R1: APPLETON, Emily (GBR) 7 509 lost to OZEKI, Michika (JPN) 572 3-6 3-6 

Emily's doubles play also continues to produce better results than her singles as she and Ayumi Miyamoto topple the third seeds in their first round match 6-3 7-5

TomTraubert wrote:

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2018 appletons improved over 200 places singles rank won her first singles titles added another & loads doubles titles
still people just all negative about her and lay into her all the time
i dont get it why is she so hated???
no one else get such a bad rap in a upward year its reel wierd

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She's not hated - of course she's not - is this the sort of board that EVER hates any British player ???  (Or anybody really......)

And, yes, she's had a good year, two titles is super, and that's been mentioned.

The misgivings are that she's played a very large number of tournaments, all over the world, and has had a real problem getting any wins against any decently ranked players i.e. 500/600 or so and better (in fact, I don't think she has any). She's also played nine 25ks (I think) this year and not got a single win. It's slightly concerning - it's rather like Indy's point - you expect youngsters to be inconsistent but you want to see signs of the potential i.e. flashes of brilliance, if you will. Now, of course, you can also do very well just by being very solid, that's another approach too, but even then you would expect to 'out-solid' some good player, somewhere along the line in the year. (Having turned down a very good US college offer obviously also means a few questions are asked).  

We all wish Emily luck and good fortune, but she is under a lot of pressure from her Sky scholarship. She has been globe trotting the world this year in a search for cheap points, playing in an inordinate number of tournaments too as a result. Her first target was to win a 15k tournament, which she finally did twice, and then to break into the world top 500. In the latter search she went to Korea to play a series of 15ks, won the first, lost in the SF of the second, then effectively got overwhelmed by fatigue/ injury and lost in the first round of the next and went home, withdrawing from the fourth in which she was also entered. As a result she also narrowly failed to make it into the top 500, and losing in the first round of 3 25ks since then, she has still failed to make it, despite erroneously claiming in the last blog she wrote for sky sports that she had.

Emily's career best win is just 414, and as CD notes she has consistently failed to beat players around her ranking throughout this year, her upwards movement being based on the volume of matches she's played against weaker opponents.

She is just 19 still and so may well be able to consolidate and make the next step upwards next year in terms of starting to beat better players. We all hope so certainly. However, having decided to turn down a good college offer in the US, it would be helpful for her to have less insistent pressure on her performances, which clearly Emily feels she has on her through this sky scholarship. As I started I wish her well, but it would benefit her if she could find a way to reduce this constant sense of expectation.

All the very best to Emily.

I have thought at times that the coverage of Emily, including from myself, has tended quite a lot to the negative. However, the questioning of the questioning ( as said most certainly not anything like hating, c'mon! ) has just brought lucid further explanation of that questioning. It's been an "upward year", but anything less at this stage would have been very disappointing and I am sure it has not been as upward as she would have wished.

Another player over whom the "but she's improving" vs "but how much is she relatively improving" discussion was held a year or two ago was Ali Collins ( previously bracketed along with Fran Jones ) and since then even improving has been questionable as she has not been seen much. Now Emily is clearly now at a fair bit higher level, but relative improvement at her stage is a question here too and at least worthy of some concern. And the comments regarding both have been mostly made out of concern. 

Hope she can get some good work done in the close season ( assuming she gives herself a reasonably long close season! ) and that she and the people around her carefully consider various things going forward ( as no doubt they will ), in particular her schedule.

-- Edited by indiana on Wednesday 10th of October 2018 04:20:12 PM

Of course it should be caveated on occasion or we just become a cheer squad for any rises.

We can be ( and are ) supportive while being more than that.

So I don't say criticise those questioning our cheering 14 yo Mukhtar Andu's ranking point. But disagree on that one.

-- Edited by indiana on Wednesday 10th of October 2018 10:13:34 PM

its also not as though she cant go to university in the end she just wont get the posible scholarship her grades and intelligense are high enough - people tell me - that shell for sure get offers from good schools even if its in a few years and sport doesnt come off for her
her family are well setled and fixed financially tho so may have desided they can take that hit and pay for the studies themselves
thats there decishun fair dos