Yes, thanks indeed Jon, it was fun to follow and yielded a much better analysis of our grass season than we would normally get!
Congrats to Harriet and Katie B for their tied singles win - but yes, my award to the GB player of the grass court season would certainly go to Harriet, considering she is still out there winning on Centre Court! She's been fun to watch and (with Jay) a real breath of fresh air.
I know I am a couple of months too soon (it is a quiet work day!) but I thought I would run this again this year and track the GB players over the grass season.
I had three questions in terms of how I do it -
1) Last season I counted wins in main draws only, not qualies, of grass court events at Slam/ATP/WTA and at Challenger/WTA equivalent (ITF125?) level. I propose to do the same again as qualies in challengers are now 4 players only but it is also simpler to track main draw wins
2) Last season I counted wins in singles and mens and womens doubles (Harriet Dart and Katie Boulter won the singles event, Neal Skupski won the doubles) - but not mixed. Again, I dont plan to include mixed this year either
3) Finally, last season I counted wins in GB events only so didnt include the European events like Halle, Rosmalen, Antalya, Stuttgart, or Newport RI. As it happens, I am not sure any British players in fact played in those non GB events, but I wasnt sure if I should give Brits credit and include them if they do play and manage a win? My instinct is to keep it British events only , it also allows us to compare year on year much more easily.
Anyone got any strong thoughts or advise, welcomed. Obviously it will be late May before I start running it again.
Just to wet the appetite, the past 4 years results have been:
2015 - Andy Murray 10, Jo Konta 6, Josh Milton 5 (anyone know what has Milton does these days, it isnt so long since he had that great set of grass wins in Challenger events)
2016 - Andy Murray 12, Jo Konta 6, Dan Evans 4
2017 - Jo Konta 13, Heather Watson 10, Naomi Broady 5 (only 2 years since the women dominated on grass, great to see it again!)
2018 - Harriet Dart and Katie Boulter 8 wins, Dan Evans 7 wins
2018 Doubles - Neal Skupski 12, Joe Salisbury 11, Ken Skupski 10.
Yes, I'd keep 1) and 2) the same. Re 3) if any Brits had wins in non British grass tournaments during the British grass season I'd be tempted to include. But no strong opinion on that.
Yes, I'd keep 1) and 2) the same. Re 3) if any Brits had wins in non British grass tournaments during the British grass season I'd be tempted to include. But no strong opinion on that.
thanks Indi - to be fair looking back over the past 3 years I couldnt see any wins by a Brit male or female in a non GB event, so I think I will include them as a) it doesnt impact comparing like with like year on year as the past years effectively dont change for non Brit events b) a Brit winning overseas clearly deserves the kudos!
But it probably wont matter, unless perhaps one of the doubles players gets into an overseas event, unlikely to be a singles player I feel
Yes I do recall the occasional doubles player winning matches overseas on the grass - Anna Smith and Dom Inglot being two. it's possible there may be one or two more men this year.
I think if it's the grass court season a win is a win regardless of the country (though I would end at Wimbledon so not include any further events that may be held on grass). But would think it unlikely there will be many wins outside the UK.
I know they don't count but it's not a poll to see who does the 'best' (because then you'd have to weight Wimbledon higher than Surbiton, for instance, and you'd basically just count WTA/ATP points).
It's who wins the most matches, who makes the biggest impact - and tons of people watch Wimbly's mixed doubles, and followed Jay and Harriet, and their wins counted for a lot, in terms of GB enthusiasm etc.
So, just me, but if you're going for including dubs in the first place, I'd go the whole hog and spread the lurve and include mixed.
I know they don't count but it's not a poll to see who does the 'best' (because then you'd have to weight Wimbledon higher than Surbiton, for instance, and you'd basically just count WTA/ATP points).
It's who wins the most matches, who makes the biggest impact - and tons of people watch Wimbly's mixed doubles, and followed Jay and Harriet, and their wins counted for a lot, in terms of GB enthusiasm etc.
So, just me, but if you're going for including dubs in the first place, I'd go the whole hog and spread the lurve and include mixed.
Is that loosely translated to 'keep it single's only Jon lad'?
I agree though, I'd also include mixed doubles in that scenario.
Good feedback - if people recall from a year or so ago, it was singles only and then I started up a doubles only tally as well, which is what I plan to do this season. Ie I will do one list for singles only (men and women) and one for doubles only (and given that mixed at Wimbledon is the only mixed event anyway, then I may as well include that in the tally, it probably does make sense).
So - 1) Singles only, main draw GB and Non GB events (assuming that not many non GB events will end up counting, if any)
2) Doubles only - mens, womens and mixed, GB and Non GB and incl Wimbledon mixed.
And Wimbledon will be the close, the Masters Finals so to speak ! Done
-- Edited by JonH on Wednesday 27th of March 2019 01:52:37 PM
I know they don't count but it's not a poll to see who does the 'best' (because then you'd have to weight Wimbledon higher than Surbiton, for instance, and you'd basically just count WTA/ATP points).
It's who wins the most matches, who makes the biggest impact - and tons of people watch Wimbly's mixed doubles, and followed Jay and Harriet, and their wins counted for a lot, in terms of GB enthusiasm etc.
So, just me, but if you're going for including dubs in the first place, I'd go the whole hog and spread the lurve and include mixed.
Is that loosely translated to 'keep it single's only Jon lad'?
I agree though, I'd also include mixed doubles in that scenario.
I thought I got that one under the radar
PS Actually, I quite like the mixed bag, Jon.
It gives it more unpredictables which makes it fun.
-- Edited by Coup Droit on Wednesday 27th of March 2019 01:56:16 PM
I know they don't count but it's not a poll to see who does the 'best' (because then you'd have to weight Wimbledon higher than Surbiton, for instance, and you'd basically just count WTA/ATP points).
It's who wins the most matches, who makes the biggest impact - and tons of people watch Wimbly's mixed doubles, and followed Jay and Harriet, and their wins counted for a lot, in terms of GB enthusiasm etc.
So, just me, but if you're going for including dubs in the first place, I'd go the whole hog and spread the lurve and include mixed.
Is that loosely translated to 'keep it single's only Jon lad'?
I agree though, I'd also include mixed doubles in that scenario.
I thought I got that one under the radar
PS Actually, I quite like the mixed bag, Jon.
It gives it more unpredictables which makes it fun.
-- Edited by Coup Droit on Wednesday 27th of March 2019 01:56:16 PM
One big melting pot eh? That might be worth considering. A big like the indicative votes tonight, put em all in together and see what pops out?!
I will dwell on that as an idea, as you say it will make it much more interesting...at least I dont have a deadline of 12th April to focus my mind!