Baker, 19, will make his ATP Tour debut at Queen'sBritish teenager Jamie Baker will make his ATP Tour debut after receiving the fifth and final wild card into the Stella Artois Championships.
Baker, who won a futures event in Greece last month, will form part of the main draw that begins on Monday at the Queen's Club in London.
The Scot, 19, was a hitting partner for the British Davis Cup team against Switzerland in Geneva last year.
The Queen's Club field is headed by world number two Rafael Nadal.
American Andy Roddick will be back to defend the title he won from 2003 to 2005.
Lleyton Hewit, another three-time winner, Andre Agassi and British trio Greg Rusedski, Tim Henman and Andy Murray will also be in action.
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Count Zero - Creator of the Statistical Tennis Extrapolation & Verification ENtity or, as we like to call him, that steven.
no mention of his acheivemts ever appears any more, just the negative dc stuff. nothing on his 3 challenegr wins wins and no mention of his stella wc either.
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Count Zero - Creator of the Statistical Tennis Extrapolation & Verification ENtity or, as we like to call him, that steven.
Absolutely fantastic stuff regarding Baker. Woohoo !!!! Go Jamie !
Queens tournament office, if you're reading this post - please, please, please, please put Baker on centre court on Monday. I haven't seen him play since 2004 !!!
A nice easy rd1 draw against a clay-courter who's crap on grass would also be very much welcomed so I can see him in action on Wednesday aswell !
According to Ria [who listened to the announcement on 5live extra], this is what Petch and Jon Overend said about his selection:
"They said it was well deserved due to Jamie's work ethic, that they have concerns over how his second serve will work on the ATP level but that Jamie is a guy who is doing everything he can to maximise his talent and that's all you can ever ask of a player. They were concerned about whether he could actually compete with the guys at Queens (Andreev was the guy they named) and as such, they aren't sure if he could be a top 100 player one day, but said that if he could do himself justice and get a WC at Wimbledon then it could see him inside the top 200 this summer.
They said that as Jamie was beaten by Bloomfield this week that it was obviously a tough decision but that his age and potential was probably the deciding factor as Bloomfield was one of the 'late developers' that Britain seems to produce."
Queens tournament office, if you're reading this post - please, please, please, please put Baker on centre court on Monday. I haven't seen him play since 2004 !!!
Don't you think it would be better if he was put on an outside court with fewer spectators for his first match? Although I would love to be able to watch him play.
A nice easy rd1 draw against a clay-courter who's crap on grass would also be very much welcomed so I can see him in action on Wednesday aswell !
Seconded.
I'm really pleased for Jamie (slightly disappointed for Martin Lee and Bloomers, Queen's should never have given so many wildcards to non-Brits) and hope that regardless of his results he can take away a lot from this tournament (the trophy perhaps).
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To look at a thing is quite different from seeing a thing and one does not see anything until one sees its beauty
Yeah well done to Baker, hopefully as David said he gets a clay courter who is naff on the grass in the 1st round. So c'mon Jamie win a round at Queens.
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Supporting Andy Murrays charge to the 2009 Wimbledon crown.
It's a well deserved reward for Jamie and hopefully he'll get a decent draw and can give a good account of himself regardless of the draw. No matter what happens you know this must be a massive boost for him. I just feel a bit bad for Bloomers for not getting a WC because I do feel that he would have given a good account of himself but I can understand the thinking in that Jamie is 19 and Bloomfield is 23 and as such, Jamie is more likely to benefit from it.