Just running through the pre Wimbledon events, I missed the fact that there is now a new ladies WTA $100k event at Southsea the week before Wimbledon, presumably against Eastbourne?
We now seem to have:
wk1 (last week of RG) - ATP Challenger Surbiton mens and ITF womens Surbiton
wk 2 - WTA Nottingham Open, ATP Challenger Nottingham and ITF Manchester Womens
wk 3 - ATP Queens, WTA Birmingham, ATP Challenger Ilkley, ITF Womens Ilkley
wk 4 - ATP Eastbourne, WTA Eastbourne, ITF Womens Southsea.
12 different draws in total. Wow. Add in 's-Hertogenbosch, Stuttgart, Halle and Mallorca for good measure, makes a really strong grass circuit now on both womens and mens sides
The Southsea event is a 16 player singles main draw event only (i.e. no qualies, no doubles), targeted at players ranked 70-115 (i.e. those who are direct for Wimbledon but not able to play Eastbourne or only likely to be unseeded in qualies), as it runs concurrently with Wimbledon qualifying.
-- Edited by PaulM on Wednesday 8th of February 2017 10:55:06 AM
The Southsea event is a 16 player singles main draw event only (i.e. no qualies, no doubles), targeted at players ranked 70-115 (i.e. those who are direct for Wimbledon but not able to play Eastbourne or only likely to be unseeded in qualies), as it runs concurrently with Wimbledon qualifying.
-- Edited by PaulM on Wednesday 8th of February 2017 10:55:06 AM
thanks PaulM. What WTA ranking points will it carry then, are there any other comparable events on the Tour? I tend to follow mens tour more...
Also, what is Southsea like as a venue, I know they host County Week events down there...
"Just moments from both Portsmouths beaches and picturesque esplanade, along with managing and improving both the grass courts and the surrounding site, Canoe Lake Leisure have also invested in the following facilities:
4 top-specification artificial grass courts for all year-round play"
I think it is saying they have the grass courts and also have 4 artificial grass courts...that is my reading but it isnt totally clear! I am sure the players would play artificial the week before Wimbledon, the movement on artificial grass is v different in my experience and I am sure the Tour would insist on real grass...I could be wrong!
-- Edited by JonH on Wednesday 8th of February 2017 04:20:07 PM
"The Canoe Lake grass tennis courts sit in the heart of Southsea and have recently been refurbished to accommodate for the new ITF world class tournament."
The two hard coursts and the four artificial grass courts are in addition.
"The Canoe Lake grass tennis courts sit in the heart of Southsea and have recently been refurbished to accommodate for the new ITF world class tournament."
The two hard coursts and the four artificial grass courts are in addition.
Definitely clear and Christ's picture does the job even better!
