Tara and EWS will be our reps in Kofu this week. Both have reasonably favourable q draws. Tara plays the 6th seed first up and Emily the 9th seed, then winners play each other... Uchijima is probably the greater threat, but Tara should be able to give both a good go as she seems to have been playing a bit better of late.
QR1: Tara MOORE (GBR) 478 vs Xiaodi YOU (CHN) [q6] 348 (CH:295 July 18)
QR1: Emily WEBLEY-SMITH (GBR) 496 vs Moyuka UCHIJIMA (JPN) [q9] 371 (CH:357 Jan 19) 17yrs (JCH:83 Aug 18)
Sam missed out on getting into the qualifying. This two tier system is really cruel to anyone who was out injured for a significant part of last year, you can't get back and you see what points you have steadily disappearing. It looks as if anyone in that situation is condemned to playing 15Ks for several months.
It really is a problem with this new system that good wins in W25 qualifiers with the strong fields they've been having are not rewarded with even a single point. It is making it so much harder for players to get back on the WTA ladder or even retain the points they have. Today Emily is the victim. A very good win over the 9th q seed in the first round of qualifying, and then loses to the 6th seed, who unfortunately Tara lost to in a relatively close first round match. Tara's loss to the same player was by far the closer result. Oh well, back to the doubles again for these two. Tara's had two losses in the final in the last two weeks.
QR1: Tara MOORE (GBR) 478 lost to Xiaodi YOU (CHN) [q6] 348 (CH:295 July 18) 4-6 5-7
QR1: Emily WEBLEY-SMITH (GBR) 496 beat Moyuka UCHIJIMA (JPN) [q9] 371 (CH:357 Jan 19) 17yrs (JCH:83 Aug 18) 4-6 6-3 10-5
FQR: Emily WEBLEY-SMITH (GBR) 496 lost to Xiaodi YOU (CHN) [q6] 348 (CH:295 July 18) 1-6 2-6
The MDs are out now too. In the singles we now have no rep this week. For the doubles, Tara is playing with Emina Bektas (USA) again and Emily is playing with Rebecca Marino (CAN). Both play against Japanese WC pairs in the first round.
Indeed very good win for Emily but yes the 25K QR1 win, the win in women's tennis that isn't recognised on any rankings scale
Tara has had 3-4 of these wins this year, and several have been very good scalps... Yes, it's tough! With just 2 q rounds, they could easily have adjusted the points to give 1 pt for a QR1 win and two points for a FQR win. They didn't even need to adjust the MD points. 1 pt for a first round loss for non qualifiers and 5 pts for a first round win would still be ok.
Two good doubles wins for our players this morning against the Japanese WC pairs. EWS and Rebecca Marino have won 6-1 6-2 and Tara and Emina Bektas 6-0 6-1.
In the QF EWS + may play the Chinese 2nd seeds but will only know tomorrow, and Tara and Emina will play the Chinese 4th seeds. Winners of those two matches will meet in the SF.
There will be no further progress in the doubles however this week as both our pairs have lost in the QF. Emina and Tara have lost to the 4th seeds on a MTB 4-6 6-3 7-10, so will not make the final for the 3rd week in a row.
EWS and Rebecca Marino have also lost to the 2nd seeds 1-6 4-6. Both the 2nd and 4th seeds were Chinese pairs.
There will be no further progress in the doubles however this week as both our pairs have lost in the QF. Emina and Tara have lost to the 4th seeds on a MTB 4-6 6-3 7-10, so will not make the final for the 3rd week in a row.
EWS and Rebecca Marino have also lost to the 2nd seeds 1-6 4-6. Both the 2nd and 4th seeds were Chinese pairs.
