I know Jo is British and is our best player by far My comment was more to reflect the lack of our players in the womens top 150.  

I guess Rosamund was primarily just highlighting the lack of British players doing relatively well at the moment, and pointing out that the only one who is, had nothing to do with GB until 14, even though she is completely accepted as a British player, and rightly so. With the lack of current top 100 juniors, perhaps that will still be the way forward short term and hoping other promising young players who have lived here a fairly lengthy time, like Bolkvadze, also switch their allegiances, although Brexit might eventually put a dent into that.

It is pretty grim that a country with such sporting pedigree, a population of 66m, and the host of the most famous and prestigious tennis competition in the world, has such limited talent on the WTA scene.

At a WTA Premiier  event it was good that one was able to enjoy all Britains leading man Kyle Edmund's matches on Centre Court. Pity the same did not apply to our leadiing lady Jo..

Some fair points there Indy and a bit of optimism is never a bad thing, although my general outlook is a lot bleaker.

Having 13 players in the top 360 is probably as good as it has been for a while and that will bring a lot of enthusiasm, encouragement (and forum activity) on here, a niche group, who will also mostly be encouraged if say a 24/25 year old makes an unexpected W15 quarter final, but on the grand scheme of things, or the sharp end, it is pretty irrelevant. Even higher up, you're not going to see 'Katy Dunne makes Granby W25 SF' (a relatively good achievement) on the bottom of the screen of SSN or a BBC Sport headline, nor will it be featured on somewhere like TalkSport, whereas someone getting to the QF of somewhere like WTA Monterrey or Tashkent might, but that seems a long way away for anyone bar Konta at the moment.

Katie B was looking like that person, but has obviously had a big set back and will need to regroup with a much lower ranking, playing lower scale events, and that's part of the problem - the lack of top end players. If an equivalent Czech forum lost say Muchova to a lengthy injury (exactly same age as KB, and recently crashed the top 100), it wouldn't have such an impact (unless you were a direct individual fan of hers), because they'd have Kvitova, Strycova, Pliskova v 2, Siniakova, Vondrousova all in the top 100, whereas if we temporarily lose a better player, the outcome is so much bleaker. Czech isn't the best example as they have dominated for such a long time, but Ukraine have got 3 in the top 66, Belarus 3 in top 40 and another just outside top 100, and then follow European sporting powerhouses (generally) like Spain, France, Russia, Germany etc. can all boast at least 4 or 5 in the top 100. I'd far rather have 4 or 5 in the top 100 and very little after that, than 13 in the top 350, and major doubts over if any of them can establish themselves at the higher end, other than simply a passing visit.

Of the current group of those currently outside the top 150 race, Katie B, Katie S and Harriet generally seem those who most are pinning their hopes on to push on, certainly in terms of the start of season predictions, and Jodie's big game and rise had got her more into the conversation, before another set back, but Katie B and Harriet are 23 in a months time, that's not particularly young, especially when you consider where the likes of Heather and Laura were at that age.

www.openerarankings.com/WTAHome

There's 61 players aged 23 or less currently ranked higher than Harriet, most of those have been established top 100 players for years, and with the amount of talented 16-19 year old's coming through (which we obviously massively lack) and either already established themselves or coming on very nicely, it is going to make it so much harder for the likes of Harriet to ever be a mainstay of the top 100, and most of those don't get multiple WCs into WTA internationals, Premiers, or a free shot at Christina McHale for an extra 60 points either.

The fact that Wimbledon could only hand out 2 WCs to Brits tells it's own story. 4 British women involved at Wimbledon is the joint lowest for more than 20 years. Granted at least one, probably 2, would have been given WCs (or one might not have been needed in KBs case) if not for injuries, but when you consider there were 8 in the main draw last year, it's disappointing that rankings wise, bar Konta, not one has pushed on in the 12 month period since last Wimbledon and they are all a year older. There might be a little * next to Boulter, and it's very unfortunate, but then that's also the same for the likes of Laura Robson. Hopefully Katie can put all her injuries behind her and get back to where she was, but she'll likely have lost another year of her career if / when she does get back to where she was around the time of Acapulco.

This should have probably been saved for next week as Heather, Katie S and Harriet all have a genuine chance of adding 60 points (or defending them in Swan's case) and a few collective wins and the general picture will look a bit brighter, but going forward (shorter and longer term), I still genuinely think it's hard to see many of that crop being regulars in the top 100, where more widespread interest will lie, although naturally I hope I'm wrong.

I would see myself as somewhere in the middle of both of you. I share Indy's feelings about having a broader number in the top 400 and am not so pessimistic as Ace. However this time last year I would never have believed we would only have 1 in the top 100 today, and just 4 in the top 200. I do hope those that have been injured this year can regroup and return - Katie B, Gabi, and to degrees Harriet and Katie S (and Katy D further down).

I am also concerned about the lack of new players coming through. We're still waiting on Emma R, who was there last year too, but has now finished exams. Beyond her though, apart from Mandy C's comeback, we have no-one new this year. The fiasco with the transition tour has no doubt helped to screw things up, but we have no new players with potential (sorry Chloe) entering the rankings, and although there seem some juniors with potential, it isn't clear that we have that batch of likely high risers beyond our current players that Ace alludes too.

For the women this grass season has certainly been a damp squib so far, with Jodie getting injured right at the start, Jo, Harriet and Katie S hardly playing so far, and Sam ending up being the highlight, though of greater cheer if she'd actually qualified. However, with the season so short agree it is all about timing, and hope to see some better health and results over the coming hard court season. If we start to have a group moving back towards the top 100 again, and beyond that a few more signs of who might join Emma R as next gen players, then I'll be a lot happier. I will note in that there is absolutely no thanks to the LTA for not putting on a single tournament that helps us see better who that next gen might look like!! (Giving people like Holly Fischer and Holly Staff a QWC into a W100 is not what I call a chance!).

So, in short, I think we are much better off than we were 2 years back, but I'm still not wholly sure whether we can expect to be up or down on where we are now in another two years!

Sorry Indy, by 'niche group' I was meaning a niche group as in the people of this forum following the progress of these 150-350 ranked women, rather than the more widespread sporting fan. Like I'd imagine the average casual football/sports fan would be aware of Heather Watson (even if largely derogatory now) and Laura Robson, whereas very few, if any, will have heard of Gabi Taylor or Katie Dunne, or Tara Moore (to add someone of a similar age), because they are primarily operating at a lower, less relevant, level.

I guess my main difference is that I have only really been a proper avid tennis fan for about 3 or 4 years, and I would now consider it ahead of football as my favourite sport. I've always watched Wimbledon and then my interest would normally extend to the US Open, especially when it was on Sky Sports, but after that, fizzle out until the French, where I'd dip in and out, and continue cycle. I certainly wasn't interested in the ITF scene, so my perspective will be a bit different to most on here who will have seen the landscape for years and years and thus form a different (possibly more positive) general opinion.

I'm not expecting a bunch of British Anisimova's, Andreescu's, Yastremska's etc. to emerge as that is pretty unrealistic, but I'd be happy with just a few more like say Rebecca Peterson who will generally float between 60-100, enough to secure direct entry in to all the slams, where they might win one or two matches each year, and maybe reach a WTA QF / SF here and there to preserve their ranking, but also have a proper career and remain a bit more relevant to the sporting world, and be widely available to watch on BT (or Amazon), and feature in various news outlets, rather than simply catching an occasional poor quality, windy stream if we're lucky. I just feel you kind of do need to be fairly established by 22/23 in the top 100 if you are going to be a mainstay there, because while there are examples like Siegemund, Buzarnescu, or even Konta, getting there relatively late, they really are few and fair between. I don't really see Maia or Naiktha ever threatening the top 100 (probably not even top 150), and Katie S is just getting a bit left behind by a lot of her contemporaries, although her personal issues certainly won't have helped.

I guess nobody really knows how each individual career will pan out, or the trajectories of the group, and it will of course be interesting (as tennis fans) to follow their careers even if they don't reach the top 100 (which isn't the be all and end all), and if some do meet people's high expectations, and others surprise a few (like Harriet did with her initial rise from 300-150 12-18 months ago) then all the better, but it is just a shame the general lack of progress of the group since last Wimbledon, where they all are a year older now, one or two notable exceptions aside.