British Tennis Forum - Celebrating 20 Years!

Oli T now up to a career high of 283 in the live rankings.

I watched back some of Toby's match, and a little context....conditions in Villena look somewhat tricky to say the least. It's outdoor hard courts and very windy. Barton is also a rather unorthodox player. He's a big lad who can certainly clout a first serve, but his kick second serve is arguably even trickier - he hits it with a lot of topspin and in the blustery conditions Toby was really struggling to time his returns.

The Czech is a bit hit and miss from the back of the court (which is probably why he's ranked down in the 280s), but most of the time, he charges the net as much as he can (including behind that heavy kick serve). With a bouncy hard court and gusting winds, it proved to be quite an effective strategy. Toby hit a few beautiful lobs, but struggled to time his passing shots. Plus of course, players aren't that used to coming up against a net rusher in this day and age.

However, it's a match which Toby definitely should have won and he probably won't be sleeping that well tonight. As the scoreline suggests, it all hinged on the opener, and Toby had 7 set points (!) in the first set and looked the most likely winner until Barton snatched it right at the death. Three of them came on the Barton serve at 5-4 and 6-5 with 4 more following in the tiebreak. The Czech did come up with some clutch tennis but there were a few shots which Toby definitely will regret (although the conditions didn't help). He was getting very frustrated out there to say the least.

Anyway, hopefully Oli and JPJ can continue to fly the flag for the rest of the week, while Toby now has a week and a half to prepare for the indoor swing (looks like he's entering ATP Brussels qualies next).