9vicman wrote:

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Jeff Stelling wrote:

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This is not an appropriate bottom half of the draw for an ATP 250.

On the flip side, an incredible chance for one or two to achieve a false ranking.

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 People were saying the same thing about Nottingham WTA last year when there were 3 Brits in the bottom half quarterfinals. It's the way results go sometimes, although appreciate that there have been all the late withdrawals.

A quarterfinal in a 250 is not going to give a player a false ranking, and if any of them defeat Cobolli, they will deserve it.

-- Edited by 9vicman on Tuesday 25th of June 2024 08:49:58 PM

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 I dont think the WTA 500 is that stacked either TBH. However as said re the ATP , potential opportunities for Emma, Katie and Harriet to pick up some valuable ranking points. A lot easier than picking up 500 points at Wimbledon with the quarters only bringing in 360. Think our ladies are following a very effective strategy. 

Jeff Stelling wrote:

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This is not an appropriate bottom half of the draw for an ATP 250.

On the flip side, an incredible chance for one or two to achieve a false ranking.

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 There was some talk about Katie having a false position after Nottingham last year/only able to beat people on grass but actually it massively boosted her and she ended up with more points from other surfaces. I'm happy for our players to pick up useful points and get exposure to a higher level of player. If other players drop out and miss the chance to pick up easier points that's up to them. I think it's no different to countries in more remote places having tournaments which almost only have players from that country in the draw. If you win the tournament you deserve the points in my view. 

The players that have been picking up points at the lower end like Jubb and Harris have been slogging around the rest of the year honing their game for this level of tournament. And they've had to beat top 100 players as part of this swing so not a doddle exactly. 

We also have swings and roundabouts because our lower level tournaments in the rest of the year tend to have higher level of entry presumably because it's cheaper for someone in say Australia to come over to Europe and travel relatively short distances for several tournaments than it would be to travel through the US or Australia. 

Madadman wrote:

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JonH comes home wrote:

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Madadman wrote:

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twentytoone wrote:

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Given how well hes done on grass I believe he should go to Newport and play on the grass there

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 He is entered into qualifying for Newport.

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 I was about to say the same - it will be interesting to see if he goes, post atlanta, down the atp tour qualies route or the US challenger circuit that players like Evo did so well on as they built their ranking. Both routes will lead to Flushing Meadows of course! 

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 Personally I always think if you think youre good enough then go for the bigger prize I.e ATP tour. You never know if youll be in this position again.

That said just looking at the ATP/Challenger two weeks before US qualifying, week of Montreal, there is no Challenger on hard. Seems strange.

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 True but Harriet did that and slid back down the rankings again so I'm in camp mix it up. Do the big tournaments but don't completely forsake the Challengers.  Fortunately Billy seems to stay relatively injury free (other than falling off treadmills) despite playing pretty much week in week out so should be able to manage.

Nix wrote:

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Jeff Stelling wrote:

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This is not an appropriate bottom half of the draw for an ATP 250.

On the flip side, an incredible chance for one or two to achieve a false ranking.

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 There was some talk about Katie having a false position after Nottingham last year/only able to beat people on grass but actually it massively boosted her and she ended up with more points from other surfaces. I'm happy for our players to pick up useful points and get exposure to a higher level of player. If other players drop out and miss the chance to pick up easier points that's up to them. I think it's no different to countries in more remote places having tournaments which almost only have players from that country in the draw. If you win the tournament you deserve the points in my view. 

The players that have been picking up points at the lower end like Jubb and Harris have been slogging around the rest of the year honing their game for this level of tournament. And they've had to beat top 100 players as part of this swing so not a doddle exactly. 

We also have swings and roundabouts because our lower level tournaments in the rest of the year tend to have higher level of entry presumably because it's cheaper for someone in say Australia to come over to Europe and travel relatively short distances for several tournaments than it would be to travel through the US or Australia. 

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Interesting comments Nix.

I think the reports about Katie getting a false ranking/not beating a Top 100 player at Nottingham were a non story. Was a reasonably strong field and she beat the players who beat the seeds who were presumably playing well.

A false ranking is only a false ranking if you can't beat the players at the level you're competing at. Otherwise it's an opportunity to show you are capable of beating these players.

JonH comes home wrote:

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I thought the Billy/Charlie match had been due to start at 11? The other 11 am scheduled matches are playing so presumably the courts are fine, anyone know what the delay is?

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They are on court 2.  Live scores has them on serve.

Billy *2-3  Charlie

Jeff Stelling wrote:

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The BBC has exclusive rights to Eastbourne but is barely showing any matches from Devonshire Park?

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There's uninterrupted coverage of the women's tournament on BBC every afternoon from 13.00 until 17.00 or so.  It's frustrating, but I've always assumed that that is a kind of "trade-off" for the fact that it covers the men at Queen's the week before.  Share & share alike!