Young British Tennis players in transition: Top 20 ATP/WTA Tennis players by age

Strongbow · All-time great

RE: Young British Tennis players in transition: Top 20 ATP/WTA Tennis players by age

Oakland2002 · All-time great

Ha! You will have to expand on that statement. Is that trolling or an opinion and why so?

How progression measured against your contemporaries be anything other than a valid marker of transition, admittedly the comparison at not yet 18 for men is weak as there generally isnt much data but when combined with junior rank it gives you a good idea of where players are in transition. It is valid for the women as the top juniors start to transition at 15-16.

Rank gives a baseline of aggregate performance over 12 months against the tour, futures to ATP depending on progression. Featuring in two or more cohorts when not yet 22 or younger is a potential marker of an elite performer during the peak years of their career.

Some age cohorts are weaker than others ie. you could predict the big hole in terms of relative achievement of the 90-94 cohorts, they should be close to dominating tennis as the golden generation manage the wounds inflicted from more than a decade of hand to hand combat in which a strongbow would be redundant.

Be gone to the BBC Tennis web page the land of Castles (and Rusedski) for the hard core facts and figures this thread is about the beauty of detail and what might be which is probably not for you.

It does however clearly show Finn has made some progress although I need to look back and see how his present rank compares historically, Jay although ranked higher as a junior showed the same sort of incremental growth in his development. I think thats pretty exciting but time will tell.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

I realise it's not quite in keeping with the title but if you are doing tennisabstract's top-20 tables, then a little shout out for Emily W-S who is 16th in the world in the 'at least 33' table.

Oakland2002 · All-time great

Yes Emily definitely deserves some credit, indeed the longer she stays there the more credit she deserves as it is at least 33 and she is already having to fight off 85ers dripping in above her so she may have peaked true veteran status beckons.

I was really looking to stick to development, hence the start of the juniors playing senior tennis and in particularly over time keeping an eye on how the Power Conference US College players drip in as increasingly there appear to be stronger male players in particular choosing the college option, Axel Geller being an example. Cam was very courageous to go that way I know there was a lot of thought that went into it and a certain amount of serendipity in terms of the fit. Just general interest really and fun to follow.

-- Edited by Oakland2002 on Thursday 2nd of August 2018 08:45:46 AM

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Yes, the 'oldie' side was only a tiny detour

The development side is very interesting. Duarte Vale v Finn Bass, on the other thread, is an interesting look at two players of the same age, with the far better junior choosing to go the college way.

I wouldn't call Cam's decision 'very courageous' though - he hated NTC and it seems to me that taking the option that guarantees (or almost) a decent degree AND excellent tennis coaching and facilities is the safe choice - I think Emily Appleton and Jodie's decisions were 'very courageous' - throwing it all up in the wind.

Oakland2002 · All-time great

You could take another view. I think the excellent tennis coaching was serendipitous, the TCU team were a great fit for Cam and yes you get coaching which may or may not be great needs to be a good blend like we may be seeing at South Carolina, but coaches get fired, the new one doesnt like you etc.... the degrees are a bit variable, doing a tougher degree and maximising your tennis is challenging and requires excellent time management. Jodie and Emily can always go back and study should Tennis not work out. Although I think college would have been a good fit for both.