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The Andy (and Jo (and Jamie)) show: British Tennis 2016

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    The Andy (and Jo (and Jamie)) show: British Tennis 2016

    At the very opposite end of the professional tennis spectrum from Andy Murray, in a 10k in Central America, Samuel Beddow finally made it through qualification for a senior tournament for the first time in 41 attempts. To celebrate, he then managed to win his first round match. He may never make a career in professional tennis, but that means he will at least have a professional ranking point.

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      The Andy (and Jo (and Jamie)) show: British Tennis 2016

      Last week was basically the end of the season at Challenger level. Was it a glorious one? In parts, I guess...

      We left things in Columbus with Luke Bambridge and Cameron Norrie due to Erik Crepaldi and Raymond Sarmiento in R1. Both won, to set up a match against each other. Norrie took that, but then lost to Tennys Sandgren in the QFs.
      As well as facing each other, Bambridge and Norrie were playing together in the Doubles. They were already through to the QFs when we last checked in, and two further wins took them to the Final. Where they faced team Salisbury/O'Hare. The Brit/Irish pairings route to the final was increasingly epic. They won their R1 match by the narrowest possible margin, 10-8 in a match-breaker. The gap was the same in the QFs, though it took longer to achieve as having shared two tie-break sets with Barry/Kobelt (the second of which was 9-7), Salisbury/O'Hare won the match-breaker this time 17-15! 7-63 6-77 [17-15] is essentially a draw. Obviously their Semi also went to a match breaker, and obviously this also went to 9-9. And then past it. And on. And on. They eventually beat Pollanen/Torpegaard 18-16 to claim their final spot.
      And what of the title game? Well, in a break from their pattern Salisbury/O'Hare won it in straight sets, 6-3 6-4.
      The other male involvement last week was N.Skupski in Andria, but I've noted upthread that he and Mektic lost in the QFs.

      As for the Women, Katie Swan beat fellow young wild card Fanny Stollar in the opening round of the Super-Challenger in Honolulu. Swan then faced World No.91 Evgeniya Rodina, which proved a step too far.
      At the normal Challenger level, Gabriella Taylor's narrow R1 defeat to Maria Teresa Torro-Flor in Valencia was noted up thread. Amanda Carreras also went out at the same stage, and also in three sets, to Jil Teichmann. Carreras, playing w/ Gamiz, was through to the QFs of the doubles on the last update. A walkover took the pair to the Semis, where they lost to Gjorcheska/Voskoboeva.
      All Brits had been eliminated in qualifying of the Nashville singles. Carter/Ottsen had also gone out in the Doubles q, but the late withdrawal of the second seeds gave them a lucky loser berth. 0-6 0-6 later they might wish they hadn't bothered. Sellyn/Sharma got in via a wild card, and will definitely be happy they played after beating the top seeds in R1 (as noted up thread). They didn't back it up, though, losing (narrowly 12-10 in a match-breaker) in the QFs.

      Comment


        The Andy (and Jo (and Jamie)) show: British Tennis 2016

        Jo Konta splits from her coaching team. What? Why?
        Unless it comes from the coach rather than the player, this seems an utterly bizarre decision. And even for Carril it would be odd to end a successful partnership that has boosted his own profile signficantly. Konta could ask Genie Bouchard (amongst others) exactly how well junking your coach having reached the top 10 works.

        Comment


          The Andy (and Jo (and Jamie)) show: British Tennis 2016

          One of the factors may have been the sudden death recently of Juan Coto, who as her mental coach has been attributed with playing a key role in Konta's stellar rise. It may be that she felt he was an indispensable part of the Carril team, or that in his absence she'd rather make a clean break.

          Comment


            The Andy (and Jo (and Jamie)) show: British Tennis 2016

            I've only just seen Etienne's post above. I hadn't heard that. Blimey.
            Yes, that could be something that makes everybody want to move on.

            Comment


              The Andy (and Jo (and Jamie)) show: British Tennis 2016

              On a lighter note, some weeks ago I wrote a summary of the seasons the British Women have had. Their male counterparts report cards are a little overdue, but better late than never...

              ATP School
              British Class of 2016

              Andy Murray
              2016 Final Ranking: 1
              2015 Final Ranking: 2
              Notable results: Won: WIMBLEDON, OLYMPICS, TOUR FINALS, Rome, Shanghai, Paris Indoor, Queens, Beijing, Vienna; Runner-Up: AUSTRALIAN OPEN, FRENCH OPEN, Madrid, Cincinnati; SF: Monte Carlo; QF: US OPEN
              Other achievements: New career high ranking of #1 on 7th Nov, 26th man to achieve the top spot on the ATP and the first Brit to do so. Year-end #1 for the first time, 17th man to achieve this, matching Nastase, Wilander, Courier, Agassi, Kuerten and Roddick in topping the year-end rankings once.
              First man to successfully defend an Olympic Tennis crown, and only player, male or female, to have done so in singles. Or indeed the only person to have won two Olympic Tennis singles gold medals, consecutive or otherwise.
              Currently on an unbroken 24 match winning run that start on the Sunday of the Davis Cup Semi (includes titles in Beijing, Shanghai, Vienna, Paris, Tour Finals), following previous streaks of 22 matches (Queens R1 to Cincinnati Final, including Queens, Wimbledon and Olympic crowns) and 11 matches (Rome R2 to Roland Garros Final, title in Rome).
              Made three slam finals in a calendar year for the first time in his career. Won 9 titles from 13 finals, both career highs (previous bests of 6 from 7 in 2009). Slam singles record of 23-3 is a career best (topping 22-3 mark of 2012), as is overall seasonal win-loss of 78-9 (previous best 71-14 in 2015).
              Led country to Davis Cup Semi-Finals in defence of their crown.
              Grade: A
              Comments: In 2012, Murray won the Olympics and the US Open. In 2013 he won Wimbledon, and was BBC Sports Personality of the Year. In 2015 he lead Britain (single-handed dragged Britain) to its first Davis Cup title in 1936 and was BBC Sports Personality for a second time. One wouldn’t have thought it was possible to make those years pale in comparison. But he has. Quite simply the most astonishing season of any British Tennis player (male or female) in living memory, and likely given the much increased level of competition in the modern era, ever.
              And yet I only give it a Grade A?? Well, most of the truly notable achievements were compressed into the second-half of the season. Which just makes the litany of success all the more astonishing, but also shows that, remarkably enough, there is still scope for improvement. There were still disappointments along the way, losing a fifth Australian Open Final, going out early (relative measure) in the US Open, losing a key Davis Cup rubber during the Semi-Final defeat, going out of the Olympic Men’s Doubles in R2. Yes, these reverses all came against world class opponents playing inspired Tennis, because that is what it takes to beat Murray (or Murrays) these days. But even with that, one cannot deny they were missed goals.
              In fact, Murray’s year is basically dividable into two parts; before and after Amelie Mauresmo. It pains me to say it, but essentially everything changed when they split up. Even so it’s not like Murray with Maursemo was doing terribly; he reached a Slam Final and a Masters Final, recording a win over Rafael Nadal on clay to get to the later. These are results that most of the top ten would take as a very encouraging start to the season. However for a member of the Big Four in his prime, they are at best par and arguably a little worse than that.
              It’s just that since the split from Maursemo, Murray’s record is utterly ludicrous; he has lost only four matches, just one of them prior to a final (Nishikori in NY), and won 61! He hasn’t simply been the best in the world for the last few weeks, he has been at that level for six months now, but the rankings took a little while to catch up with this.
              The questions for next year are can he maintain this for a whole campaign? Can even this extraordinary year been usurped? Well, why not? The brilliant run didn’t time perfectly with the majors this time around. Now that he has inhabited the No.1 spot, doing something about his 3/11 return in Slam Finals is the only thing that matters. Two crowns, three crowns next year? Yes, he can. He probably should, in fact. Finally winning in Melbourne, having been runner-up there five times would be a good start and another monkey off the back...

              Kyle Edmund
              2016 Final Ranking: 45
              2015 Final Ranking: 100
              Notable results: SF: Antwerp; QF: Beijing, Queens, Doha; R4: US OPEN; Won: Dallas (Ch), Rome Garden Open (Ch)
              Other Achievements: New career high ranking of #40 on 24th Oct.
              First ever top fifty win en route to QFs of Doha in January (bt #43 Martin Klizan). Has since added six more, including four against top 20 opponents (#18 Simon at Queens, #15 Gasquet at US Open, #18 Bautista Agut at Beijing and #15 Ferrer in Antwerp).
              Reached second week of a Slam for first time with run to R4 of US Open (l to Djokovic).
              In absence of Andy Murray, led British team to away Davis Cup QF victory over Serbia, recording straight set wins over Lajovic and Tipsarevic.
              Raised ranking to point where only two younger players are higher (Kyrgios @ #13 and Zverev @ 24)
              Grade: B+
              Comments: 2016 has been a real breakthrough year for Kyle. He has been identified as a potential talent for a while, but whilst the individual shots and even passages of play showed promise, the results were mostly absent. He had hardly any top 100 wins by this time last year, and none over top 50 players.
              That was probably down to experience to some extent, but also all-round consistency. As others have found out, a serve and a forehand, however massive those two weapons might be, just doesn’t completely cut it at the top level; players will play to your weaknesses, so if the standard of those shots is too low they will limit your potential. Edmund’s backhand is basically unrecognisable from a year ago, and I would ascribe the small but growing collection of notable scalps to the improvement in that as much as to the more noticeable weaponry.
              Not that he isn’t using that cannon of a forehand, of course. It remains the big gun, to be wheeled out whenever possible. Most notably in Belgrade, on a clay court made extremely heavy with incessant rain, in the Davis Cup Quarter-Final. That particular weekend was a major step forward, as Edmund took the brilliantly to the challenge of leading a World Group Team away from home in an important tie. And with the added pressure that the other two singles rubbers were likely losses, so he had to return two wins from two. Far from wilting under this, Edmund didn’t lose a set. That said everything about him being mentally tough enough for where he wants to reach.
              Around the same time there were three dips to the Challenger Tour, all very successful. First with back-to-back tournaments in the US following early elimination from the Aussie Open. These were likely late additions to the schedule following a disappointing defeat in Melbourne (R1 l to Dzumhur from 2-1 up). It would have been easy to be licking wounds, but no, Edmund was straight back into it and was runner-up in Maui (l to Wu) and then won Dallas the following week without dropping a seat (b Evans in the Final). The other event was the Rome Garden Open, Edmund taking that option in the week of a Masters Series that he would have had to qualify for. He made the most of playing second division opponents by winning the event. And that was his last Challenger, it looks like for a while; 2 wins and a runner-up from 3 events say the graduation is earned.
              Now it’s about establishing himself amongst the top 50, and trying to push on towards the top 20. For that, he needs to get comfortable against leading players. Starting to encounter them is the first step in that process; Edmund now has two career matches against each of Djokovic, Murray, Gasquet and Ferrer and one encounter with Wawrinka. He has beaten Gasquet and Ferrer, the Gasquet one probably being the highlight of the year as Edmund trounced the Frenchman over best-of-five sets in R1 of the US Open. He even took a set from Murray at Queens, though Djokovic had his number in their two matches.
              So yes, very, very impressive and well rewarded with the top 50 end-of-season ranking, which brings with it (if maintained, and there is no reason why it shouldn’t be) regular play in Masters Series events. Onwards and upwards...

              Dan Evans
              2016 Final Ranking: 66
              2015 Final Ranking: 183
              Notable results: R3: WIMBLEDON, US OPEN, Nottingham, Washington; Qualified: AUSTRALIAN OPEN; Won: Drummondville (Ch), Taipei (Ch), Aptos (Ch); R3 (doubles): US OPEN
              Other Achievements: Broke into the top 100 for the first time in his career on 2nd May, following the title in Taipei. Reach a new career high ranking of #53 on 12th Sept.
              3 singles titles was the joint fifth most of any player on the ATP Challenger Tour
              Grade: B-
              Comments: B minus for a player who broke the top 100 for the first time in his career, as part of an 18 month rankings climb from 772 to the fringes of the top 50. Isn’t that a tad, or more like extremely, harsh? No, and here is why. Bobbing along between 50-75 is no more than par for Dan Evans; that, or north of that, is his level of talent. Finally adding the application and therefore reaching where he should have been anyway is not something to praise to the heavens.
              However, one shouldn’t be too negative either, because back in early 2015 there was no guarantee at all that it was ever going to happen. So a pat on the back of sorts is called for even if it is accompanied by an admonishment that nice though recent achievements are, they should be seen as the very start of something and not enough on their own. This is a man who is capable of winning ATP titles, and registering a top ten win or two during his career.
              Does Evans himself think like this? I hope so, and in fact I suspect so. When he has talked recently it is along the lines that he finally gets it and appreciating that previously he hadn’t and was wasting a high talent. He doesn’t sound satisfied with what he has achieved so far. Which is all good news.
              Challengers were the stage where Evans did most of the work on building his ranking. In addition to to titles in Drummondville (b Corrie), Taipei (b Kravchuk) and Aptos (b Norrie), he was also runner-up in the events in Dallas (l to Edmund) and in Busan (l to Kravchuk 7 days after beating him in Taiwan). However that isn’t to say there was nothing substantial at the big shows. In fact the standout achievements in the season came at two of the biggest venues of all, Wimbledon and Flushing Meadow. Wimbledon included one of Evans best ever wins, against Dolgopolov in R2, which set up one for the family albums when he took on Federer on Centre Court.
              The US Open run included a win over Sascha Zverev, which I’m thinking will sound rather more impressive in five years time than it does now (and it already sounds good), and probably the overall highlight of the year, getting to match point against Stan Wawrinka in New York. Wawrinka survived that, of course, and went on to take the title, which means that Evans’ name will always be a corollary to a Slam success.
              The pity is that since that glorious defeat in the Big Apple, Evans has won just one match. That may be down to the combined mental hit that one rally caused along with a painful defeat to a lower ranked opponent in the Davis Cup SF just over a week later. However, even with everything pointing the right direction, one has to accept that Dan will always be a touch mercurial. It’s just who he is. As long as the application remains, then barren spells can be tolerated.
              The slow end to the season is why Evans breakthrough into the top 50, which seemed imminent, is back on hold. Mid-60s is still a decent place to be starting 2017 from, though. What that ranking does mean is that Dan really can’t completely avoid clay again next year. He has to slog at it and find a way of being effective on the surface, as it forms too big a part of the mainstream Tennis circuit for someone who wants to be part of that to ignore it.

              Aljaz Bedene
              2016 Final Ranking: 102
              2015 Final Ranking: 45
              Notable results: SF: Chennai; R3: FRENCH OPEN
              Other Achievements: 4 top 50 wins
              Grade: C
              Comments: A rather dispiriting year for Bedene, both on and off the court.
              It all started so well with a run to the Semis of Chennai (including a victory over #39 Pospisil), but even that was a bittersweet moment as Aljaz had been the defeated finalist in India in 2015 so a SF showing represented a points loss. However there are worse things than that out there, such as the run that followed it of one win in six events, and that via his opponent retiring.
              A drop down to the Challenger Tour brought a final spot, and a burst of confidence ahead of the clay season which culminated in one of the two highlights of the year, a run to R3 at Roland Garros. That was rather comprehensively ended by Novak Djokovic, with Andy Murray terminating the other main positive memory, a debut at Queen’s Club which had started with a win over World No. 23 Benoit Paire.
              This burst of form followed the disappointing news of the failure of Bedene’s appeal to be allowed to play Davis Cup for Britain. Aljaz had commented that preparing for this hearing had put pressure on him which had affected his form in the earlier slump, and the improvement around April-June now looks like a brief bit of defiance before the truth became unavoidable.
              There were just two Tour level wins after Queens, both against players outside the top 250. Some of this was unkind draws (#10 Gasquet in R1 of Wimbledon, #16 Kyrgios in R1 of the US Open), but some were simply bad, such as losing to the World No. 761 in Umag. A retreat to the Challengers in late September gave a flicker of life with a SF and QF in consecutive weeks, but no title and it was then that Aljaz cut his losses on a very forgettable twelve months.
              However stopping a little early has seen Bedene slip outside the top 100 after nearly 18 consecutive months inside, and at the end of a season which had begun at a career high. The cost of this was apparent with the recent release of the Australian Open entry list; due to five players with protected rankings entering, Aljaz finds himself in 106th spot. Which with only 104 getting direct entry means the qualifiers, baring withdrawals.
              2017 has to be better. Surely?

              James Ward
              2016 Final Ranking: 437
              2015 Final Ranking: 156
              Notable results: Can you come back to me on that one?
              Other Achievements: Got to play Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon. Took him to a tie-break in one of the sets.
              Grade: Ungraded
              Comments: Oh Dear God!
              Ward’s seasonal record on the ATP World Tour is 0-5. That says it all...
              The high of breaking the top 100 back in July 2015 feels like eons ago. That surely was the peak of Ward’s career. In fact he was already on his way down even by then as he finished 2015 with a string of R1 exits, which culminated in being (quite reasonably) dropped for the Davis Cup Final.
              But that had nothing on this year. Even down at Challenger level he only managed to string two wins in a row together twice, and the season ended with a run of one win and eight defeats. Injuries have played a part in this, but at age 29, with a ranking that will struggle to get him into even Challenger events and with no evidence of particular aptitude or interest in Doubles, and not even amongst the top ten British males anymore, the retirement announcement is surely not too far away.

              Jamie Murray
              2016 Final Ranking: 4
              2015 Final Ranking: 7
              Notable results (all doubles): Won: AUSTRALIAN OPEN, US OPEN, Sydney; Runner-Up: Monte Carlo, Canada Open; SF: Tour Finals, Doha, Vienna; QF: WIMBLEDON, Indian Wells, Rome, Cincinnati, Shanghai, Barcelona, Queens, Tokyo; R3: FRENCH OPEN
              Other Achievements: New career high ranking of #1 on 4th April. First British Man to top either ATP ranking list in the open era, beating his brother to that honour by seven months (and you think that won’t go mentioned in the family this Christmas?!?).
              Formed part of the season’s most successful doubles team w/ Bruno Soares.
              Perfect 3/3 in Davis Cup play.
              Grade: A
              Comments: You know what? There has been more than one Murray pulling up trees this year. Andy has been spectacular, but so has Jamie. And only one of them won two Slam titles this year...
              Jamie seems to be widely acknowledged as the world’s best volleyer currently. His reach and ability to control the ball on the full stretch make him an intimidating presence at the net. It is those strengths which dovetail so nicely with Bruno Soares’ returning and groundstrokes to create a really formidable Doubles team. And one, let’s not forget, that was absolutely raw when they took to the court in Doha in the first event of the year. A run of 13-1 with titles in Sydney and the big one in Melbourne say this was a good combination.
              Things have actually slowed down a touch since, they have won only one further title. But it was a biggie in their second slam of the year. What there has been is consistency. Look at all those other events with a win, two wins, three wins. Points have been steadily accrued leading to the two landmark rankings; personally top midway through the year and the award for being the team of 2016.
              What next? Well Doubles players go on for years. Jamie has a long spell at the top of the game ahead of him. The 2020 Olympics may already be a long term ambition. Andy, date for your diary!

              Dom Inglot
              2016 Final Ranking: 43
              2015 Final Ranking: 23
              Notable results (all doubles): Won: Nottingham, St. Petersburg; Runner-Up: s-Hertogenbosch; SF: Brisbane, Antwerp; QF: Monte Carlo, Rotterdam, Basel, Tokyo, Marrakech, Istanbul, Geneva, Gstaad, Winston-Salem, Tokyo; R3: AUSTRALIAN OPEN
              Other Achievements: Won a critical Davis Cup QF rubber w/ J.Murray
              Grade: B-
              Comments: Patchy. Inconsistent. Frustrating.
              What Inglot needs is a foil, a settled team that will allow him to show up to his best. He was partnered by a different man in each of the four big events he played in 2016 (he missed the French Open with injury IIRC).
              Whilst Inglot has racked up a fair number of match wins, 31 in total, and made a lot of QFs thereby, it has mostly happened in ATP250s. Both titles are such, in fact all of the runs to the last four or better. Just one QF in a Masters Series is why the ranking has dropped rather. Staying inside the top 50 is a must as otherwise it becomes something of a vicious circle; ranking not high enough to get into Masters Series, fewer points to be garnered at the other events, not enough earned to push the ranking up so no return to the Masters Series.
              The biggest disappointment of the year must have been getting whupped by a lower ranked pair from Mexico in R1 of the Olympics alongside Fleming. Speaking of whom...

              Colin Fleming
              2016 Final Ranking: 76
              2015 Final Ranking: 58
              Notable results (all doubles): Runner-Up: Marseille; SF: Queens, Bucharest, Metz; QF: Acapulco, Hamburg, Sydney, Montpellier, Estoril, Stockholm
              Other Achievements: Victory over the Bryan brothers at Sydney w/ Erlich. Got to play at the Olympics having originally not had a place.
              Grade: C
              Comments: Also a rather underwhelming year for Colin Fleming, who has also not had a completely settled teammate to play with. The first half of the campaign was with Jonathan Erlich, but this came to an end after R1 defeat at Wimbledon meant the pair had gone 1-3 in the three slams to date.
              The season ended with a few straight tournaments with Scott Lipsky, and some wins on the Challenger Tour (if no finals).
              Going to the Olympics was good, what happened there (winning three games w/ Inglot in his one match) was not.
              A return to his glory days as a top 20 player currently seem a long way off. At 32 there is still time, but not infinitely much.

              Ken Skupski
              2016 Final Ranking: 77
              2015 Final Ranking: 100
              Notable results (all doubles): Runner-Up: Los Cabos; SF: Newport; QF: Munich; Won: Bergamo (Ch), Cherbourg (Ch), St. Remy (Ch), Bratislava (Ch)
              Other Achievements: Reach first ATP final since 2013 at Los Cabos (w/ Erlich).
              on first match at a Slam since 2013 (Wimbledon R1 with brother Neal vs #7 seeds Kubot/Peya)
              Grade: B-
              Comments: It’s been a busy year for Ken Skupski with 29 tournaments under his belt, and I suppose on balance a reasonably successful one. Making a first ATP level final three seasons at Los Cabos w/ Erlich was certainly a high point, even if it was mostly overshadowed by happening the same week as the Olympic Tennis event.
              The Los Cabos title match came against Indian pair Raja/Sharan, which was a weird feature of the year as they appeared to be stalking Ken. He opened the year against them in R1 of Bangkok (won w/ Neal), then ran in to them again in consecutive weeks as the Indians beat the brothers in the finals of both Edgbaston and Surbiton. That was followed by the biggest match of the year in Mexico, with Erlich substituted for little bro that day (again lost). Finally the season closed in the Bratislava showpiece as it had opened with Ken and Neal beating Raja/Sharan.
              Four Challenger titles in six finals plus a full Tour final is a decent return, and the ranking is moving in the right direction at the moment. Getting back to the top 50, where he was once, has got to be the aim.

              Neal Skupski
              2016 Final Ranking: 83
              2015 Final Ranking: 103
              Notable results (all doubles): SF: Newport; QF: Munich; Won: Bergamo (Ch), Cherbourg (Ch), St. Remy (Ch), Bratislava (Ch)
              Other Achievements: First career match win at Slam (Wimbledon R1 with brother Ken vs #7 seeds Kubot/Peya)
              Grade: C+
              Comments: Rather similar to big brother in terms of workload and results, which isn’t massively surprising considering they play together rather more often than not. All six challenger finals (four won, two lost) were played by the brothers in tandem. What Neal missed was an ATP Tour level final to go alongside the one he played with Ken in 2013.
              The seasonal highlight will definitely have been the Wimbledon R1 win against Kubot/Peya, who have both been to later stages of Slam Doubles events (one title for Kubot, one runner-up for Peya). It went the distance, to 11-9 in the deciding set, though that was the third as the first two rounds of this year’s Wimbledon Men’s Doubles were reduced to best of three because of inclement weather.
              That win shows the pair is capable of results to push themselves higher up the rankings than they currently sit, which has to be the aim as the current position surely doesn’t pay enough to make ends meet – Neal earned just $41,767 in prize money this season.

              Jonny Marray
              2016 Final Ranking: 92
              2015 Final Ranking: 53
              Notable results (all doubles): Runner-Up: Newport; SF: Montpellier, Los Cabos; QF: WIMBLEDON, Marseille, Atlanta
              Other Achievements: Beat the defending champions and another seeded pair en route to Wimbledon last eight.
              Grade: B-
              Comments: Is Jonny Marray’s career winding down? He is now 35, and the Wimbledon Men’s Doubles title is a long way in the past. Though it did always look like a flash in the pan, that one.
              Marray may have been wondering precisely that in the middle of the year, after a very disappointing opening few months of the campaign. There were just five wins to be had from the opening 15 tournaments (full Tour and Challengers), with an ever changing cast of partners.
              However things picked up a little on the grass as a new partnership with Adil Shamasdin was formed. And then there was Wimbledon... In as wild cards, Marray/Shamasdin were handed a god-awful first round draw against #4 seeds Rojer/Tecau, just the defending Wimbledon and Tour Finals Men’s Doubles champions at that point in time. Two sets later, Rojer/Tecau were just like Jonny Marray, ex-Wimbledon Champions (Tecau was, of course, part of the team Marray/Neilsen beat for their crown). Following a straightforward R2 win, Marray/Shamasdin then did for the #16 seeds and Aussie Open Semi-Finalists Cuevas/Granollers, 14-12 in a fifth set*. At this point minds were really going back to 2012 and asking “it can’t happen again can it?!?”. No, it couldn’t, as they Brit/Canadian team lost to #12 Huey/Mirnyi in the last eight.
              This run was followed in the week after Wimbledon with an ATP Final in Newport (l to Guccione/Groth), but all of that was enough to say the partnership has promise. So Marray will presumably continue for another season or two yet.
              He needs to get the ranking up pronto, mind.
              * - the Marray/Shamasdin vs Cuevas/Granollers match was also notable for some fuss over toilet breaks.

              Comment


                The Andy (and Jo (and Jamie)) show: British Tennis 2016

                Not much action at the moment. In Doha, in a 100k, Carreras lost in 2nd round of qualifying, Tara Moore produced a (not unusual for her) scoreline of 1-6, 6-4, 1-6 in a first round defeat. Katy Dunne has had a good first round win in the Pune 25k though.

                In the men, the most notable results have come from Jay Clarke, who at 18 is comfortably Britain's best ranked teen, following consecutive 10k tournament wins in Cairo.

                Scott Clayton and Jonny O'Mara have been hoovering up futures doubles titles together, but while O'Mara could probably compete at a higher level in singles (but for injury problems I'm sure he'd be there) Clayton probably can't, so the partnership might not get to test itself at a higher level. They did get an unusual test yesterday, with Mohammed El Aynaoui on the other side of the court. Once a top 20 player, he's now 45, but was still able to take 5 games with his partner.

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                  The Andy (and Jo (and Jamie)) show: British Tennis 2016

                  Dunne is through to the QFs of the singles and SFs of the doubles in Pune. Worth the trip, on balance.
                  Both Dunne and Moore are down to play again next week. No rest for the wicked.

                  Comment


                    The Andy (and Jo (and Jamie)) show: British Tennis 2016

                    Dunne now through to the SF of the singles, and final of the doubles. In her QF she beat a player who beat her 1 & 0 in their only previous encounter last year, so that's a good step forward.

                    Comment


                      The Andy (and Jo (and Jamie)) show: British Tennis 2016

                      She's finally lost a match. The singles SF (which, out of choice, wouldn't have been the one...), beaten 2 & 3 by the second seed. Doubles final is ongoing, 3-3 in the first set currently.
                      Dunne has to be tired; it's her third double header day in a row. Tired, but happy one hopes.

                      Comment


                        The Andy (and Jo (and Jamie)) show: British Tennis 2016

                        She lost that too, unfortunately.

                        Just to return to the Clayton/O'Mara doubles dominance their recent record is (not always together, as O'Mara hasn't always been there)

                        Clayton : 12th doubles final in a row, won 9 of the previous 11 including the last 8. 32 matches won in a row.

                        O'Mara : 10th doubles final in a row, won 7 of the previous 9 including the last 6. 24 matches won in a row.

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                          The Andy (and Jo (and Jamie)) show: British Tennis 2016

                          Just a smattering of tournaments again this week, with some British involvement in the Men's Futures in Hong Kong and Puerto Rico. And Katy Dunne and Tara Moore at the Challenger-ish level Women's event in Navi Mumbai.
                          Moore is the #2 seed for both singles and doubles, the doubles in tandem with her fianceé. Perrin is also playing the singles, of course, and is likewise a high seed (#3). Fortunately she and Moore have landed on other sides of the draw, so any difficult encounter is on hold until the final. Dunne is unseeded for both singles and doubles.

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                            The Andy (and Jo (and Jamie)) show: British Tennis 2016

                            Moore and Perrin made damn sure of not playing each other by both losing in R1. They then withdrew from the Doubles. Not a very successful trip, really.
                            Katy Dunne made the Singles QFs, but then ran into Zidansek for the second consecutive week, with the same outcome as last time (i.e. defeat). She also went out in R1 of the doubles.

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                              The Andy (and Jo (and Jamie)) show: British Tennis 2016

                              News agencies have been briefed - it'll be Sir Andy Murray from tomorrow.

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                                The Andy (and Jo (and Jamie)) show: British Tennis 2016

                                Crikey. The honours system is obnoxious and laughable, but congrats to Sir Andy anyway!

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                                  The Andy (and Jo (and Jamie)) show: British Tennis 2016

                                  In the absence of any contributions yet this calendar year from Janik and the other regular contributors who have insight to offer (hope you're all OK, guys), here's a short summary of progress in the 250 point events this week so far.

                                  Murray - in the Doha SF against Berdych, with the possibility of another meeting with Novak in the F if they both win their SFs

                                  Edmund - beaten by Wawrinka in the Brisbane QFs

                                  Evans - n/a (but had disappointing Hopman Cup, suffering two whitewashes alongside Watson)

                                  Bedene - still in Chennai at time of writing, QFs. Defending SF points (and was a finalist in 2015). Chennai seems to be an opportunity for the lower ranked main tour guys to grab ranking points on the 250 scale while the big names are attracted by the bigger prize money of the Doha 250 or the time zone etc. proximity of the Brisbane 250 to the upcoming Aussie Open: Brisbane and Doha each have far more competitors than Chennai from the top 10, ditto top 50.

                                  Konta - losing SF in Shenzhen not a terrible outcome overall but an opportunity missed since the earlier elimination of Radwanska and Halep had left her as the highest ranked SFist by some margin.

                                  Watson - poor Hopman Cup see above

                                  Broady - lost in Auckland R16, now in qualies (Q2) for next week's Sydney

                                  That's it I think - Moore is in a lower level event (current SF Hong Kong), while Robson lost in the first qualie round for Auckland so remains outside top 200.

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                                    The Andy (and Jo (and Jamie)) show: British Tennis 2016

                                    Try the "narky Scottish god" thread EEG

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                                      The Andy (and Jo (and Jamie)) show: British Tennis 2016

                                      D'oh! Thanks ad hoc! I'd neither noticed that Janik was the originator of that thread, nor (unbelievably) picked up on the pretty obvious probability of what the likely topic was for a thread with that title. (And I don't generally open random threads on Sport to check, as there are very few sports that I have any interest in.)

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