Week 24 - WTA Premier ($846K) - Birmingham, UK - Grass

AliBlahBlah · All-time great

Week 24 - WTA Premier ($846K) - Birmingham, UK - Grass

Strongbow · All-time great

This could be over very quickly

paulisi · Tennis legend

Interesting choices of wildcards - so Katie Swan, Katy Dunne, Sam Murray all go to Ilkley alongside Freya who has a wildcard. I assume Katie and Katy have the other wildcards.
Tara has withdrawn from Ilkley, although if the weather remains dodgy she could get a SE by default

PaulM · Tennis legend

You can't get a SE into an ITF event if you aren't on the entry list (and I think it's an SE only from performance in the preceding ITF event, not sure it carries across from WTA to ITF?). I think her withdrawal this morning means she's in the MD here.

Hev was third alternate (but behind two MDO entries) so there is a chance she could have sneaked in freeing up the second wildcard for Tara, alongside Naomi.

Suspect our representation will be over in qualies by early afternoon with Pliskova, Pironkova and King all being very handy on the grass on top of their much greater experience, but this is the sort of match that Laura should be doing pretty well in. Varvara would be the sort of Wimbledon draw you'd describe as "decent" for any one of our players.

-- Edited by PaulM on Friday 10th of June 2016 03:45:21 PM

paulisi · Tennis legend

Entered players on the Qualifying Acceptance list who apply for and receive
exemption into the singles main draw of the following weeks tournament
because they are competing in singles at a Qualified Tournament on the
day the Qualifying event is scheduled to begin.
A Qualified Tournament is defined as follows:
1. For $10,000 and $10,000+H tournaments: the singles event of any ITF
Womens Circuit or any WTA tournament within the same continent in
the preceding week;
2. For $25,000 and $25,000+H tournaments: the singles event of any ITF
Womens Circuit tournament with prize money of $25,000 or higher or
any WTA tournament within the same continent in the preceding week;
3. For $50,000, $50,000+H, $75,000, $75,000+H, $100,000 and
$100,000+H tournaments: the singles event of any ITF Womens Circuit
tournament with prize money of $50,000 or higher or any WTA
tournament within the same continent in the preceding week.
Special Exempt status shall not be available for players competing in the
doubles event of the previous week

The only query regarding Tara being able to get an SE is that she has withdrawn, but was on the qualifying entry list. However you may well be correct in your assumption that a wildcard has been freed up in Birmingham

indiana · Tennis legend

Yes, couldn't see any reason for Tara withdrawing from Ilkley unless she definitely wasn't playing there. The SE would take care of itself and I did think that surely her withdrawing ( as opposed to any tournanent admin issue ) negated it

Good for her if she's got a WC for Birmingham.

scottie1 · Futures level

paulisi wrote:
Interesting choices of wildcards - so Katie Swan, Katy Dunne, Sam Murray all go to Ilkley alongside Freya who has a wildcard. I assume Katie and Katy have the other wildcards.
Tara has withdrawn from Ilkley, although if the weather remains dodgy she could get a SE by default

According to the ITF site Ashleigh Barty has been awarded a MDWC for Ilkley so I can't see there would be another four British MDWCS

Sim · County player

PaulM wrote:
Hev was third alternate (but behind two MDO entries) so there is a chance she could have sneaked in freeing up the second wildcard for Tara, alongside Naomi.

Highest seed in qualifying is Luicic-Baroni at 57. Hev is 56 so assume she is in main draw.

I have to admit I know nothing about Jodie Burrage.

scottie1 · Futures level

Sim wrote:
PaulM wrote:
Hev was third alternate (but behind two MDO entries) so there is a chance she could have sneaked in freeing up the second wildcard for Tara, alongside Naomi.

Highest seed in qualifying is Luicic-Baroni at 57. Hev is 56 so assume she is in main draw.
I have to admit I know nothing about Jodie Burrage.

Jodie is a promising young player

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Jodie is in my 500/200/100 list i.e. worth a punt at actually making it all the way.

Like Freya, but a couple of years younger.

philwrig · Hall of fame

Gabi Taylor won't be playing KP tomorrow, unless the sisters pull out of the Notts dubs. Alison Riske and Paszek will find it very tricky too. Lepchenko on grass isn't horrendous, but there were far better draws out there.Toughest assignment looks to be comfortably KB v an in form Pironkova who quite liked the green stuff.

Helen40 · Grand Slam Champion

I see Robbo's run of bad luck with draws continues. It's like the universe doesn't want her to be successful again.

Strongbow · All-time great

Helen40 wrote:
I see Robbo's run of bad luck with draws continues. It's like the universe doesn't want her to be successful again.

All life is 6-4 against wink

AliBlahBlah · All-time great

The WTA confirm MDWC for Tara & Naomi (as well as some random unknown up and comers by the improbable sounding names of Aga Radwanska & Kvitova. I wonder if they're any good on grass...)

AliBlahBlah · All-time great

Helen40 wrote:
I see Robbo's run of bad luck with draws continues. It's like the universe doesn't want her to be successful again.

confuse And there was me thinking she's generally had the rub of the green.

In her last two events she had a 33 year old plummeting down the rankings having hardly won a match all year at any level, and, having drawn the defending champion, a grass specialist,in the top 80, that player withdraws and instead Laura gets a player ranked 249,plummeting, and not having won a match at WTA level - even qualifying - in over a year.

Here she gets a player who has missed eleven weeks of the season so far with injury, and with a lifetime winning percentage of 29% on grass, an, and who is 25% worse against left handers, like Laura, than righties (winning only 33% of matches against the sinister handers).d who hasn't won a match on the surface (other than last week were she got a RET) since 2014.

Eye of the beholder, and what have you.