Week 42 - ITF (W15) Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt Hard

dodrade · Satellite level

Week 42 - ITF (W15) Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt Hard

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Ace Ventura wrote:
Martyna Kubka in R1 for Katie. 19 y/o, currently ranked 772. She did reach a Portugal W15 final recently (from qualifying) but lost 0-6 0-6 to Haddad Maia.

Another 19 year old for Freya, Tikhonova, who was the Q1 in qualifying. She's currently ranked 709.

Tikhonova was a top-20 junior a year or so back.... I see she's the clear favourite against Freya

the addict · Tennis legend

Freya loses 3 and 5.
Both sets were four breaks to three, which is a bit worrying.
Her serve doesn't seem to be so potent this year - only 16/45 points won on first serve, and 9/30 on second serve.

ROSAMUND · Futures level

Katie wins the 1st set 6-4.

ROSAMUND · Futures level

Katie broken serving for match at 5-4.

ROSAMUND · Futures level

Katie wins 6-4 7-6.

Peter too · Tennis legend

R1: BOULTER, Katie (GBR) 4 383/1476 def KUBKA, Martyna (POL) Q 772/357 6-4 7-6(3)
R1: CHRISTIE, Freya (GBR) 654/963 lost to TIKHONOVA, Anastasia (RUS) Q 709/467 3-6 5-7

R2: BOULTER, Katie (GBR) 4 383/1476 (CH=82/1431 2019) v KULAMBAYEVA, Zhibek (KAZ) 658/142 (CH=590/80 2019)

-- Edited by Peter too on Friday 23rd of October 2020 02:22:32 PM

the addict · Tennis legend

Nice to see Katie winning. Just a tiny step on the road back up the rankings, but the single point will be welcome, especially as she only had 11 counters before this week.

cya · Strong Club Player

Are there still WTA ranking points at the W15 events?
Was wondering why Katie is playing the W15 instead of say a W25, but I suppose she has been out injured for a while so maybe wants some match practice and to ease herself in before she starts playing at the higher level events; so maybe getting ranking points is not the priority for now?

Ace Ventura · Tennis legend

I'm not sure if she would have even got into Reims W25 qualifying without using her PR cya, if she did, she would have only just sneaked in. I thought it might have been an admin error her being in Sharm at first, but there'll be some logic opening up against circa 700 players, and theres a few events in a row there if she were to lose early, plus she has her good mate Freya there as well.

I thought she might have used a PR to get into the back to back hard courts events W80s in the US, but it has been a while, so hopefully she can get a little bit of momentum these next couple of weeks and look to use the PR in the early parts of next year.

There are points at stake, but it is pretty sparse. 10 for a W, 6 for RU, 4 for SF, 2 for QF, and 1 for her solitary win thus far. I guess if she did enter and sneak into Reims, she'd have had to have won 2 matches against 200-300 players just for 1 point.

Ace Ventura · Tennis legend

I have a bit less hope now that she'll switch, but still do keep an odd eye out for Garlands results, and she has just put out the 5th seed.

cya · Strong Club Player

Ace Ventura wrote:
I'm not sure if she would have even got into Reims W25 qualifying without using her PR cya, if she did, she would have only just sneaked in. I thought it might have been an admin error her being in Sharm at first, but there'll be some logic opening up against circa 700 players, and theres a few events in a row there if she were to lose early, plus she has her good mate Freya there as well.

I thought she might have used a PR to get into the back to back hard courts events W80s in the US, but it has been a while, so hopefully she can get a little bit of momentum these next couple of weeks and look to use the PR in the early parts of next year.

There are points at stake, but it is pretty sparse. 10 for a W, 6 for RU, 4 for SF, 2 for QF, and 1 for her solitary win thus far. I guess if she did enter and sneak into Reims, she'd have had to have won 2 matches against 200-300 players just for 1 point.

Thanks Ace!

cya · Strong Club Player

Ace Ventura wrote:
I have a bit less hope now that she'll switch, but still do keep an odd eye out for Garlands results, and she has just put out the 5th seed.

Unless there is any obvious benefit for her, I don't see her switching. She's probably more comfortable doing her own thing without the prying eyes and scrutiny of the British media ; or without being restricted by the LTA bureaucracy

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

cya wrote:
Ace Ventura wrote:
I have a bit less hope now that she'll switch, but still do keep an odd eye out for Garlands results, and she has just put out the 5th seed.
Unless there is any obvious benefit for her, I don't see her switching. She's probably more comfortable doing her own thing without the prying eyes and scrutiny of the British media ; or without being restricted by the LTA bureaucracy

The obvious benefit, presumably, would be to get MD WCs into Wimbledon and other UK events - singles, doubles, etc.

It's very lucrative and difficult to see how that can be replicated by Chinese Taipei

I think there's still a decent chance, Ace, maybe when she's about 22 or so - it often seems to me that (just like Jan Choinski, say, or Naiktha Bains) it's around that age that often the career seems to have stagnated a little, finances are running a bit thin and a boost is needed - which is exactly what the LTA offer.

So, yes, I keep an eye on her too. And also Evan Furness. You never know....

-- Edited by Coup Droit on Wednesday 21st of October 2020 03:41:21 PM

Ace Ventura · Tennis legend

cya wrote:
Ace Ventura wrote:
I have a bit less hope now that she'll switch, but still do keep an odd eye out for Garlands results, and she has just put out the 5th seed.
Unless there is any obvious benefit for her, I don't see her switching. She's probably more comfortable doing her own thing without the prying eyes and scrutiny of the British media ; or without being restricted by the LTA bureaucracy

The main benefit would be the grass court WCs, but if she is confident of getting where she wants to go without potential assistance/short cuts then another reason to stick with the status quo and carry on. I did kind of think it was inevitable about a year ago for some reason, possibly influenced by her not being part of the Taiwan Fed Cup squad (and subsequently tied up) when they selected a 15 year old as part of their team, and playing a lot of events over here, but having a quick look at her Instagram she does seem proud of Taiwan and has spent the majority of the Covid period over there, so I would be more shocked now if did switch.

I guess the next (Taiwan) Fed Cup squad could be a clue, whenever that is. If it was Feb/April and she still wasn't in despite approaching her 20th birthday then I might be more optimistic, especially as that would be a good time to switch like Naiktha did last year with the summer months approaching.