Week 31 - WTA Premier ($876k) - San Jose, USA - Hard

ROSAMUND · Futures level

RE: Week 31 - WTA Premier ($876k) - San Jose, USA - Hard

indiana · Tennis legend

ROSAMUND wrote:
Based on 29th July WTA rankings and the Porsche Race which reflects 2019 performances only , Harriet Dart is our 2nd best player. Perhaps surprisingly Maia Lumsden is our 4th best player.

Yes, bit surprising re Maia ( race postion 227 with just Jo (#8), Harriet and Heather in the the top 200 ). Though the race starts in November so her 184 points include 51 Shrewsbury 25K title points won last November. So overall in the race she is a bit ahead of Jodie, Naiktha and Katie Swan.

ROSAMUND · Futures level

Status Quo wrote:
ROSAMUND wrote:
The other player not mentioned and in the what might have been categories is Laura Robson. Had she not had her wrist problem after Wimbledon 2013 she might well have matched or bettered Jo's career. Imagine if they had been successful at the same time! The what might have been and never will I'm afraid.
As a supposedly leading, or aspiring to be leading, tennis nation, we should have more than enough depth of talent to not miss any single player.
Perhaps the understudy might not quite scale the missing players absolute heights, but they should certainly be capable of carrying out, say, a WTA career.
I think we should have at LEAST half a dozen players that week-in-week-out >90% of the time they play a tour event, it should be a WTA tour event - not a $125K but an International or above, and only starting that event in in qualifying at Premier 5 or above.
And that is at a very minimum.
At Wimbledon 2016 Tara Moore won a match. Since then only Jo, Naomi Broady, Heather, Katie Boulter and Harriet Dart i.e. 5 players have won a singles match on the WTA tour. It was pointed out by blob on the Fed Cup 2018 posting that since 1991 only on the 16th July 2012 for 1 week did we ever have 4 female players ranked in the top 100. I think our only hope is for an Andy Murray equivalent to appear in the womens game.

Ace Ventura · Tennis legend

It's certainly nothing to brag about, and your point still stands, but Maia did technically win a WTA match at Nottingham a couple of months ago, even though it was against 481 Tara, and moved indoors with balls flying around from other close by courts, so could have easily been Glasgow W25. Also Katie S won a match at Wimbledon last year if Tara is included and not specifically the 'WTA tour', but yeah, few and far between.

-- Edited by Ace Ventura on Saturday 3rd of August 2019 10:14:07 PM

ROSAMUND · Futures level

Ace Ventura wrote:
It's certainly nothing to brag about, and your point still stands, but Maia did technically win a WTA match at Nottingham a couple of months ago, even though it was against 481 Tara, and moved indoors with balls flying around from other close by courts, so could have easily been Glasgow W25. Also Katie S won a match at Wimbledon last year if Tara is included and not specifically the 'WTA tour', but yeah, few and far between.
Yes I had forgotten about Katie's win at Wimbledon in 2018.

-- Edited by Ace Ventura on Saturday 3rd of August 2019 10:14:07 PM

indiana · Tennis legend

ROSAMUND wrote:
..........
At Wimbledon 2016 Tara Moore won a match. Since then only Jo, Naomi Broady, Heather, Katie Boulter and Harriet Dart i.e. 5 players have won a singles match on the WTA tour. It was pointed out by blob on the Fed Cup 2018 posting that since 1991 only on the 16th July 2012 for 1 week did we ever have 4 female players ranked in the top 100. I think our only hope is for an Andy Murray equivalent to appear in the womens game.

Interesting stat that re just 1 week since 1991 that we have had 4 women in the top 100.

We only have Jo just now but do folk see it as pretty impossible that that could be achieved again in the next few years?

Personally I don't predict it as such but I do think that it is quite possible with the players around at the moment. And for more than a week.

eg. Jo, Katie B, Harriet and either Heather or Katie S

-- Edited by indiana on Saturday 3rd of August 2019 11:58:15 PM

Ace Ventura · Tennis legend

Wow. Watson's opponent Zheng has well and truly put her losing streak behind her this week and she's gone on to reach the final. In the past 12 months her biggest win was #38 in a home WTA event last September, she's beat that 3 times this week.

Plays either Sabalenka or Vekic in the final tomorrow.

Ace Ventura · Tennis legend

And of course, after that earlier over-ranked spiel, Zheng will go on to win the title. Played well tonight, beat Sabalenka 6-3 7-6 and was the better player throughout. Fair play to her.

-- Edited by Ace Ventura on Monday 5th of August 2019 12:57:49 AM