Fran was on the Poland 25K clay MD list so certainly had that as an option. She just withdrew from that on Friday.

It will be tough, but this is obviously a bit of a downtime month so chances can prevent themselves. A few decent names in that list, but if either did come through quals and drew some of those bottom end player on the main entry list (or the MDWCs) then they might have a chance (bar Tig), as Naiktha is (on paper at least) just 50/60 places behind some, and she's about 100 places ahead of her Q1 opponent. Naiktha could face Kawa in the FQR if they both came through Q1 - that's who Fran pushed close in Wimbledon quals.

These were the initial rankings when entry's closed 4 or 6 weeks ago. Ostapenko is now outside the top 80 in the live rankings (after her Wimbledon SF points fell off) and Rybakina will be ahead of her after her run to the Bucharest final - Ostapenko was ranked almost 100 places higher than her just a few weeks ago - crazy how it can sharp change.

 

Main draw
12 Sevastova, Anastasija (LAT)
28 Garcia, Caroline (FRA)
36 Sasnovich, Aliaksandra (BLR)
37 Ostapenko, Jelena (LAT)
38 Siniakova, Katerina (CZE)
56 Maria, Tatjana (GER)
63 Gasparyan, Margarita (RUS)
74 Potapova, Anastasia (RUS)
77 Cirstea, Sorana (ROU)
97 Pera, Bernarda (USA)
110 Jakupovic, Dalila (SLO)
113 Pliskova, Kristyna (CZE)
120 Bonaventure, Ysaline (BEL)
132 Bogdan, Ana (ROU)
134 Rybakina, Elena (KAZ)
145 Kalinina, Anhelina (UKR)
152 Flink, Varvara (RUS)
155 Kucova, Kristina (SVK)
157 Tig, Patricia Maria (ROU) SR
162 Han, Xinyun (CHN)
165 Bara, Irina (ROU)
168 Paquet, Chloe (FRA)

Quals
160 Haas, Barbara (AUT)
183 Ormaechea, Paula (ARG)
209 Eraydin, Basak (TUR)
217 Shinikova, Isabella (BUL)
225 Bains, Naiktha (GBR)
231 Kawa, Katarzyna (POL)
248 Grabher, Julia (AUT)
250 Stojanovic, Nina (SRB)
251 Ivakhnenko, Valentyna (RUS)
260 Benoit, Marie (BEL)
266 Tan, Harmony (FRA)
294 Eikeri, Ulrikke (NOR)
301 Jones, Francesca (GBR)
305 Melnikova, Marina (RUS)
311 Radanovic, Dejana (SRB)
346 Danilina, Anna (KAZ)
350 Gamiz, Andrea (VEN)
495 Vismane, Daniela (LAT)
514 Amanmuradova, Akgul (UZB)
670 Jebavy, Jasmin (GER)


They will both do well to qualify, and Fran has a hard task in Q1 as Haas is in a bit of form, but this would be as good a time as any to try a WTA event as it's not too much stronger than Surbiton W100, bar 2 or 3 at the top end, and the quals list is a bit like a typical European W25 list.

-- Edited by Ace Ventura on Sunday 21st of July 2019 12:43:52 AM

Ace Ventura wrote:

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It's nice to see them giving it a go. 12 points for a potential Q1 win for Naiktha (a net gain of 7) could see her into USO quals, and if she managed the full 18 (net of 13) by qualifying, then that would pretty much seal it.

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Naiktha has a 12 point counter dropping off so a win would only maintain her current points. She needs 2 wins to gain points. If she can maintain her ranking at or above last year's cutoff of 235 then she stands a good chance of making US Open qualifying after withdrawals and wild cards. Only twice in the last 10 years has there been a higher final cut off - 233 (2009) and 229 (2015). The average (mean and median) final cutoff for the last 10 years is 240.

-- Edited by RedSquirrel on Sunday 21st of July 2019 03:40:46 AM

Naiktha's match has started. She is seeded 7 in qualifying and if things go according to ranking should get through.

However this is tennis .........

Naiktha just broke for *4-3. She needs to up her first serve % though. It's down to 48%.

Strongbow wrote:

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Don't know what the options were this week - but not a bad draw for Naiktha Both really 25k players so you can see them struggling - but you have to try

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 You write that Naiktha is really a 25k player but at the moment this is good enough to be ranked the 5th best British player in the world rankings.   A bit bleak.