I wonder if, to give it a little more intrigue, they could have gone for 3 groups of 4 with the winners and best runner up going into semis. And then play offs for 5-8 overall and 9-12...I am never sure 2 getting through of 3 in each group leaves as much jeopardy as I like...

Presumably in the QF's the group winners will play group runners in some form of bracket they will pull together - not sure if the initial groups where seeded and whether it would Winner A v RU B, RU D v Winner C, Winner D v RU C and Winner B v RU A type stuff or a more random draw?

I think Abigail got it wrong at the end, and Emma needed to win in straight sets to pass Jasmine. The tables have been updated on the site, and Jasmine is in 2nd place, so Emma, Holly, Danielle, and Nadia in the the 'consolation' round robin.

I am kind of slowly moving away from the British scene a bit, and obviously the likes of Emily, Eliz and Freya are pretty prominent here, will usually either win individual weeks, get to the final, semi final etc. and when you see their respective subsequent ITF results, especially the lowest W15 level, and particularly some of the scores, it does kind of put me off this tournament, but that said, I think I do prefer this new format - 2 matches in 3 days, so a rest day for everyone, and thus probably less likely to see alts entering to change the level of playing field, the matches generally feel more important, relatively, as there is less margin for error.

A few tweaks here and there wouldn't harm, such as the winner stays on in groups matches - e.g. Holly lost her first match to Sonay, so it really should have been Sonay vs Millie B in the next match, not Millie vs Holly, as with Holly losing again, Sonay and Millie had both qualified before their final group match, and it was just placings at stake, whereas if the winner stayed on, the third match would always be 'live'.

I think the field was better this week - you do have those aforementioned prominent players who will bring a certain level, and familiarity, but a lot of teens as well, which always makes things more interesting - perhaps the new format helps them get more younger players involved, so that they are not playing so many matches?

The QF line up looks decent, and probably my preferred final 8, once the groups were drawn. Jasmine vs Millie about to get underway on the main court now, so will be interesting to see how that one goes. The lack of scoreboard for large periods is a bit annoying though.

With Freya, Emily, Eliz and Holly named first in the initial pool tables you would think that they were the expected semi-finalists. But the competition this week is much closer and only Emily and Eliz topped their groups. Freya - well anything can happen with her game being up and down. Holly didn't look like the college player from earlier in the year, but at least she beat Dani today - still got to improve her performance if she is going to try and play ITF's in the near future. It'll be intersting to see how Freya gets on against Emily this afternoon.

The next group of girls have really stepped it up this week. Joanne is in a tight battle with Millie, and Sonay has beaten Eliz (although a 6-0 second set might suggest that Eliz is carrying an injury).

Holly was a sizeable pre match underdog in both of her losses though:

4.6 to beat Sonay:
www.tennisexplorer.com/match-detail/

3.95 to beat Millie:
www.tennisexplorer.com/match-detail/

Bet365 also had Eliz a 3.50 or 5/2 underdog against Sonay today:
www.tennisexplorer.com/match-detail/


I'm pleased Jasmine had taken that 2nd set there, having been 5-2 up in the first set, and had a couple of SPs - the longer the rally goes, the more you favour Millie. 3 SPs came and went in the 2nd set for her as well, and it looked like it might be repeating, but she's over the line now. 6-7 6-4 - tight match.

Interesting to see how this MTB goes. Good luck to both.

 

Edit - it wasn't very close, unlike the rest of the match. Millie winning it 10-2.

-- Edited by Ace Ventura on Thursday 15th of July 2021 12:47:57 PM

Jojo Bach is featuring on today's order of play. Scheduled to play Freya in a 5-8 playoff. The other 5-8 playoff match is Eliz v Anna Brogan and that match is on the order of play, so it's looking like Jojo is replacing Jasmine Conway

how do folks feel the new format is going - personally, although I can see benefits for the players, in terms of my engagement it is less engaging for sure; the 7 straight days of play, all 12 players playing worked much better, a bit relentless but it felt like it gave real pace and momentum to the event. The groups of 3 didnt really do much for me; the fact players then have a gap today between QF and SF stages doesn't really work also;

Anyway, it is what it is...!