Girls: 53rd Coffee Bowl (Copa Del Cafe), Costa Rica, hard - Grade 1 (Week 1)

Strongbow · All-time great

Girls: 53rd Coffee Bowl (Copa Del Cafe), Costa Rica, hard - Grade 1 (Week 1)

Strongbow · All-time great

Emily wins the singles final 6-3 6-3

Oakland2002 · All-time great

Nice start to 2017 for her

DavidC · Tennis legend

Excellent double, her first G1 titles, so heads down under with lots of confidence.

DF · Tennis legend

Well done Emily biggrin

DavidC · Tennis legend

Photo of Emily with trophy pbs.twimg.com/media/C1neTh2XcAA_ZSk.jpg

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Lovely. And difficult to get that in the carry-on luggage ! Well done, that girl.

And as Bugs would say:

WhatsApp, Doc ? Emily App.....

indiana · Tennis legend

Very good

Yes, great prep for the Aussie Open and it should thereafter be an interesting year for Emily as she presumably begins playing much more seniors.

Mervatron2 · Challenger qualifying

Wow. Very impressibe indeed. I believe she's onto the two tournaments down under now which will be tougher but she couldn't be in a better position.

wimdledont · Challenger level

Congratulations to Emily on a perfect week, which will see her take over from Jodie as our top ranked junior.

BUT

Both will turn 18 this year, and can then play a full programme of ITF/WTA adult events. Katie Swan is in the same age band, has apparently given up on Juniors, and has a much better WTA ranking. I can see the sense for Jodie or Emily to compete in the Junior Slams, where they could win huge sponsorship backing; but why bother with Grade 1s, on the off chance of finishing 2017 in the top ten, and gaining any actual advantage in a professional career? And then just a few WCs from the JE scheme.

Both would do better, in my view,to concentrate their efforts on the adult circuit. But, heck, well done here.

-- Edited by wimdledont on Sunday 8th of January 2017 09:17:30 PM

indiana · Tennis legend

As I was saying I assume ( and hope ) that Emily plays a lot more seniors this year, indeed I hope like you she pretty much concentrates on them.

But at the start of the year, if as she is heading down to the Aussie Grade 1 and then Open, playing a Grade 1 juniors here seems very reasonable to me. She can then switch after the Aussie Open.

Many folk say that playing juniors and seniors is very different. A junior mindset for a few weeks ( and getting so many matches in prep ) now is fine.

vohor · Grand Slam Champion

Great stuff here from Emily :D

Spectator · All-time great

Yes, very impressive. As for the senior/junior thing, it's horses for courses, isn't it. I remember thinking when Eugenie Bouchard won Junior Wimbledon that yes, it was all very well, but she was 18 and her peers (such as Ms Robson) were already playing at WTA level, so did it really mean anything? But when she switched to playing only seniors, she didn't seem to have too much difficulty adjusting. So like Indiana, I don't have a problem with people who are still eligible playing high-level juniors while they make their transition.

-- Edited by Spectator on Monday 9th of January 2017 10:49:23 PM

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Yes. And a lot of young players are driven by finance i.e. if the federation doesn't help much, they will have to move over to adult earlier. Or if the federation concentrates more on adult rankings, they will also tend to do so, i.e. it's not always a tennis decision anyway, whatever the merits of playing junior versus senior.
Mr. Appleton is a canny man, with a lot of knowledge of tennis (as a former player), and will certainly have definite ideas and want what's best for his daughter's tennis, long-term as well as short-term. I reckon they've given the matter some serious thought.

Mervatron2 · Challenger qualifying

I suspect she'll play the GS and mix in senior events in between. There's no point in her playing anything lower than a grade 1 now.