Well at least Jo was in good company in Brisbane because Barty, Sharapova, Stephens, Svitolina and Kerber all failed to win a match between them. No doubt their "A" games will appear at the Australian Open. Or will it be an Australian Open final between Collins and Brady. Re Jo and the knee problem which has been going on for a year is it possible that  it is wear and tear for playing a fairly physical game over a long time and it is a problem that is not going to get any better?  A bit  like car mileage so to speak.

JonH comes home wrote:

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Given we live in a highly politicised world, if we looked after ourselves as GB (seems that is a la mode) then the ideal would be that we do a deal and get a WC for each of Aus, Fra, US slams (and maybe a 2nd for qualies). 

In return, the Wimbledon wild cards become

1. Aus WC

2. Fra WC

3. US WC

4. Junior Champion from previous year

5. player from warm up events

6. GB player

7. GB player

8. GB player

If 4 or 5 get in as of right, then give another GB player the place.

Getting in 3 GB players in mens and womens but a) using them and b) making them fight for 3 spots is worthwhile . the rest can give qualies a go, albeit give all 8 QWC's to Brits. 

Getting a GB player into each of the other slams is very worthwhile, maybe even commit that all 3 slams will be a different player to avoid one player getting the windfall of their life. 

I suspect the issue back in the day was that GB men (and maybe women) werent actually strong enough to justify the overseas slams giving them a spot?  

 

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 The worst period for having no female players in the overseas Grand Slams was between 1995 and 2008. There were 42 overseas  Grand Slams in this period and there were only 9 slams where we had a representative. Clare Wood, Sam Smith , Julie Pullin(who qualified ) and Elena Baltacha(twice) all played in Australia. Elena was recipient of the WC arrangements. Sam Smith in 1999 was our only representative in the French. Sam Smith(twice) and Anne Keothavong  played in the US Championships. The 2009 US Championships was the last championships we had no representative so at least things have improved in the last decade. 

HarryGem wrote:

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Michael D wrote:

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ROSAMUND wrote:

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Well at least Jo was in good company in Brisbane because Barty, Sharapova, Stephens, Svitolina and Kerber all failed to win a match between them. No doubt their "A" games will appear at the Australian Open. Or will it be an Australian Open final between Collins and Brady. Re Jo and the knee problem which has been going on for a year is it possible that  it is wear and tear for playing a fairly physical game over a long time and it is a problem that is not going to get any better?  A bit  like car mileage so to speak.

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Yes for Jo it is a knee cartilage issue as I understand it. Unless you can afford a long rest, which Jo can't you either have to manage it or operate on it... but it's not the kind of thing that you want to operate on if you can avoid, and that would mean some time out for her if that was to happen.. 

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 Well it will depend upon which part of the knee is affected. A torn meniscus would normally take between 3 weeks and 2 months to heal. If surgery is required then full functioning capability can take up to 6 months to return though as Jo is young and fit it is possible her recovery time might be shorter. If her trouble is cartilage I'm surprised she isn't wearing some type of compression bandages around the knee. If she continues to play on it frankly it is unlikely to repair itself. She's already had around 3 months rest which doesn't seem to have cleared it up. If her condition has been aggravated by just 2 hours on court then it is hard to see her managing to play much this season. Let's hope the withdrawal from Adelaide is merely precautionary.

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 I've read in the papers about it being "tendinitis " and also she's had a problem since Brisbane 2019.  Has it been published anywhere  about a knee cartilage issue? Jo  was not strapped  up in a way that Alexandrova was in her match in Shenzen. If you look at some of Jo's recent gym activities it doesn't  look like a rest for her knee to be honest. You just  wonder that she doesn't  injure herself further.  There must  also be an element of playing on hard courts over the years taking its toll.

Status Quo wrote:

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Wut???
Amarni Banks has a WC into WTA Adelaide qualis???
It's a moce oppotunity ffor her, nut I always recoil from otherwise inexplicable things that seem like some back-room special treatment.
Anyway, she plays WR 70, Kasatkina: former top 10 player, currently slumping badly. And good luck to her for what would still be a seismic upset.

Ms. Noulter draws Bernarda Pera WR 65, the sort of player that has quietly maximised her assets to enjoy a decent and profitable stint in the top 100; the like of which several of our prospects could hope to emulate - a good player, though not a world-beater that has fulfilled their potential rather than languishing in midhundreds mediocrity.

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 Pera is the player that had a 2-1 win record over Jo  in  2018. That included    as a qualifier beating  Jo in the 2nd round of the  Australian Open.

Andreescu withdrawn

Michael D wrote:

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ROSAMUND wrote:

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Well at least Jo was in good company in Brisbane because Barty, Sharapova, Stephens, Svitolina and Kerber all failed to win a match between them. No doubt their "A" games will appear at the Australian Open. Or will it be an Australian Open final between Collins and Brady. Re Jo and the knee problem which has been going on for a year is it possible that  it is wear and tear for playing a fairly physical game over a long time and it is a problem that is not going to get any better?  A bit  like car mileage so to speak.

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Yes for Jo it is a knee cartilage issue as I understand it. Unless you can afford a long rest, which Jo can't you either have to manage it or operate on it... but it's not the kind of thing that you want to operate on if you can avoid, and that would mean some time out for her if that was to happen.. 

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 I've had a look back at the comments made by Jo as reported by our press on 20th December.  Jo admitted she was dealing with an overuse issue -either tendinitis or one its close relatives. After  the US Open she had more tests done and then decided to rehabilitate. Reading into it she still has problems now and to be honest the future may not look  all that bright..