A bit like in Succession and the Presidential race in the final series, it is fair to say I have called a number of the races for ranking top spots, and hopefully in my case - not too early!! There are a couple which are still open and not ready to be called, just yet!!

Mens singles - Cam has this tied up and there is no more action taking place to influence it

Womens singles - similarly, Katie B has this one sewn up.

Junior boys - Henry Searle is home and dry in this.

Wheelchair singles - Alfie Hewett, Lucy Shuker and Andy Lapthorne have these all done and dusted

The ones that are still open to debate are:

Womens doubles - the one that matters!! - Maia is in the lead, but it is close at the top and depends on whether she or Heather actually play again in the final 2 weeks of the counting period - no visibility on this but until I see Heather isnt playing again in November, this will stay alive!! Note - I think mathematically Naiktha is still potentially in this but dont think she will play again in November? And I think Lissey and Liv are both now mathematically unable to make up the ground , but I could be wrong with regard to all 3 of them? This is probably the most open battle, shrouded in a degree of cloud! damn the WTA did not exposing entry lists! 

Junior girls - the one that doesn't matter !!- Mimi wrestled top spot from Hannah a couple of weeks ago; until recently both of them had the North American swing on their schedules. But Mimi has recently withdrawn from J500 Merida and J300 Bradenton. And Hannah is playing in both. So this is wide open for Hannah to glide through and take spot in the girls from Mimi. 2 weeks to watch with interest!! Note - Mimi does still have Orange Bowl J500 at Plantation on her schedule for now, but this starts after my cut off date, which is events ending on 3rd December. So it is all down to Hannah here!! However, it is sort of irrelevant to the PoS candidates, as both Hannah and Mimi are qualified already through PoM votes and so this is just an interesting/academic exercise!!

Mens doubles - the one I called, but was it too early!! And it matters a lot!! - so Neal leads this and I called it a while back. BUT - Neal is currently on 6170 points and Joe on 4990. IF Joe and Rajeev beat Neal and Wes today in Turin AND Joe goes on to take the title unbeaten and Neal also loses his final group match, Joe will get to 6290 points and pip Neal for top ranking spot. It needs Joe to win every match left and Neal to lose every match left, but it isnt beyond imagination. The start of that battle is today when Neal and Wes take on Joe and Rajeev in Turin at 1730. And this one DOES matter as Joe is not qualified through other means so far. Neal's top spot will be secure IF he and Wes win today, so this may be semantics but it is possible and a close eye needs to be kept on events in Turin!!

-- Edited by JonH comes home on Wednesday 15th of November 2023 07:18:59 AM

-- Edited by JonH comes home on Wednesday 15th of November 2023 09:09:40 AM

So this is sort of aimed at TA/Lambda

So, Lambda just posted (thank you) re Andorra

Doubles list (pdf) is now out.
Lissey (with MIRIAM KOLODZIEJOVA) and Liv (with BIBIANE SCHOOFS) are in
Maia (with Jessika Ponchet) is 1st alt and Ali (with ALENA FOMINA-KLOTZ) 2nd alt

ETA: Hev is now 2nd alt for singles

Question here is: my cut off for top doubles spot is 4th Dec rankings. That leaves two weeks after this week. Looking at this list it means:

1) Heather isnt playing any more doubles this season

2) Lissey and Liv are but even if they title in Andorra, they cant catch Maia?

3) Are either Lissey or Liv playing next week and could they catch Maia if they titled both next two weeks, a quick maths exercise suggests there isnt any event big enough next week to enable that?

As such, I think I am saying - does this make Maia certain to be #1 in those 4th December rankings? If so, I will "call" it now, confirm her PoS vote slot as and take her out of the WC nominations process!

Very narcissistic of me, I know, but these things keep me awake at night!! haha

the addict wrote:

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Well Andorra doesn't start until the 27th, so I think you should wait a few days and see how things pan out. I've no idea whether Heather is playing again this season - she's not on any ITF entry lists for singles.
Lissey won't catch Heather by winning this week and there probably aren't enough points available to catch Maia anyway. Her two lowest counters are 50 and 57 so unlikely.

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 ah. ok, I am guessing you are thinking Heather could still enter Andorra doubles with a singles ranking, potentially, which we wouldnt know about yet?

There is no hurry, I will hold fire til we know more - but at least we know it is between Maia and Heather!! 

indiana wrote:

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Heather's actual doubles ranking is better than her singles ranking.

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 might be tricky then!!

My suspicion is she is done with doubles for the season, but let's wait a week or two to see 

JonH comes home wrote:

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Neal loses so step 2 of 5 for Joe is completed

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 And Joe makes it3 wins and now just 2 steps from the title and 2 from British top spot. 

Part 4 of 5 for Joe - one more win and he tops the British doubles charts! He would also go to world 8 again with Neal at 9.

So Joe qualifies for the player of the season vote as British number one doubles player !

List to be updated later