Clay is a difficult surface for most British players so, although disappointing, Hannah's loss is not a big surprise. Neither Charlie nor Oli had registered any ITF wins on clay in 2023 before, so they have had a good tournament. Charlie is up against it, as he plays the local hero JWR1 and defending champion
Boys R2
(15) Charlie Robertson d. Maxwell Exsted (USA) 4-6 6-1 6-4
(11) Oliver Bonding d. Aditya Govila (IND) 6-2 3-6 6-3
(14) Viktor Frydrych d. (WC) Matisse Farzam (USA) 7-5 2-6 6-4
R3
(1) Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez (MEX) v (15) Charlie Robertson
(11) Oliver Bonding v (7) Charlie Camus (AUS)
(14) Viktor Frydrych v (3) Nicolai Budkov Kjaer (NOR)
She was playing the girl who was runner-up here last year
And Hannah on clay is not the same as Hannah on other surfaces
Most people expected her to lose today - it's not a biggie
I'll bow to your superior knowledge on the girl, but on results alone I wouldn't agree. There might be something about this venue that suits Ariana, but there is nothing in her results on clay, aside from this comp last year, that suggests, even allowing for this being Hannah's weakest surface, she isn't someone Hannah can beat on clay, and certainly not to lose easily 2 & 2. It's notable that reports out of Mexico have described the result as the sensation of the day and a surprise.
I did notice that on Wednesday Hannah had that thin band of tape around her left leg just below the knee that she's frequently had during this year. She didn't have it in either match on Tuesday. I don't know what it's purpose is, but I hope it's not masking a longer term problem.
Im guessing Hannah wont have done enough this week with a last 16 loss, even with doubles, to have caught up with Mimi in the rankings?
With Mimi dropping 97.5 points on Monday, Hannah goes above Mimi whatever she did here.
ok, cool - so as Mimi isnt playing next week, that means Hannah is guaranteed being top British girl as of the end of next week then. And probably for the end of 2024?
I think she is guaranteed British no. 1 at the year end.
The only hope was whether she could get into the top 10 by the year end. The benefits for finishing 11-20 are not terribly useful to her (1 x $25K and 4 x $15K) as she will probably mainly play 25Ks (new 35Ks) and can get into the qualifiers probably by rights for these anyway. The benefits for 6-10 are better (1 x $40K -> $50K, and 4 x $25K -> $35K) for the level she is at. However the remaining two tournaments are clay which is not her surface so top 10 is maybe unlikely.
I think this trip for Hannah is more about protecting her AO seeding than an attempt to get into the top 10. The 6 to 10 benefits aren't really worth much to her either as it won't take very long for her to get her ranking high enough to get her into W35 main draws (coupled with W35s probably being slightly weaker with fewer points on offer)
An impressive scoreline for Oli against a higher ranked player
Boys R3
(1) Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez (MEX) d. (15) Charlie Robertson 6-1 6-1 (11) Oliver Bonding d. (7) Charlie Camus (AUS) 6-2 6-2 (3) Nicolai Budkov Kjaer (NOR) d. (14) Viktor Frydrych 6-1 4-2 rtd
QF
Sergio Planella Hernandez (ESP) v (11) Oliver Bonding
Girls Doubles SF
(4) Buchnik/Sonobe (ISR/JPN) v (2) Klugman/Quevedo (GBR/USA)
Also interesting is that Oli Bonding should be in the JWR top 20 (or even top 10 depending on where he finishes in this tournament, plus other players' results) when the 2005ers drop out at the end of the year.
I think he will also be in the top 3 ranked 2007 players, behind Cina and Blanch and overtaking Mrva who was knocked out in the first round of this tournament.
He is understandably not getting the attention that Hannah gets, and to be honest I'd like neither of them to get too much media attention for obvious reasons but still it's impressive given that it's harder for the younger boys to break through than the younger girls.