indiana wrote:

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Away to Japan 

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 Well that's a long trip, huge time zone difference, and whilst Japan don't have any outstanding players, they have strength in depth and doubles combinations that play together. It will be a tough match, every rubber will be competitive... and GB will have to perform extremely well to get past them. It's the second worst outcome, the worst would have been Latvia away (assuming Latvia's two best players play). 

At least it won't be on clay, and it would appear evenly matched. Given the tour is in North America just before with the two big events in Indian Wells and miami, then charleston and monterrey, perhaps the right move is to stay in the USA and head West to Japan before coming home? Might work better schedule wise for jo and Heather?

On rankings Jo should win but the Japanese should win the doubles so it could come down to whether Heather gets the win.

Could have been worse I suppose, at least it isn't Latvia !

Sorry for the delay, here we go :

Got there on the Saturday, and saw a couple of practice sessions leading up to the 1st match, the venue is a 15 minute taxi ride from the centre of Tallinn, so it's an expensive trip back and forth, so catching a couple of practice sessions suffices, given it's not easy to chat to the players and support staff either, given the court layout at the tennis centre.

Player by player :

Hev : Always a very key component to the team, even if her form, isn't quite as good as it was at it's peak. A very slow starter in every match, accentuated by the fact her opponents tended to raise their games making it a bit of a nervy start. But once she found her straps, she just got stronger and stronger, especially evident against Galfi, who was gasping for air after each long rally in the playoff match. I hope Hev can rediscover her brilliant best on a more consistent basis going forward. She told me she's taking a mini break before playing Acapulco and Indian Wells.

JoKo : Last year when Jo played she'd had a tough/but brilliant Oz swing and she was a bit fatigued, this year though being much fresher you felt she had a point to prove, and the level of intensity she showed point to point was very evident, relentless, even against Anett when she should really have won the 1st set, she just kept up the relentless assault and it times finding another gear, and it was Anett who looked shattered physically by the end of the match. That was easily the best/high quality match at the tennis centre all week.

Katie : she was clearly loving every moment of being there, and her tennis was of the highest order, I've not watched her live when she's been at her best before, but she's a real talent, watched her practice and she has such natural timing on the FH and BH side, that I'll be shocked if she doesn't break into the top 100 at some stage during her career. her doubles with Anna against Portugal was exhibition stuff at times, and she can certainly hold her own on the doubles court.

Anna : Haven't watched Anna play doubles much in the last 18 months, and didn't know what to expect, but she also played exceptionally well, very clear that she's improved, and fully deserves her top 50 status, fewer doubles, and her net play was sublime at times. I asked her how many games she'd lost in her 1st two matches and she said 4, but that it was 4 too many, great attitude !

The crowds were pretty sparse all week, which I find surprising, but with no Kanepi who apparently wanted a 100,000 euros appearance fee, maybe not too surprising, however it was packed out on Friday for our match against Estonia. We had 26 GB supporters sat opposite the GB bench and even if I say so myself we really got stuck into the chanting. There was one guy trying to rouse the crowd chanting Eesti from one side of the court, but exercising the limits of our vocal chords I think we mostly mitigated the advantage that guy tried to give the home players.
Again the LTA provided a complimentary drinks and food slot before the final playoff match, where we got to chat to some of the team and Martyn Corry/ David Brotherton, also the free lager helped I think to increase the level of noise we put out for the match against Hungary.
You'd have to say the support staff seems to be getting bigger and bigger, which really highlights the extent to which we are desperate to become a World Group regular. Having said that the Latvian team were also fully loaded in that respect and in years gone by, they've often just had 3 team members and one captain.

Nice to see Joss invited to come a be part of the coaching/hitting team, she really loves FedCup, and she was a key part of the GB cheerleading squad, coming up with alot of the songlists for the chants. It wasn't easy coordinating the chanting being on opposite sides of the court, but I think we did a good job overall.

Got my annual selfie with the team, cheers for that Hev !

Thanks Phil!

What were Hev's reasons for taking a break? With only 6 weeks into the season, taking a break is a slightly strange decision (I guess it depends how "mini" we're talking).

I'm not really sure what to make of Heather's mindset now. It's clear she enjoys the competition and works hard on her fitness but I'm not convinced she has the ambition and ruthless drive to make top 20 or have a big run at the slams - to me, she seems like she's coasting. I wish she'd really back herself and take on a stable, experienced and proven coach. Maybe add a mental coach to help her be a little more aggressive. Perhaps I'm being a little harsh - but at 25 and her tennis being what it's been the past 2-3 years, I really think it's time she took and chance and placed a big bet on herself. Time to shake things up, Hev.

Thanks for the write-up Phil, really appreciated. It was a shame that the GB supporters were in the one section of the stands that was rarely shown on the stream - but you were certainly heard, and even the Estonian crowd couldn't match the support !

-- Edited by the addict on Wednesday 14th of February 2018 07:09:33 AM