James put up a pretty good fight, all things considered:

QR1:  (q6) Michal Przysiezny (POL) WR 362 defeated James Marsalek WR 654 by 4-6 6-2 6-3

RJA wrote:

---

Bob in Spain wrote:

---

Vandenburg wrote:

---

Jaggy1876 wrote:

---

Wonder what's happened to Milts he'd be seeded in both challengers. He seems to have went off the boil recently.

---

 Was he ever on the boil?

---

Yes. But it was a while ago.  He had a terrific run through the grass court challengers last year, which unfortunately means he has a lot of points to drop off over the next few months.

---

I will always wonder might have been had he not been robbed in that match against Berrer at Wimbledon qualifying. 

---

 

I agree.

And I take on board Oakland's comments that he didn't deal with it the best he could.

And normally I am dead anti those who claim that one or two unfair points cost them the match.

But in this case, the referee was clearly wrong, several times (I was standing right on the line in question, as were two friends, one of whom is also a chair umpire in France), they were key points in the third set, they all went against Josh, and the match was lost.

I'm not saying that Josh could not have won the match if he had managed to deal with it better. And it's daft to let one match define your career choice. But it was a huge match for him, in his season, and - like RJA - I think the rest of the year might have been quite different if he'd won it (which he should have done).

Oakland2002 wrote:

---

Robbed is harsh, great performance played close to his full potential but wobbled around dealing with points that went against him and got completely distracted.

At such a high level of tennis you have to control the controllable and let the rest go unless you are specifically using an episode of disruption to lift you own game or like Novak (Aussie open final 2015) disrupt someone else's. To Berrer it was like water of a ducks back. Very entertaining game never the less.

---

I don't usually use terms like robbed but in this case I do so without hesitation. It was one of the worst pieces of officiating that I have ever seen, a string of bad calls at huge moments by the same official and a couple of them not just bad but ridiculous. Everybody anywhere near that line could see that those balls were out and for the umpire to not overrule the two most obvious ones was exceptionally weakness on his part.

We aren't talking about a hardened pro but a futures level journeyman who who hit a rich vein of form. It was the biggest match of his life and with Menendez-Maceiras awaiting him in the final round he would have had a genuine chance of qualifying. Who knows what the experience of playing in the Wimbledon main draw could have done for him. To be denied it like that was one of the most sickening things I have witnessed in sport. 

Well done to Mr Ward, and commiserations to Mr Glasspool. And agreed on the points!

indiana wrote:

---

Michael D wrote:

---

Alex has won 6-4 6-1, did not lose a breakpoint, so a good match from him.

Feel it is totally ridiculous that for a $100k tournament with a field this quality you have to win 3 matches to gain any points at all. It is a real anomaly in the men's rankings, compared with the women, and a wholly unnecessary handicap to prevent people in Alex's and Lloyd's category from moving up the rankings. It's wrong.

---

I know what you mean although like most tournament categories the quality can vary so much -  eg.  the recent Gwangju Challenger where Liam had a bye to the FQR and just had to beat WR 1280 for 5 points in that FQR let alone a difficult earlier qualifying round.

I think overall there is maybe a case for 2 or 3 points for reaching the FQR, maybe even the 1/3/5  system in the women's from ITF 50K up. Though while that may be generally 'fairer' I don't see such points levels as greatly material in players' choices and the effect on them moving up the rankings. Perhaps the ( non ) financial rewards of winning qualifying rounds may be more of an issue for them. 

-- Edited by indiana on Saturday 30th of April 2016 10:05:00 AM

---

Yes, not winning any money is probably more hurting to the players, and certainly unfair to the players. And maybe on the recent Gwangju Challenger, but compared with Laura's last 30 points, not quite the same category of cake walk! Just that many Challenger Q matches often feature the kind of match ups you'd expect to see in the SF and F of future events, so seems tough to move up to Challenger level if the Q matches bring no rewards at all. I know this is probably an old conversation, but doesn't improve the fairness of it...

The most sickening things I have seen in sport ie actually been there

1. Father Christmas (Nigel Rogoff) hit the top of the Trinity rd stand when parachuting into the grand, Aston villa v arsenal December 1998. (Truly Inspirational - You Tube video) as you would expect Father Christmas is dead hard.

2. Johnathan Hogg having had his knee totally destroyed by a horrible tackle (compliments of present England left back, Danny Rose) in a reserves team game at Brisbane Rd. not quite career ending but career altering

3. Luke Nils fractured tib and fib in one of his few games for villa (against Ipswich 2000).

Oh what might have been. Johnathan Hogg has managed to carve a career in the lower leagues and to be fair to Nigel Rogoff his life has been very different but one cannot accuse him of not giving it a go.

A few poor line calls in the second round of qualifying at Wimbledon? sorry to become an elite touring tennis pro or even a consistent forc on the challenger tour you just have to suck it up.

Oakland2002 wrote:

---

The most sickening things I have seen in sport ie actually been there

1. Father Christmas (Nigel Rogoff) hit the top of the Trinity rd stand when parachuting into the grand, Aston villa v arsenal December 1998. (Truly Inspirational - You Tube video) as you would expect Father Christmas is dead hard.

2. Johnathan Hogg having had his knee totally destroyed by a horrible tackle (compliments of present England left back, Danny Rose) in a reserves team game at Brisbane Rd. not quite career ending but career altering

3. Luke Nils fractured tib and fib in one of his few games for villa (against Ipswich 2000).

Oh what might have been. Johnathan Hogg has managed to carve a career in the lower leagues and to be fair to Nigel Rogoff his life has been very different but one cannot accuse him of not giving it a go.

A few poor line calls in the second round of qualifying at Wimbledon? sorry to become an elite touring tennis pro or even a consistent forc on the challenger tour you just have to suck it up.

---

Oh come on, of course is no comparison to career ending injuries and the like, I though that went without saying.

But the point is that Josh isn't an elite touring pro and was never going to be. That is what made it all the worse.