JonH comes home wrote:

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the addict wrote:

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I'm not certain if it could become a new elite tier. Something will need to change to liven it up as the level of the entrants is steadily getting lower. Josh Parish is the highest ranked man at 1096, and, apart from Beth, the highest ranked woman is Katie S at 878. It was much more competitive at the beginning.

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 Basically all the decent entrants are off playing for ranking points and inevitably are less interested in this event. Suspect

 

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Lambda wrote:

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JonH comes home wrote:

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the addict wrote:

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I'm not certain if it could become a new elite tier. Something will need to change to liven it up as the level of the entrants is steadily getting lower. Josh Parish is the highest ranked man at 1096, and, apart from Beth, the highest ranked woman is Katie S at 878. It was much more competitive at the beginning.

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 Basically all the decent entrants are off playing for ranking points and inevitably are less interested in this event. Suspect

 

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Eliz is ranked higher than Stresnakova.

I think I'm right in saying other countries attract higher ranked players to their money tournaments so why doesn't it work here?

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 I'm guilty of quoting the UK Pro website rather than the official rankings. Should know better - that website has always been a bit inaccurate.

Coup Droit wrote:

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telstar wrote:

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Lambda wrote:

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JonH comes home wrote:

 

the addict wrote:

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I'm not certain if it could become a new elite tier. Something will need to change to liven it up as the level of the entrants is steadily getting lower. Josh Parish is the highest ranked man at 1096, and, apart from Beth, the highest ranked woman is Katie S at 878. It was much more competitive at the beginning.

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 Basically all the decent entrants are off playing for ranking points and inevitably are less interested in this event. Suspect

 

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Eliz is ranked higher than Stresnakova.

I think I'm right in saying other countries attract higher ranked players to their money tournaments so why doesn't it work here?

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 And Elena Malygina is ranked higher than Eliz

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 I actually thought the women's draw was really pretty strong this time - a top 300 player (Beth), a top 400 player (Malygina), a top 550 player (Eliz), and various other ranked players (Stresnakova, Dani...)

I thought that was pretty high.....

As to Lambda's point about other countries, I can only comment on France and yes the top money tournaments have a lot of ranked players - but that's (a) because France has SO many French ranked players - there are 27 in the top 500 and (more importantly maybe) there are 28 in the 500-1000 bracket (compared with 15 in top 500 for UK and 15 in the next 501-1000 bracket) so a lot is just domestic entries, (b) a lot of foreign player have connections to clubs or areas due to team tennis so, I feel, are more likely to go there, and (c) the UK Pro league is very new, unlike some of the French money tournaments for instance, so the French ones are very much in the calendar of some players and coaches   

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 Tradition is an important thing, particularly if the event has identity. UKPL doesnt have that yet, and naming events week 1; 2 etc wont give it any. Whereas the Hyeres Open or Le Lavandou Classic allows

more of a long term profile to build up with players, press and maybe fans as well. 

the womens may be strong but I thought

the idea was a British pro league , yet many of the places are going to overseas players now - which is fine but not what I believe was originally intended !

Coup Droit wrote:

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All money tournaments abroad are open to all nationalities

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 I presume the UKPL is currently invitation entry ? With just 8 places per event ? Or maybe there

is an entry process behind the scenes?

the UKPL of course has a league ranking and masters event at year end -

does France link its events via a points table? 

Coup Droit wrote:

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No, I don't think the is UK Pro League invitation only - why do you think it is? - I think you enter
And yes, the French have a circuit, that can lead to a Masters play off at the end of the year, or just extra prize money, entries etc, depending which circuit level you're talking about 

-- Edited by Coup Droit on Tuesday 30th of August 2022 07:03:40 AM

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 Thanks CD. I presumed with the limited 8 player field theyd invite the participants, at least in part- it was set up funded by betting money I recall, hence the big prizeMoney - at least in the early years- but it may be Im getting confused with Jamie Murrays Battle of the Brits series of events on the invitation process . Im sure I am! 

Coup Droit wrote:

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If you want an idea of how huge money tournaments are in France (and remember - they are nearly all open to everyone, me and you included - it's a progressive draw), here's a PdF of the calendar for the first half of the year:

https://www.fft.fr/sites/default/files/2022-04/FF21-011_COMPET_CNGT_Et%C3%A9_CalendrierA3%20au%2028%20avril.pdf

You can see there are absolutely tons - even if you just count the two-star and three-star (i.e. the events that pay over 5k in total), it's still quite a lot.

As said, all our players (as well as me and you) have the right to go and play. And if you've got a numbered French ranking (which some of our players do), they pay board and lodging too, I believe

-- Edited by Coup Droit on Tuesday 30th of August 2022 07:13:41 AM

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 Wow - and do they televise these events? I guess the British Tour is covering some of this ground in Britain, and then we have a very lose set of non British Tour events around the place , but no formal structure to those or decent money !