So, with Bolton cancelled, we have the month ended. Underwhelming though it may be, I think Indy said there will always be someone who is the best player of the month, although April could prove that wrong!
But in March we had enough to come up with a list!
And here is the list - i will post a poll shortly and leave it up until Thursday evening, lets see who becomes March player of the month in this strangest of all months.
Shortlist below
list in alphabetical surname order is:
Jake Hersey
George Houghton
Brydan Klein
Sam Murray-Sharan
Amelia Rajecki
I guess we wont see much action in this thread til June, with luck, or probably beyond. See you elsewhere!
Well it seems this is prescient and june is when tennis of sorts will start. With the Schroders Best of British for men top 8, Barry Fulcher organising a womens Brits only event and 4 16 player m and f British Tour events through July, we should have enough to have a player of the month selection for june and July as a combined "month".
So as it progresses through the next 8 or 9 weeks, please post and nominate here!
So with this schedule of behind closed doors, Brits only events, it looks like a June/July Player of the Month Award/Poll will have some genuinely interesting competition to assess!
Return of elite tennis - confirmed events
23-28 June - Battle of the Brits (Men)
03-05 July - LTA British Tour (Women & Men)
10-12 July - LTA British Tour (Women & Men)
14-18 July - Progress Tour Championships (Women)
18-19 July - LTA British Tour (Women & Men)
24-26 July - LTA British Tour (Women & Men)
All events taking place at the LTA's National Tennis Centre in Roehampton as part of a co-ordinated plan in returning to elite competition for Britian's players.
With the "announcement" over a planned series of 5 weeks of events at St Georges Hill, Weybridge, with £250k over the period, the months of June, July, August before the main Tour plans to return looks quite interesting. Here is what it appears to look like:
Return of elite tennis - planned/confirmed events
23-28 June - Battle of the Brits (Men)
03-05 July - LTA British Tour (Women & Men)
w.c. 6th - SGH Weybridge event week 1 - 12 men and women
10-12 July - LTA British Tour (Women & Men)
w.c. 13th - SGH Weybridge event week 2 - 12 men and women ( I read somewhere that week 1 may be 12 players, weeks 2-4 would be 8 of those 12 each week so all 12 play 3 weeks from 4
14-18 July - Progress Tour Championships (Women)
18-19 July - LTA British Tour (Women & Men)
w.c. 20th - SGH Weybridge event week 3 - 12 men and women
24-26 July - LTA British Tour (Women & Men)
w.c. 27th July - SGH Weybridge event week 4 - 12 men and women
w.c. 3rd August - SGH Weybridge event week 5 - Classic Event (or effectively what appears to be a Masters week from the first 4. I imagine there will be some points system for the first 4 weeks and then week 5 will have maybe 4 or 6 men and women each in this final week event).
Clearly, still awaiting more information on the St George's Hill event, if Jamie D is organising it, I wonder if Andy M's management group is behind it in some way?
Emily Webley-Smith @ews24 · 16m British money tournaments are like buses. You wait 20 years for one to come and then three come at once.....
Yes totally agree with Emily. In one week in July the 20 plus full time British women players will have 3 events to choose from-all within 20 miles of each other. The Progress tour event seemed to get a strong entry immediately. Why put one week of the new SGH event up against it? LTA's organisational powers seem distinctly limited!
Emily Webley-Smith @ews24 · 16m British money tournaments are like buses. You wait 20 years for one to come and then three come at once.....
Yes totally agree with Emily. In one week in July the 20 plus full time British women players will have 3 events to choose from-all within 20 miles of each other. The Progress tour event seemed to get a strong entry immediately. Why put one week of the new SGH event up against it? LTA's organisational powers seem distinctly limited!
it does seem there is no co-ordination with Jamie Murray, Barry Fulcher, Jamie Delgado and LTA British Tour all seeming to be acting alone. Certainly the Jamie Delgado plans seem to be developed in isolation from The Progress Tour ones, I suspect there was better co-ordination between the two Jamies given they have Andy as a close link between them. But the womens seems a little more at odds...
Just a reminder that this weeks play counts towards the player of the month award. As the Tour itslef
The current schedule appears to still be, so these events will be the ones that count towards the British Player of Month for June/July
Return of elite tennis - planned/confirmed events
23-28 June - Battle of the Brits (Men)
03-05 July - LTA British Tour (Women & Men)
w.c. 6th - SGH Weybridge event week 1 - 12 men and women
10-12 July - LTA British Tour (Women & Men)
w.c. 13th - SGH Weybridge event week 2 - 12 men and women ( I read somewhere that week 1 may be 12 players, weeks 2-4 would be 8 of those 12 each week so all 12 play 3 weeks from 4
14-18 July - Progress Tour Championships (Women)
18-19 July - LTA British Tour (Women & Men)
w.c. 20th - SGH Weybridge event week 3 - 12 men and women
24-26 July - LTA British Tour (Women & Men)
w.c. 27th July - SGH Weybridge event week 4 - 12 men and women
The SGH Weybridge Classic Finals week will fall into August, the same week as Palermo (and according to WTA site, San Jose is planned for that week, with other events such as ATP Washington planned to start in August)