Boys & Girls: J100 Loughborough, GB - indoor hard (Week 11)

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Boys & Girls: J100 Loughborough, GB - indoor hard (Week 11)

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

However, in the girls, the Swedish forum must be smiling into their plates of loganberry sauced meatballs

(3) Given Roach LOST to Bella (SWE) 6-0 6-2

(2) Marelie Raath LOST to Tilda (SWE) 6-2 6-3

Those are pretty dismissive scores, from players ranked considerably lower than our girls

-- Edited by Coup Droit on Thursday 16th of March 2023 01:18:15 PM

twentytoone · Intermediate Club Player

In my opinion Ben has the highest potential out of any of our gb boys but I think his height is going to limit him from ever reaching it

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

Coup Droit wrote:
Congrats to Henry who put out the half-French interloper

And also young Ben, who came through easily against Phoenix

Having seen Ben recently at Gosling, I can confirm that he's not got any taller (and having seen his dad, I don't think he's going to, with the best will in the world).

BUT the lad can't half play - it's a joy to watch

(Also, although he's not that tall, Ben's not a skinny, 'strip of nothing', sort of lad - he's got strong legs, he's going to be quite broad)

Semis:

(4) Henry Jefferson def. Felix Balshaw (FRA) 6-4 6-4

(3) Ben Gusic Wan def. (2) Phoenix Weir 6-2 6-3

Phoenix doesnt seem to be making much of a move forwards this year, or am I missing something (not following too closely). I noticed he was top of the British Tour Leaderboard, but not sure what that means relative to not progressing in the juniors too much

Densher · Intermediate Club Player

Hmm. Bit of a shame, I was hoping for at least 1 GB finalist in the girls side. It will be interesting to see what Raath decides to do, whether she will take the college route or try going pro immediately or even do something away from tennis. She's aged 16, around 200 in the world and will presumably be a little higher after this week, and has made steady progress in the junior ranks but without necessarily setting the world on fire. I assume we'll be seeing her in the girls draw at Wimbledon this year as a wildcard if she doesn't get in automatically, so perhaps the strength of that run will make her mind up.

Having seen Ben Gusic Wan play in person, I share a similar view to posters above: undoubtedly talented, but you do wonder about his height holding him back should he pursue the senior tour...

LordBrownof · Futures level

Let's hope Ben can Schwartzman his way to the top!

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Densher wrote:
Hmm. Bit of a shame, I was hoping for at least 1 GB finalist in the girls side. It will be interesting to see what Raath decides to do, whether she will take the college route or try going pro immediately or even do something away from tennis. She's aged 16, around 200 in the world and will presumably be a little higher after this week, and has made steady progress in the junior ranks but without necessarily setting the world on fire. I assume we'll be seeing her in the girls draw at Wimbledon this year as a wildcard if she doesn't get in automatically, so perhaps the strength of that run will make her mind up.

Having seen Ben Gusic Wan play in person, I share a similar view to posters above: undoubtedly talented, but you do wonder about his height holding him back should he pursue the senior tour...

Raath is nearly 17.

I sincerely hope she doesn't think to turn pro next year, based on where she is now.

As you say, she's about 200 in juniors (which doesn't actually include the best juniors), and has never played a single pro adult match.

I've never seen her play live but, just on the stats, she'll have major problems being competitive on the pro tour.

Obviously, having switched nationality she's now entitled to the perks of wildcards here. And can enter the junior nationals and other things that provide a foot up the ladder. But surely college is the right path, if she wants to pursue tennis professionally.

I am not a fan of Given's tennis. And I've seen her play live quite a lot of times. For someone who's had all the advantages of a full-time elite academy, I'd expect more, to be honest.

Densher · Intermediate Club Player

Coup Droit wrote:
Densher wrote:
Hmm. Bit of a shame, I was hoping for at least 1 GB finalist in the girls side. It will be interesting to see what Raath decides to do, whether she will take the college route or try going pro immediately or even do something away from tennis. She's aged 16, around 200 in the world and will presumably be a little higher after this week, and has made steady progress in the junior ranks but without necessarily setting the world on fire. I assume we'll be seeing her in the girls draw at Wimbledon this year as a wildcard if she doesn't get in automatically, so perhaps the strength of that run will make her mind up.

Having seen Ben Gusic Wan play in person, I share a similar view to posters above: undoubtedly talented, but you do wonder about his height holding him back should he pursue the senior tour...
Raath is nearly 17.
I sincerely hope she doesn't think to turn pro next year, based on where she is now.
As you say, she's about 200 in juniors (which doesn't actually include the best juniors), and has never played a single pro adult match.
I've never seen her play live but, just on the stats, she'll have major problems being competitive on the pro tour.
Obviously, having switched nationality she's now entitled to the perks of wildcards here. And can enter the junior nationals and other things that provide a foot up the ladder. But surely college is the right path, if she wants to pursue tennis professionally.
I am not a fan of Given's tennis. And I've seen her play live quite a lot of times. For someone who's had all the advantages of a full-time elite academy, I'd expect more, to be honest.

Agreed, sadly. Personally, the only GB juniors I'm really excited about are further down the age range, the likes of Klugman, Stojsavljevic, Hristova. Brooke Black also had an interesting game when I watched her play but hasn't quite kicked on in the way I expected her to (see disappointing recent results at J5/J4 level)

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Yes, it's interesting.

For me (and acknowledging that things can always change majorly) Hannah is a compeltely different class from the others. She's the pearl in terms of potential. Unique. She was so, as an 11 year-old when I saw her first, and has only gone from strength to strength since then.

I agree that that other youngsters such as Mika, and also Mimi etc, in my view, are very interesting candidates.

I've only seen Hristova and Black on livestream, and not very much of that either, so don't have much of an opinion on them.

As to the slightly older ones (the Ella, Talia, Ranah and others batch), I think that's a promising group. You could see them, like Harriet and the Katies, say, being there or there abouts in a few years.

But I rather like the random element too.....

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

The dubs finals will see:

Phoenix & Henry J v Seb Harrison & Ilias

Dani P & Mika v Abby K & Given

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Huge congrats to Ben who just edged out Henry J in the final

Boys Final:

Ben Gusic Wan ('07) def. Henry Jefferson ('06) 7-6(5) 7-5

That's Ben's best event, best point scorer, well done !

And Henry's day ain't that bad either as he picks up the doubles title, with Phoenix

Boys Doubles Final: Phoenix & Henry J def. Seb Harrison & Ilias 6-1 6-3

In the girls, Bella def. Tilda in the all-Swedish final

In the dubs:

Abby K & Given def. Dani P & Mika 6-4 2-6 10-5

paulisi · Tennis legend

Not really surprised Ben won that. I've always thought he was so talented and has maximised his game to alleviate some of the height issues.
Everything I've seen Henry, I've been disappointed. Big serve, but not too much else to shout about.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

paulisi wrote:
Not really surprised Ben won that. I've always thought he was so talented and has maximised his game to alleviate some of the height issues.
Everything I've seen Henry, I've been disappointed. Big serve, but not too much else to shout about.

Yes, I quite agree. Henry is a really tall, strapping boy - and that gives him certain obvious advantages. And it's possible he might become a well ranked tennis player pretty much on his serve alone, as he gets even stronger, because he has a good technique. But he's not one that I particularly rate either.

And certainly nowhere near as enjoyable to watch as Ben - Ben is one of those rare players who seems to ooze with joy when playing - maybe I overstate it but he seems to love the ball, the fun of tennis. And it's infectious.