Just to let you know, the polls are up for GB Player of the Month over in the general discussion section, if any followers of womens tennis would like to vote!

That really is fantastic money for the level. It's great that this sort of opportunity has been made available to the players.

Have you heard any inside info regarding WCs telstar, just in terms of whether they're likely to be (or even have to be) from those who have already played here? That Nick Lester mentioned SGH a few times when discussing Emma Rad during her match with Naomi (I think), and you can imagine with her connections, if she wanted to play she'd be in with a good shout, if they didn't have to have previously played.

Ace Ventura wrote:

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That really is fantastic money for the level. It's great that this sort of opportunity has been made available to the players.

Have you heard any inside info regarding WCs telstar, just in terms of whether they're likely to be (or even have to be) from those who have already played here? That Nick Lester mentioned SGH a few times when discussing Emma Rad during her match with Naomi (I think), and you can imagine with her connections, if she wanted to play she'd be in with a good shout, if they didn't have to have previously played.

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 Its the organizer's prerogative but I would much prefer the WC is given to a player who's battled week in week out over the past few weeks at this event.  Getting enough points to qualify for the Classic week is probably the reason some of the players aren't taking this week off when they obviously should have (albeit, that's not the case with Naomi though who has already qualified).

However, the organizers would probably want a well known name like Emma, Katie Swan, Heather etc to attract viewers - which was similar to what happened in the Women's Progress Tours' Tiebreak Tens  a few weeks ago  when a player that had pulled out of the Progress Tour main draw was able to feature in the TieBreak Tens during the week.

cya wrote:

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Ace Ventura wrote:

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That really is fantastic money for the level. It's great that this sort of opportunity has been made available to the players.

Have you heard any inside info regarding WCs telstar, just in terms of whether they're likely to be (or even have to be) from those who have already played here? That Nick Lester mentioned SGH a few times when discussing Emma Rad during her match with Naomi (I think), and you can imagine with her connections, if she wanted to play she'd be in with a good shout, if they didn't have to have previously played.

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 Its the organizer's prerogative but I would much prefer the WC is given to a player who's battled week in week out over the past few weeks at this event.  Getting enough points to qualify for the Classic week is probably the reason some of the players aren't taking this week off when they obviously should have (albeit, that's not the case with Naomi though who has already qualified).

However, the organizers would probably want a well known name like Emma, Katie Swan, Heather etc to attract viewers - which was similar to what happened in the Women's Progress Tours' Tiebreak Tens  a few weeks ago  when a player that had pulled out of the Progress Tour main draw was able to feature in the TieBreak Tens during the week.

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Yeah, I'll be interesting to see how they go, especially if there are no formal rules/guidelines.

Looking at those who have played here that have not yet qualified:

Arbuthnott 15
Gillan 10, Lumsden, Bissett 10
Staff 8,
Barnett 7, Amos 7.
Daley 6,Morton 6
Dissanayake 5, Deigman 5. Richardson 5
Mpukusa 4, Rajecki 4,
Russell 3, Adeshina 3
Stuart 2, Miller 2
Taylor 1, Verden Anderson 1

I don't really think there are too many that massively stand out. Nadia would have been a prime example - could do with the cash, played week in, week out, capable of getting a result as she has already beaten Eliz and Emily Ap who will be in the Classic week, and Emily Arb who may be a WC contender, but then Nadia is pretty much 99% certain to be there anyway.

Emily Arb would be decent because she's played here 2 weeks, and has reached a final. Millie and Alice have both played twice, and done about the same, results-wise. Millie might bring a bit more interest because of her age and relative potential (plus she has beaten Alice 3 times here). Holly has a decent chance to get to the SF this week, and if she can do that, to back up her 5th place finish from her first time here, then she could/should be in a shout.

Maia and Lissy have both played just the once, would improve the final line up on paper, although Lissy would have finished 4th out of 6 in her group if the players weren't all bumped up a spot because of Eden's withdrawal (after 3 wins), plus she obviously won the TBT's very generous windfall - so would you really want to prioritise her over an interest generator like Emma, with all that in mind? I don't think anyone else not mentioned would be that worthy unless a random player went on a shock run to the final this week, but didn't quite get the W to secure their spot themselves.

Including Emma or a Katie (B/S) would attract more interest as you say (I assume Heather would be in the US), but it might also make the event more intriguing as a competition, because while it's obviously by no means certain, Jodie would be a fairly big favourite as it stands, without that potential external involvement. I'd be tempted to go for 2 who have played here at least twice, and then one bigger outside name for interest / increased competition.

 

Assuming it's just 12 players, and not 13 in the Classic, I'd assume it would be 10 qualifying outright, and then 2 WCs. They have updated their tables and have confirmed the 4 group winners along with Emily Ap, Beth, and Eliz as players who have qualified, and then have the next 3 of Freya, Nadia, and Emily Arb:

www.ukproseries.com/livestreamsweek4 (tables at the bottom)

So from that, it looks pretty likely that 10 will qualify by right, and if so, Freya and Nadia would now have secured their place and Emily Arb would be next in line. Even at this early stage, this weeks Group A looks like it'll be 2 from Naomi, Nadia and Eliz to make the SF (all of whom will have qualified), and in Group B, Emily Ap (qualified) is looking very well placed, and likely to be joined by one of Holly/Vic/Erin in the SFs - so it's basically one of those 3 who can deny Emily Arb an outright spot. Vic would need to win the title, Erin would need 3rd place to tie, or make the final to pass Emily Arb, while Holly would need an overall 5th place finish to pass her, and a 6th place to tie - that's probably the most likely of those 3 scenarios.

I've heard that wildcards will go to Heather and Harriet.

Personally, I'd prefer the wild cards not to go to the higher ranked players who haven't appeared in the tournament yet. Whilst Heather, Harriet, Katie B etc would add to the interest, the difference in level between them and those who have qualified would ruin the tournament and lead to far to many one-sided matches. Heather won all her singles matches at BOB, and although she had to work hard for a while in some of them, there was never any doubt that she would win them all.

My own preference would give the wild cards to someone like Lissey or Maia who have played at SGH for a week or two, but not gained enough points to qualify. Thes two in particular would be competitive in the classic week whereas any one lower down the rankings probably would do well to pick up the occasional set.