fame

goldenboy wrote:
Tournament in south Manchester, it's v near Stockport!!

Very strong field this year

The field always starts out very strong but with it being second week of the French Open there will be several withdrawals. Last year the original cut was WR 159 but eventually the 15th alt got in at WR 236.

This year the original cut is WR 145 and the 15th alt is WR 202. So yes it is a bit stronger but that was to be expected as there are three challenger events this year compared to five last year.

Vandenburg · Futures level

What about the Ilkley challenger?

RJA · Hall of fame

Vandenburg wrote:
What about the Ilkley challenger?

We won't see the entry list there for two weeks but the field won't be as strong because it is the same week as Queen's and Halle.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

In the Saint-Gaudens thread, scottie1 says:

"Yes totally agree great result for Amanda. Sorry to spoil the good news but I can't see her getting WCMD for Wimbledon with a ranking of 284, I think a QWC is more relevant"

and wimbledont says:

"I fear you are right scottie.

Though by ranking, it's also hard to justify the likely wildcard for Laura? Particularly as, of the 120 points that make up her score, about 55 are 'loser's consolation prizes', and a further 30 from her only MD win, against an unranked Morrocan youngster who has never won one of her dozen previous tennis matches, even in ITFs.

If Amanda, with a recent W:L record of 11:1 is rejected in favour of Laura, who is closer to 1:11, then we get very close to the point that the LTA can no longer really be considered a sporting association which encourages and promotes sporting competition and recognises and rewards success on the field of play, but a sports marketing agency which subcontracts a minor role from IMG for one month of the year. And we've nearly got there."

Accepting wildcards as a given, the point that I would make is that, applying a French policy way of thinking, there would be a very strong argument for Laura not getting a MD card, and Mandy getting one.

The French are very good (in general) at giving everyone a chance once.

i.e. there are a few who get slight favouritism, but most of the cards go round, so if you're 100 places out this year and someone else is 120 places out, you'll get the card this year. If it's the same next year, the other one will get the card. It's not done on absolute ranking. They've a lot to choose from. So they try and spread it out

As such, and especially because we have no obvious MD WCs this year (in terms of 100-200 ranked), there's a big argument for giving Mandy one, as a one-off so to speak. (They won't, I'm sure, but there would be a good argument for it).

Equally, Fiona Ferro has been the golden girl of 'new hopes' for French tennis for several years. Huge hoo-hah. Got a MD wildcard last year year. But her ranking hasn't really pushed on. She still gets a lot of support. But no MD WC this year.

It's not the same as Laura (who's been a ranked top player) but there would be a good argument not to give her one - to show that ranking (and results!) matter.

RJA · Hall of fame

Edmund, Evans and Ward have all been confirmed as the 3 main draw wild cards for Queen's.

Jimmy09 · Intermediate Club Player

You have got to be kidding me!? Why on earth has Ward got one

RJA · Hall of fame

Jimmy09 wrote:
You have got to be kidding me!? Why on earth has Ward got one

Apparently because he is a "crowd favourite"

https://www.lta.org.uk/major-events/aegon-championships/aegon-championships-news/2016/davis-cup-winners-edmund-evans-and-ward-given-aegon-championships-wild-card/

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

To be honest, that seems to make sense.

He's from London, which counts; as the Tournament Director said, he has a great run there before; has name recognition, especially after Wimbledon last year; and the crowd like some known British names they can get behind.

It's true his results have been dire but on pure ranking there's no one else so it's not like he's stolen one from someone else.