The expense of chasing ITF points is prohibitive to most. A trip costs approximately £800+ (Even Ireland was expensive). Thats without a coach. With no LTA support there is absolutely no chance of a decent ranking. The old adage if youve got to be in it, to win it is so true. There are too few chances to play ITF junior or even pro $15 in this country. It was yet another insult to all the players, the LTA write off as just not good enough, to have not awarded the remaining wild cards to anyone. Gemmas snub just fuels the feeling of LTA favourites & even if you have the next best ranking, for acceptance, if your face doesnt fit for whatever reason. Tough luck.
US college is interested in your UTR which is way cheaper to improve than ITF rankings. So why bother with ITF juniors, after a few outings, the experience has been gained & youve seen the level.
Nothing changes over the years on funding, so not holding my breath to see great numbers achieving high rankings now or in the future. The pool is chosen too soon & too few.
Brilliant jumps by Jack Draper up into the top 10 !!! And Anton into the top 50. Harry W also makes it into the top 100
Top-200
8 DRAPER, Jack +33 GBR 22 Dec 2001 25 1277.50
21 MCHUGH, Aidan -5 GBR 09 Jul 2000 27 1006.25
44 MATUSEVICH, Anton +23 GBR 30 May 2001 31 716.25
55 LOFFHAGEN, George -6 GBR 19 Apr 2001 24 617.50
66 FEARNLEY, Jacob +2 GBR 15 Jul 2001 35 542.25
91 WENDELKEN, Harry +19 GBR 18 Dec 2001 27 455.25
103 HUDD, Emile -1 GBR 27 May 2000 29 412.25
147 BAKER, Blu -2 GBR 28 Aug 2001 35 307.50
152 THOMSON, Connor -3 GBR 16 Jan 2001 34 299.50
153 STORY, James +41 GBR 05 Mar 2001 31 299.00
156 HERSEY, Jake -3 GBR 21 May 2000 22 292.50
Significant positive moves outside the top-200:
421 WHITE, Joseph +20 GBR 29 Jan 2001 18 112.50
554 MURGETT, Finn +20 GBR 17 Sep 2001 22 77.25
555 LEATHER, Joe +31 GBR 28 May 2001 21 77.25
585 CLEGG, Matthew +90 GBR 20 Oct 2000 29 73.25
603 MACKINLAY, James +320 GBR 11 Aug 2000 16 70.50
746 PIERLEONI , Joel +17 GBR 05 Mar 2003 12 51.50
763 CHEN, Derrick +25 GBR 04 Feb 2003 25 50.00
1041 MAXTED, Kai +102 GBR 22 Jun 2000 6 26.50
1161 RUTTER, Matthew +87 GBR 01 Oct 2003 14 20.50
1320 TRAINOR, Arran +218 GBR 27 Sep 2001 11 15.50
1456 NOLAN, William +923 GBR 01 May 2003 11 11.50
1460 MARTIN, Ross +89 GBR 06 Dec 2000 7 11.50
1557 KNOX JONES, Alexander +173 GBR 04 Feb 2003 10 9.75
1714 JENKINS , Wil New GBR 23 Jun 2004 6 6.75
2033 BLAYDES, Billy New GBR 09 Dec 2003 4 3.50
2033 NICOL, Ben New GBR 14 Sep 2001 3 3.50
2139 MAXTED , Lui +83 GBR 02 Dec 2003 6 2.75
2250 DILLON, Thomas New GBR 12 Jan 2001 3 2.00
2250 FLYNN, Danny New GBR 08 Nov 2001 2 2.00
2250 GRAVENEY, Monty New GBR 01 Nov 2002 5 2.00
2499 ACAROGLU, Derin New GBR 16 Jan 2003 9 1.50
2579 FORAN, Oliver New GBR 03 Oct 2001 2 0.75
Jack has moved into 7th position in the Junior Masters rankings, so is currently in a qualifying position for Chengdu in October (the qualifying period goes through to the US Open though, so he will probably need another score to stay in the top 8)
Of the top 100 ranked boys : 46 were born in 2000 47 were born in 2001 5 were born in 2002 2 were born in 2003
Of the 54 born in 2001 or later the nations with most are : 1. USA 7 ( 6 2001 and 1 2003 ) 2. France 5 ( 3 2001 and 2 2002 ) 2. GB 5 ( 5 2001 although 2 of these are December ) 4. Czech Rep 4 ( 3 2001 and 1 2002 ) 4. Brazil 4 ( 3 2001 and 1 2002 )
Jack is the currently the youngest in the top 10.
The 2 in the top 100 born in 2003 are : 81. Holger Vitus Nodskov Rune (DEN) - born 29/04/03 94. Toby Alex Kodat (USA) - born 13/01/03
Not much news at the top end of the boys, in the post-Wimbly week, all pretty much unchanged.
Lower down in the younger players, though, we have:
Toby Samuel (2002) +76 to JWR 466
Joel Pierleoni (2003) +26 to JWR 720
Harry Lazell (2003) +32 to JWR 914
Wil Jenkins (2004) +210 to JWR 1504
Haruki Omori Cowie (2002) - NEW IN at JWR 2264
So, the junior rankings will become more important next year in the new transition tour:
The ITF says:
"5) How will I progress through the different tournament levels?
Reserved places
A key principle behind the new structure is that success at one level is rewarded with opportunity at a higher level. This is achieved by the new structure offering reserved places in draws specifically for the best performers at the previous level.
Each ITF transition tour tournament (men and women) will reserve up to 5 places in the main draw for Top 100 Juniors. In the past, all juniors would start their professional careers in qualifying like all other players. Being a higher ranked Junior offered little benefit."
In a way, this seems to make sense, tying the two together and upping the value of the junior tournaments. Getting into the top 100 will have instant tangible benefits. But it also means there will be added stress on parents to get their kids to junior ITF tournaments.
So the majority of junior players transitioning, they will still be in the qualies.
Or not, luck of the draw & still the same old problem of travelling miles to even get an opportunity to prove themselves.
Oh yes, how many $15 do we have have in the U.K.?
Unless you are a funded (Dont get me started, another thread entirely) junior full time tour player, being in the top 100 is an unrealistic dream.
So whats the point of a junior ranking? As a very wise French coach ( Herself ex top 150) adviser my daughter- Dont waste too much time in juniors, go on the pro tour around 16.
Thats the journey shes starting on despite another almost 2 years of eligibility.
However, if we do win the lottery haha be that the real lottery one or get funding. (The odds are probably the same). She will probably stay on the $15 path, it seems to work for other Europeans, although due to proximity & amount of events, they have the traveling a tad easier.
In the boys top 100, Anton Mat is up 4. Just outside, Blu is closing in on the top 100 too (but has points coming off later this month).
06/08/18
BOYS
8 DRAPER, Jack 0 GBR 22 Dec 2001 25 1277.50 22 MCHUGH, Aidan 0 GBR 09 Jul 2000 23 996.25 ATP 950 42 MATUSEVICH, Anton +4 GBR 30 May 2001 35 746.25 ATP 1439 68 FEARNLEY, Jacob -2 GBR 15 Jul 2001 33 537.75 73 LOFFHAGEN, George -4 GBR 19 Apr 2001 22 517.50 ATP 889 92 WENDELKEN, Harry -2 GBR 18 Dec 2001 29 456.50
Blu Baker (2001) +22 to JWR 125 Oscar Weightman (2001) +98 to JWR 428 Derrick Chen (2003) +47 to JWR 718 Arran Trainor (2001) +118 to JWR 1104
Jack Draper will get his ATP ranking next week. Tad Maclean is ATP 1599 and JWR 1249.
Nothing of any note in the girls in juniors but two CHs in adults. Emma Rad is -1 to JWR 31, WTA +5 to 832. Fran is WTA +43 to 466. Sasha Hill also deserves note for making the final of the 15k in Dublin.
-- Edited by Coup Droit on Monday 6th of August 2018 12:41:46 PM