British Tennis Forum - Celebrating 20 Years!

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Boys: 2025 Wimbledon, grass (Week 28)

DavidC · Tennis legend

Conor lost 6-2 6-2 so just Ben left to avoid a wipeout (last happened in 2015). He won the first set 6-2 but lost the second 6-1 against a guy ATP 564, who Oli beat last week.

DavidC · Tennis legend

Ben comes up trumps smile 6-2 1-6 6-2

DF · Tennis legend

Ben won smile

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

Well done Ben! Phew !

thegingerlightbulb · Intermediate Club Player

Maybe this is unfair but this feels like the worst set of results for the junior boys that I can remember. Well done to Ben but overall that has to be a pretty disappointing outcome. At least the girls side looks a bit more promising.

-- Edited by thegingerlightbulb on Sunday 6th of July 2025 05:46:44 PM

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

thegingerlightbulb wrote:
Maybe this is unfair but this feels like the worst set of results for the junior boys that I can remember. Well done to Ben but overall that has to be a pretty disappointing outcome. At least the girls side looks a bit more promising.

-- Edited by thegingerlightbulb on Sunday 6th of July 2025 05:46:44 PM

I agree

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

DavidC wrote:
Oscariyan wrote:
Do we think this loss for Oli is worrying long term? Has he got the game to transition to pros next year? What can GB tennis do to improve the depth on the boys side because the girls seems better overall.
No - this loss is not worrying long term. Winning Roehampton makes you very vulnerable early rounds at Wimbledon having little time to refocus mentally, so I half expected a loss. There may be a question mark against his ability to raise his game for the top events though, as mazzy indicated he hasn't won a match in several (8 or 9) goes.
He has the type of game with weapons which will help his chances of transitioning, but was error prone today in rallies - perhaps because of mental tiredness - and will need to cut down on that.
I can't answer about GB tennis/LTA, but I will be looking for Mark, Rhys, Scott, Eric and Niall to develop over the 2 or 3 years so that the boys are more competitive at top junior events and beyond.

ALthough no loss is worrying longterm, it can't be denied that if Oliver has played this level 11 times, and lost in R1 11 times, then - given the overall expectation based on ranking - that is dreadful

That has to be a problem, of some size or description

The boys you mention for the future are all the LTA top picks, the GB team players, hence their wildcards

Fingers crossed they do well

But I'm hoping there will be some players from left-field who make an impression - although I'm not really sure who biggrin

DavidC · Tennis legend

Ben takes on Jack Secord in round 2 (see the clip from Colette posted by CD earlier in the thread). Tomorrow though it is just doubles for the boys.

R1 (L64)

(1) Andres Santamarta Roig (ESP) d. (WC) Conor Brady 6-2 6-2
(WC) Benjamin Gusic Wan d. Pierluigi Basile (ITA) 6-2 1-6 6-2
Maxwell Exsted (USA) d. (WC) Rhys Lawlor 7-5 4-6 6-0
Yannik Alvarez (PUR) d. (WC) Eric Lorimer 6-2 6-4
Keaton Hance (USA) d. (WC) Aran Selvaraasan 6-1 6-2
(Q) Matisse Farzam (USA) d. (WC) Mark Ceban 7-5 6-2
(8) Jack Kennedy (USA) d. Oliver Bonding 1-6 7-6(5) 6-4
(9) Yannick Theodor Alexandrescou (ROU) d. (WC) Dylan Davies 3-6 6-3 6-4
Dominick Mosejcjuk (USA) d. (WC) William Moxon 6-2 6-2

R2

Jack Secord (USA) v (WC) Benjamin Gusic Wan

Oscariyan · Club Coach

Coup Droit wrote:
DavidC wrote:
Oscariyan wrote:
Do we think this loss for Oli is worrying long term? Has he got the game to transition to pros next year? What can GB tennis do to improve the depth on the boys side because the girls seems better overall.
No - this loss is not worrying long term. Winning Roehampton makes you very vulnerable early rounds at Wimbledon having little time to refocus mentally, so I half expected a loss. There may be a question mark against his ability to raise his game for the top events though, as mazzy indicated he hasn't won a match in several (8 or 9) goes.
He has the type of game with weapons which will help his chances of transitioning, but was error prone today in rallies - perhaps because of mental tiredness - and will need to cut down on that.
I can't answer about GB tennis/LTA, but I will be looking for Mark, Rhys, Scott, Eric and Niall to develop over the 2 or 3 years so that the boys are more competitive at top junior events and beyond.
ALthough no loss is worrying longterm, it can't be denied that if Oliver has played this level 11 times, and lost in R1 11 times, then - given the overall expectation based on ranking - that is dreadful
That has to be a problem, of some size or description
The boys you mention for the future are all the LTA top picks, the GB team players, hence their wildcards
Fingers crossed they do well
But I'm hoping there will be some players from left-field who make an impression - although I'm not really sure who

What about Dylan Davies (mind you he lost in R1 too). How can we not produce any top prospects on the male side - its baffling and as Ive said we should be looking at Italy because they have got it right especially with a new crop coming through Cina, Vasami, Basile amongst others. But having said that maybe they are envious of our female side

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Yes, maybe Dylan

I was thinking maybe Aran (who also lost in R1 but he's terribly young), maybe Vincent, maybe Alex Mirrington ...

I don't know - I don't feel I've got a very good handle on the boys - (maybe that's linked to the current problem)

I've watched quite a lot of Scott, Eric, Niall and Rhys - and there's definitely good potential there - but so is there with a lot of boys of the same age from other countries

All I know is that, with boys (with juniors overall, but maybe boys in particular), there will always be some who come through unexpectedly - where height and power, say, suddenly become a big factor at age 18 or 21 but who were nothing much as youngsters

9vicman · Futures qualifying

I think you only have to look at Jake Fearnley's junior record: sure he got a Top 30 ranking, but only played three Slams and once past the second round. And then there's Sonay Kartal...

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

9vicman wrote:
I think you only have to look at Jake Fearnley's junior record: sure he got a Top 30 ranking, but only played three Slams and once past the second round. And then there's Sonay Kartal...

Yes, absolutely

But Jake was very much on the LTA's radar and got some chances

I was thinking more of players like JoMo, nearly in the top-200 now in ATP but never even got a junior ranking - only played one junior event

Oliver Tarvet only played one junior grand slam, and lost straight away

Fuey2 · Improver

Oliver Tarvet went through covid so maybe hindered his junior ranking. Maybe he had the blueprint but was immature physically and mentally so thats why he went to American university. He seems to have honed his game while away and will be exciting to see how he progresses. Jake Fearnely was a decent junior I think but really it doesnt matter now that hes inside top 50 ATP. Junior results can be indicative of future success but certainly not a guarantee! Oli B has lost a lot of first round Slams but he also started them quite young and not had easy draws. But he has won a lot at every other level. As for transitioning, hes already won a round at mens qualifying and won a futures and has the game it looks like so I think hell be ok.

barry10 · Improver

I was at Wimbledon on Saturday and watched a fair portion of the Dylan match, briefly standing behind his coach, who I could hear shouting hit the middle on quite a few points.

Id never seen Dylan play before, but he had loads of power, and the first set worked really wellespecially with his down-the-line shots off the opponents serve. But in the second set, he was missing too much, hence the comment from the coach. The Italian kid didnt really change anythinghe just kept playing and ended up winning. Id say Dylan lost the match more than the other guy won it.

Caught a bit of Oli Bonding on TV on Sunday. He played really well in the first set, but when I checked the results laterI just dont know what happened. Its like theyre all strong in the first set, then something goes wrong in the second.