Graeme Dyce. One for the future??

VSandhi20 · Futures qualifying

Graeme Dyce. One for the future??

Sheddie · administrator

Graeme definately seems a promising prospect, there are quite a few for British tennis at the moment with Daniel Cox and Daniel Evans also making good progress. Hopefully he might be given a wildcard for the upcoming clay-court futures tournament in Edinburgh at the beginning of May [the Scottish Open].

Last year Graeme won two ITF junior events and reached the quarters of the National U18 championships [for GB].

Graeme played a couple of futures qualifying events last year, losing to Jim May and Simon Harston. The 1st set of his match against Harston was very close, Harston just edged it 7-4 in the tiebreak.

Graeme favours outdoor hard courts and is coached by Leon Smith

Graeme has had some good results in grade 2 junior events so far this year. He reached the quarters of the Copa Milo Cup on clay in Chile in Feb and the semis of the Condor de la Plata tournament in Bolivia on clay in Feb.

-- Edited by UltimateSlabbaFan at 10:09, 2006-04-19

-- Edited by UltimateSlabbaFan at 10:09, 2006-04-19

Sheddie · administrator

Graeme Dyce earns scholarship to Bollitteri academy. I thought that he'd already been there full-time but apparently he's only been at the academy for short spells as a paying student but the academy have been impressed with him and so have offered a scholarship. Graeme's next tournaments will be next week's Italian junior Open followed by French Open juniors qualifying.

From the Scotsman:
http://sport.scotsman.com/tennis.cfm?id=681092006

GRAEME Dyce, the 16-year-old from Edinburgh, will take up a scholarship at Nick Bollettieri's tennis academy in Florida next month, by which time he hopes to be close to breaking into the top 100 on the world junior rankings.

The award is worth around £40,000, and will pay for the young Scot's tuition and living expenses from June until next May. He has already spent short spells at the academy as a paying student, and impressed the staff so much that the scholarship offer was made.

"Nick's very keen on that streetfighter, work-until-you-drop kind of attitude," said Dyce, recalling Bollettieri's praise for Andy Murray. The veteran American offered to help out in coaching the British No1, whom he praised for his combative attitude.

While Bollettieri is one of the great names of tennis coaching, he has always resisted being part of the establishment. Dyce's peers in Florida are mainly kids from eastern Europe with the drive to succeed, rather than comfortably off Americans from the sort of background usually associated with tennis.

And in any case, it is not only his tenacious on-court attitude that connects Dyce with Murray. The Edinburgh player is coached by Andy's mother, Judy, who has taken an interest in his development since his earliest years in the game.

Dyce has found that a lot is now expected of him, and not just because of the Murray connection. Where once being a Scottish tennis player may almost have sounded like a contradiction in terms, or at least provoked the odd bemused look from people he had just met, Dyce now finds that simply because of his nationality he is expected to be pretty useful.

"Seeing Andy being successful gives you a bit more belief that you can do it coming from Scotland," he explained. "People now expect you to be good when they hear you're Scottish."

As is the case with almost all 16-year-olds, it is too early yet to make any firm predictions of just how good Dyce can become. Although he is rangy and powerful for his age, Judy Murray has explained to him that he still has a lot of growing up to do physically, and he is aware that he needs to tighten up aspects of his game if he is to make a successful transition from junior to senior tennis.

"There are some shots that you can get away with as a junior that won't do on the senior tour," he explained. "I need more power and more accuracy - more depth on my shots, in particular."

He was briefly up to No100 earlier in the year, but a slight injury ruled him out of action for several weeks and forced him down the rankings. His attempt to start climbing again begins next week at the Italian Open, then he will try to qualify for the French Open before possibly competing at Junior Wimbledon too.

However, even with two years remaining in the junior ranks, he already has his projected move up to the seniors mapped out in some detail. "I've not played many senior events so far," he said. "But after the US Junior Open this year I'll try to play in a few more tournaments. Then next year I'll really start hammering on the door of the seniors."

Niall · Pro player

If anyone was wondering why Graeme Dyce wasn't with the rest of the gang in Felixstowe it is because he has been competeing for the Scottish Junior International Championship this week in Edinburgh. As the home town favourite he has cruised through the first for rounds for the loss of just 11 games.

Today's final is a Scotland vs England encounter as Graeme faces Lewis Barnes of Biemingham.

Boys draw: http://downloads.lta.org.uk/webservices/TempResults/060710ScottishJunior/BS18.pdf

Another Scot, Caitlin Steel has flown the flag in the girls draw. Sadly she lost an extremely hard fought semi final 7-6 6-7 7-5 to the 2nd seed.

Girls draw: http://downloads.lta.org.uk/webservices/TempResults/060710ScottishJunior/GS18.pdf

Michael · Pro player

Will he get any junior points for this?

Niall · Pro player

Michael wrote:

Will he get any junior points for this?

Yes but it is a grade 5 event and Graeme won a grade 4 in the Netherlands Antilles this time last year so I expect him to drop 10 points if he wins today.

Daniel Cox has taken the British junior number 1 spot of Graeme after he went a round further at Wimbledon. That is disapointing for me as it has become the norm over the last few years for the top British junior to be a Scotsman, never mind we will have to make do with the senior British number one instead.

There is a grade 4 event in Winchester next week, it will be interesting to see what the entry is.

-- Edited by Niall at 15:10, 2006-07-15

Madeline · Admin:Moderator + Tennis Legend

Don't be greedy, Niall, let the rest of the British Isles have SOME decent players!

Niall · Pro player

Boys final

Lewis Barnes bt Graeme Dyce 3-6 6-2 6-4

A disapointing result for the hometown favourite but Lewis Barnes is decent prospest.

We did get a couple of Scottish winners this week Heather Elder and Joanna Henderson won the U14 girls doubles. You may remember Joanna Henderson from the Aberdeen Cup, she is only 12 and she looks to be a good prospect.

Sheddie · administrator

Graeme had a great tournament last week, he played the International Flower Bulb event in Holland on clay, a G4 event. He qualified and then went on to make the semis before losing to eventual runner-up, Holland's Michal Nevrela 6-4, 6-1.

Although he lost in rd2 of the European juniors this year, having to face the world junior no 21 was a tough draw and he did well to take it to 3 sets.

Niall · Pro player

Graeme moved up to senior level for GB F12 qualifying and he got a couple of career firsts. It was the first time he has won two consecutive matches at this level and the first time he has beaten a player with a world ranking.

qr1: Graeme Dyce bt Joshua Milton (ur) 5-7 7-5 6-4

qr2: Graeme Dyce bt Tim Bradshaw 3-6 6-4 6-4 (1551)

qr3: K.C. Corkery (1174) bt Graeme Dyce 6-1 6-3

Sheddie · administrator

Since GB F12, Graeme has been in the USA. He trained for several weeks on the hard courts there in preparation for the US Open juniors qualifying. Unfortunately Graeme lost in the final round, a match he was expected to win on paper.

This week he's playing the Kentucky International, a grade 1 event in the States. He's reached rd3, with straights sets victories over Halver Dil [Holland] and the 8th seed and world no 44 from the USA. He faces the 12th seed in rd3.

Graeme has already got further than he has ever done before in a grade 1 event. It'll be great if he can make the quarters, that would give him a sackload of points, enough possibly to lift him into the top 100.

This is what Bollitieri says on Graeme:
“This boy’s a street fighter like Murray. I like him. He has a great attitude, he works hard, competes hard. He moves well. He’s an all-courter, he can do everything. We’re working on building him up physically and dev eloping some weapons around his serve and forehand. Then let’s see how far he can go.”

Sheddie · administrator

Some more info on Graeme Dyce:

An article written by Dyce's former coach:

Like Andy, Graeme has opted to pursue his tennis career at an overseas base after successfully completing eight Standard Grades at Stewart’s Melville College. Graeme made his first visit to the academy in October 2004 and a second in June last year.

I had coached Graeme since he was eight and it had been obvious to me after he won the British Under-15 title in August 2004 that, like Andy, he was going to run out of options in Scotland and would have to start looking for a much more competitive training environment if he was to fulfil his potential.

He spent some time at the Sanchez-Casal Academy in Barcelona, where Andy went, but opted for Bolletieri’s, partly because it was English-speaking, and mainly because of the track record, the number, and the var iety of sports. As a fairly self-conscious teenager, the upbeat atmosphere that goes with most things American was perfect to help bring him out of his shell.

“In my last year at school, it was a nightmare trying to piece together my tennis and physical programme,” Graeme says. “I was at school 8.30am to 4pm, then took a bus across town to the tennis centre then another to the gym. Then I would have a shower before getting the bus home for food and to do my homework. At Bolletieri’s everything I need is on site and there is a huge variety of quality hitting partners, which was impossible to find in Scotland.”

The site is a sprawling 300 acres tucked into Florida’s Gulf Coast and home of six sporting academies operated by IMG, the world’s largest athlete management and sports marketing company. When IMG bought the site from Bolletieri in 1987, it embraced just 22 acres and 200 tennis wannabes. Bolletieri, it is said, was compelled to sell because he was bleeding money due to his habit of bestowing scholarships on every hardship case with a killer forehand that walked through his door.

IMG recognised that, as a business, the facility could not survive on tennis alone and in 1993 they acquired the youth division of the renowned David Leadbetter Golf School. Then, in 1994, they started academies in soccer and baseball, followed by hockey and basketball in 2000 and 2001 respectively. What was an overgrown tomato patch when Bolletieri first broke ground in 1979, is now a veritable athletic paradise.

Graeme is just one of about 600 boys and girls chasing their dream at the world’s most comprehensive playground for athletes in training. In add ition to the 39 hard courts (four are indoor), 16 Har-Tru clay courts and one red clay court, there is a state of the art 10,000 square feet strength training centre known as the IPI (International Performance Institute), comp lete with sports medicine department.

A mental conditioning suite, which includes Game On Media, a company that trains elite athletes in interpersonal communication, is situated close to the Strategy Zone – a “theatre of learning”, which offers tactical instruction and high-tech video analysis.

The Pendelton School offers on-site education for the younger players, while the older students can study languages via a franchise with the University of Miami. There is a health centre, a multi-sport pro shop, two swimming pools, a computer learning lab and dormitory housing, plus the obvious bonus of rubbing shoulders with the likes of Michael Jordan, Maria Sharapova and Paula Creamer.

On a typical day, Graeme will wake at 7.20am, rush a shower, then jump on the 7.40 shuttle bus to the academy and have breakfast before starting on court at 8.15. “I’ll drill until about 10, then go to the gym till 11.30,” he says. “Then I’ll shower, lunch, hang out with my friends and start the afternoon matchplay session around 2pm. After that we will do a bit more fitness, shower, have dinner in the junior canteen and take the bus back.”

The food, he says, is pretty good. “It’s all healthy stuff and can get a bit samey, so I’ve started being a bit more creative with what I take. It’s buffet style – thanks to the basketballers – so you can eat as much as you want.”

After dinner, he takes the bus back to the room he shares with an English basketballer at the Academy’s off-site accommodation block. “The room’s quite nice. It’s like a basic hotel room with a fridge, TV and en-suite bathroom. The block is for the older students, so they have a little more freedom rather than being on campus but it’s only five minutes away.”

There are 280 tennis players at the academy and Graeme is fortunate to be one of around 12 who are in the “Top Gun” elite group which includes his best friend and doubles partner Bradley Cox from America, Russian Pavel Chekov and Kai Mishikori from Japan.

Being in the elite group has taught Graeme that there is no room for complacency. “What I like about the training is that I am being pushed all the time,” he says. “At home I wasn’t hitting with such good players and it was relatively easy for me to be dominating the play.

“This group are able to deal with my shots better and I’m having to work much harder to create chances in the rallies. My concentration has improved, so has my intensity and my footwork. In fact, I think everything has gone a level up.”

His coach, David “Red” Ayme, agrees. “We spent the first couple of months getting him in good physical shape and in the last two months he’s really been building some momentum, making quarters and semis of big ITF events in South America,” he says.

At the same time, Ayme has targeted what he sees as Graeme’s weaker points in order to make sure the youngster can hold his own at the highest level.

“We are making a couple of little adjustments on serve and forehand and trying to get him to play closer to the baseline so he can attack more.”

Ayme has spent most of the past 12 years working on the men’s Tour with Tommy Haas and is well qualified to oversee the young Scot’s transition from junior to senior tennis.

“The plan for the summer is to focus on the junior ITFs and get his ranking up to 50-60 so he can get directly into the junior Slams. After the US Open, his competitive schedule will focus on the major junior events and the men’s Futures circuit.”

Graeme hopes to remain at the academy for the next training year but much will depend on acquiring the necessary finance to cover the considerable costs. A place on the full-time tennis programme from September to May will cost $41,600 to cover board, lodging and coaching. Add-ons, including competition costs, massage, physio, re-strings and extra individual sessions, could run to another $20,000.

Funding from Sportscotland, the LTA and a small scholarship from the academy provides about a third of the total package but the shortfall has to be made up by his parents.

“When I first came out in November, I was put in one of the lower groups and I’ve worked really hard to prove myself,” Graeme says. “I’m starting to get the results so I hope that will persuade the powers that be to back me a bit more.”

-- Edited by UltimateFlemingFan at 10:41, 2006-09-13

andyjmr · Intermediate Club Player

I see that after about 6 months out with injuries he got to the final of the Kentucky junior derby a couple of weeks ago, and is back at british no.1 at 18-and-under level. it would be interesting to know what his plans are for turning pro.

Sheddie · administrator

I think he'll turn pro next year when he's 18. Most of the British players wait until then before officially turning pro though like Andy Murray and Alex Bogdanovic, the most promising juniors have already played lots of senior tournaments.

I think Dyce is currently training in preparation for the futures in Edinburgh in a couple of weeks time. He might be playing in Jersey aswell, next week

Salmon · Tennis legend

Yeah, it looks like Dyce is in Britain.

Evans withdrew from the G4 he was supposed to play in Denmark! So he should be playing in the Futures on indoors unless he is injured.

We should get to know if he is injured or not by looking at the draw sheet for next week's Tropicana British Tour event which will be held at Wrexham. I hope that he isn't injured, he is brilliant on fast surfaces.

-- Edited by Greenleaf at 02:54, 2006-10-02