Week 52 - Hong Kong F5 ($10,000) - Hong Kong (hard)

Priesty · Challenger level

RE: Week 52 - Hong Kong F5 ($10,000) - Hong Kong (hard)

indiana · Tennis legend

I think the 'problem' with Jay is so fast has his recent rise been ( no doubt with a base of long term hard work but maybe with some extra ingredients found ) that it is difficult to know what in general a "potentially tough" opponent will be for him.

But there is much to suggest he is still a fair bit 'underranked' and heading rapidly towards the top 500 for starters. So at least winning against the 21 yo WR 655 was on the cards ( though I do see that Yu himself was a fairly recent futures winner, in Taiwan at the end of October ).

His next opponent is on the face of it more like himself. Yamasaki is aged 19, on the rise ( if not seemingly in such a dramatically short time ) and has a JCH 11 background.

-- Edited by indiana on Thursday 29th of December 2016 05:54:42 AM

indiana · Tennis legend

QF: (4) Jay Clarke WR 535 (=CH) beat (6) Jumpei Yamasaki (JPN) WR 605 (CH 603 last month), age 19 JCH 11 6-3 6-2

Very good win. Actually seemed a very competitive first set, which lasted precisely an hour ( overall 1 hour 48 minutes ) with points split 41-33 points, 3/7 BPs converted against 2/7.

Then in an 18 point second game of the second set Jay saved 3 BPs to level at 1-1*. That seems to have been a fairly pivotal moment, Jay motoring home from there.

He seems rather good in BP situations ( on admittedly a very small sample of two wins ). I noted in R1 last week that he converted or saved 11/12, and here overall it was 14/22.

indiana · Tennis legend

SF: (4) Jay Clarke WR 535 (=CH) vs Sora Fukuda (JPN) WR 1072 (CH 1066 this month), age 19 JCH 28

Fukuda beat the #2 seed in R2 though took 3 hours to beat a 15 yo Taiwanese qualifier in the QF ( and that included a 6-0 final set, albeit begun with a 22 point opening break. Seems to have been a day for long game wins helping see a player head for home ).

As indicated earlier, if Jay wins this SF match it looks as if that will see him into the top 500 !

Oakland2002 · All-time great

It is testament to Jay's progress that he has started to move onto and through the Tennisabstract.com players rank by age, presently 18th in those not turned 19, he will when updated begin to move well and truly into mid table, top 500 sticks him 11th, the top 4 will all drop off before Jay in July as will one or two others.

The next cohort i.e. those not turned 20 presently starts at 320.

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

indiana wrote:
As indicated earlier, if Jay wins this SF match it looks as if that will see him into the top 500 !

smile

Mervatron2 · Challenger qualifying

Great stuff from Jay.

Jaffa · Challenger level

videostream.dn.ua/videopage/videoPage.php%E2%84%96f&c=en&i=eWl2bW9iZGlzaA%E2%84%96f%E2%84%96f i'm watching it here, Jay recovered an early break.

Jaffa · Challenger level

videostream.dn.ua/videopage/videoPage.php%E2%84%96f&c=en&i=eWl2bW9iZGlzaA%E2%84%96f%E2%84%96f

try that!

Jaffa · Challenger level

Sorry about the poor links dont know why they aren't right, just cut and paste and all is swell and scroll on right hand side.

I've only seen 20 minutse but what is evident is just how big Jay's forehand is. It's a joy to watch.

paulisi · Tennis legend

No joy - however a terrific final quarter and a chance to build on his ranking in the new year. The difficult part will be when he has to start defending those points....

DF · Tennis legend

Jay lost 4-6 0-6

indiana · Tennis legend

Ah pity, but yes great ( in truth very unexpectedly great which makes it all the more pleasing ) final quarter.

Only 2 points in May to defend before August, so hopefully he will have added many points before he starts defending and will surely be top 500 for starters fairly early in the new year.

In anticipation of Jay's ( now merely delayed ) entry into the top 500 I was looking at these that have entered the top 500 at 18 since Andy did it at 17. What has followed for these players has certainly been variable. Will Jay follow the smooth path, the rocky path or fall of the path all together?

Entry into top 500 chronologically :

Dan Evans at 18 years 5 months
Dan Cox at 18 years 9 months
Oli Golding at 18 years 7 months
Kyle Edmund at 18 years 4 months

Missed anyone since Andy ?

Jay ( born 27/07/98 ) is currently 18 years 5 months.

Apologies for looking into this before Jay actually crossed the line and jinxing him.

Madadman · Masters Series Champion

I wonder when we will next see Jay. I see from his twitter post he said he was now going to go into 'pre-season training'. Going by that then i assume it would be at least 3-4 weeks. If he decides to play The UK Futures might not see him till Glasgow.

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

He really is just teasing me, isn't he, with that Top 500 thing. He is playing a game of "how close can I get without actually crossing the line" because he knows about my 20 in the top 500 challenge. wink

Seriously though, what a terrific last 3 months Jay has had and he now has a fantastic platform for next year. Get some rest, Jay. You've earned it - and then some.