Very small entry for Felixstowe next week. Just 23 in the main draw, including one WC, and only 4 listed in qualifying. Most definitely a Tier 2 tournament ......
Hmm, Nell is 17 so might be education (although wrong year surely?), but again, didn't play on the Brititish Tour between end of Feb and start of July. So I suspect injury.
The British Tour event this week at Tunbridge Wells looks like a complete US college fest.
Nearly all the seeds are out and I make it that 6 out of the 8 left standing are US college players (Garshong, Williams, Ronaldson, Walker, Horsfall and Thomas).
Iman Garshong isn't a college player. Was there one day during qualies and felt quite sorry for the non-college entrants in both genders. Lots of college kids in the draw and they were just tearing through their matches and really shouldn't have been in qualies at all, but I believe entry was based on their (very out of date) pre-college ratings.
Sorry about Iman, and thanks, The O - I saw Duke next to her name and assumed that was American Duke and not Duke Meadows. Duh....
But, agree, the system seems a bit daft if they only use very old LTA rankings and don't give them 'administrative equivalent' rankings to take into account their US ones (as they would in France, for instance).