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    That's a very poor show by Murray. Fucks up the draw, places every player one seed lower than they would have been, and denies someone a place in the draw, assuming Murray's opponent gets a bye. He should have decided on Thursday at the latest.

    It also suggests he was talking balls when he claimed that playing at Wimbledon was not jeopardizing his future fitness. Clearly it has.

    OTOH I would not assume that a Federer v Nadal SF is likely to happen. Nadal has been falling in QFs in recent events and Federer has that fitness question. We could get four completely new semi-finalists, as if the big four era has ended in one clean snap.
    Last edited by Satchmo Distel; 27-08-2017, 11:04.

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      No byes. The vacant spot has been filled by a lucky loser from qualifying, Lukas Lacko. Lacko is the second LL to get in; Milos Raonic's withdrawal also came after qualifying started (though earlier enough not to mess the main draw seedings about). He was replaced by Leonardo Mayer.

      And further withdrawals before R1 matches will be the same, up to and including a handful of minutes notice. The next LL in line will have been informed and will spend Monday and Tuesday hanging around the venue with fingers crossed. However once R1 is underway the draw won't be rejigged again. Even if it's a seed who pulls out. What happens then is the LL replaces the seeded player directly.
      Last edited by Janik; 27-08-2017, 11:29.

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        Ironically a big beneficiary is Murray ouster Querrey, bumped into the 16 slot. Querrey would now meet Isner in Round 4, based on the draw. Jared Donaldson is an interesting prospect in that bottom quarter if Cilic is a goner.

        Revised draw at this moment http://www.usopen.org/en_US/scores/d...17_MS_draw.pdf

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          Interesting result in a Futures Tournanment. Oli Golding, who was a junior US Open Champion, and world number 2, failed to make an instant conversion onto the senior tour, though did reach 327 when he took a break from pro tennis in 2014. Anyway, he's just turned up in a 15k in Italy and knocked out the top seed (WR401) in the first round.

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            His Wikipedia page has not been updated to note his comeback. Prior to Italy, Golding played his first comeback games in Belarus. As yet, he has no ranking.

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              Yes, I noticed the Belarus results but wondered if that was just a family trip (his partner is Russian) but the Italy tournament does suggest a possible come back.

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                Golding is rather Tory, isn't he? Probably not the only one, but distinctly not shy about it.

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                  Until there is a realistic route for less priveliged children to make it as pro tennis players, it's always likely. Freya Christie and Jay Clarke are the only two who spring to mind who aren't from reasonably wealthy families. We are very lucky that the most high profile tennis player in the country has very sound views on most issues that he's expressed views on.

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                    Originally posted by Etienne View Post
                    who aren't from reasonably wealthy families
                    Not an excuse.

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                      Should say, I don't have any knowledge on Golding's politics.

                      There's a (mildly) interesting interview with him here. Doesn't sound like it's a definite comeback, though he won again yesterday.

                      https://www.spaziotennis.com/wftw/in...nnis/50168/amp

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                        Golding is now in the final.

                        Not been much else to note from a British perspective to accompany an underwhelming US Open. Katy Dunne won a couple of decent games in a 25k in Japan, then got thrashed. Alicia Bennett and Maia Lumsden did similar in 15ks in Korea and Poland respectively.

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                          Murray joins Djokovic, Wawrinka and Nishikori in missing the rest of the season. Probably. The draw for the next Aussie Open could be very uneven...

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                            Nothing much happening above Futures level, but some fine results in those tournaments. Katy Dunne dropped down to a 15k in Kyoto and won the tournament as second seed.

                            The incredible Fran Jones has done superbly to reach the semi in Tunisia, including toppling the top seed, ranked 700 places above her. Emily Arbuthnott has also reached the semi on the other side of the draw.

                            On the men's side, Ed Corrie has reached the semi final, though he's done it the hard way, losing the first set 2-6 in the first round and 1-6 in the second.

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                              Originally posted by Janik View Post
                              Murray joins Djokovic, Wawrinka and Nishikori in missing the rest of the season. Probably. The draw for the next Aussie Open could be very uneven...
                              The injuries seem career threatening, but at least Nadal and Federer have shown how to manage a comeback. Murray should perhaps skip the French because three slams in just over three months is a huge ask, but he may feel that he needs to defend those points. Can he risk skipping tournaments and then never recovering a top 8 ranking?

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                                Assuming Murray rejoins the fray in January, his 2017 calendar year to date points haul of 2290 should see him ranked around the 20 mark on his return, give or take a few places. So at least he'll have a seeding for the Aussie, and with any luck in the 17-24 range so he shouldn't meet a top player (other than one of the other injury returnees if unlucky) before R4.

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                                  Jones, Arbuthnott and Corrie all won their semi finals.

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                                    It's back to the grind then, at least for the Women as the ATP World Tour has a week off for the Davis Cup Semis (Belgium vs Australia and France vs Serbia, in case anyone is wondering). There are two events on the WTA, one final one in North America (Quebec City) and a first in Asia (the Japan Open, in Tokyo). Both have attracted British entrants. Smith/Melichar are in the far east, but are yet to start their campaign, so its Canada where the attention falls so far; Naomi Broady is in both the singles and doubles there, and is through to R2 on her lonesome after a good win against Destanee Aiava. She now plays #3 Timea Babos in R2. Broady is also playing with Muhammed in the doubles. They are the 4th seeds. Tara Moore tried to get through singles qualifying of this, but lost in the first round of it albeit after a tight three-setter.
                                    Quebec is something of a throwback event as it's played on indoor carpet, which is a notoriously rapid and now very rarely used surface. That might be why Broady enters it each year, and also why she is a former semi-finalist at the venue (2015). Babos will be difficult, but if Broady is serving at her best she will be a handful for nearly anyone on carpet.

                                    Challengers update to come later.

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                                      I never did an update on the Challengers last week, did I? I’ll get round to it and one for this week as well... eventually.

                                      We left the Tour last week with Naomi Broady through to R2 of the singles in Quebec and yet to play R1 of the doubles, and Smith/Melichar awaiting their R1 match in Tokyo. Well, following that was mostly defeats, with Broady/Muhammed winning one further doubles match. So that meant R2 singles for Broady (l to Timea Babos), QF doubles for Broady/Muhammed (Quebec) and R1 doubles for Smith/Melichar.

                                      On to this week, and the biggest event on the schedule is the WTA Premier in Tokyo. That is the Pan Pacific Open, whereas last week’s Tokyo event (at the same complex) was the Japan Open. Jo Konta is in the singles of this. She got a bye to R2 as one of the top four seeds (she is #4), where she will face Barbora Strycova tomorrow. Smith/Melichar also entered, not entirely surprisingly seeing as they were already in the hotel. They lost in R1 again, however.
                                      There are also two WTA Internationals ongoing, but just one, in Seoul, with British representation. That came in the form of Heather Watson and Katy Dunne. Watson went straight into the main draw, and straight out again after a wacky three-set defeat Sara Sorribes Tormo (wacky because Heather won set two 6-0 and got four games in the rest of the match!). Dunne meanwhile was in the qualifiers, where she won her q1 match against a local wild card before going out in final q to a higher ranked player. Dunne is also playing the doubles of this w/ Hon, and she is through the QFs of that following a match-breaker win in R1.

                                      There are two events this week on the ATP World Tour, both 250s. Liam Broady is having a fine old time in the one in St. Petersburg. He entered in the qualifying and won his way through to the big show after wins over Filip Horansky and Radu Albot (last seen pushing Querrey to four in R3 of the US Open). The win over Albot was very tight, needing a deciding set breaker. Seemingly learning from that, Broady has subsequently been posting bagels instead, beating Ernests Gulbis 6-3 6-0 in R1 and fourth seed Adrian Mannarino 2-6 6-4 6-0 in R2 to make his first Tour level singles QF. He will play Damir Dzumhur in that. Inglot/Nestor are also by the Baltic and through to the doubles QFs.
                                      The only Brit in action in Marseille was N.Skupski, and he lost in R1 of the doubles w/ Sharan.

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                                        Not a great day at tour level yesterday as Inglot/Nestor were eliminated in the QFs of Marseille and Jo Konta lost in two to Barbora Strycova in Tokyo. Konta is now in what can be genuinely called poor form, comfortably her worst in two seasons on hard or grass and actually just about as bad as her record on clay – since her Wimbledon semi-final appearance she has played four tournaments and lost her first match in three of them (Toronto, US Open, Tokyo) and won just two at the other one (Cincinnati). All that on what has been her most successful surface and period in the previous two years, the mid-to-late season hard court events. What had looked like a certain place at the Tour Finals this time around is becoming more open to question.

                                        OK, let’s do the Challengers, then.

                                        Last week:
                                        Cameron Norrie continued his rise, following his run through qualifying and to R2 of the US Open as he reached the final of the event in Cary, North Carolina beating Sekou Bangoura, #2 Tennys Sandgren, #7 Mackenzie McDonald and Marcelo Arevalo. Only Sandgren got a set, the other three all accumulated less than 6 games across their entire matches with Norrie. The final didn’t quite pan out the same, as this time it was Norrie winning just five games as Kevin King won the title. Norrie wasn’t the only Brit in Cary, with Luke Bambridge and Alex Ward also playing. Bambridge lost in the final round of qualifying, but then got a lucky loser spot and won his R1 match before exiting at the next stage. Ward, in directly on a protected ranking, lost at the first hurdle. Bambridge/O’Hare were the #2 seeds for the doubles, which gave them a bye directly to the QFs... which they promptly lost in!
                                        The only other action on the Men’s side was doubles, the Skupskis going out in R1 of Szczecin despite being #3 seeds, and Clayton/O’Mara losing in the QFs of Istanbul.
                                        On the Women’s ITF circuit the highest value event was in Biarritz but that attracted no Brits, unlike the next most valuable in Las Vegas. The bright lights encouraged in Laura Robson, Katie Boulter and a youngster called Lauryn John-Baptiste. She lost in the opening round of qualifying Boulter went out in R1 to Allie Kiick and Robson (seeded #6) was beaten in R2 by Renata Zarauza. Laura did get to enjoy her stay in Vegas though as she won the doubles title with Mestach (they didn’t drop a set in the tournament) and got to meet https://twitter.com/laurarobson5/status/909437786779815937]Genady Golovkin[/url] who might or might not have known who this pretty woman wanting a photo with him was (my guess is not).
                                        The tournament in Redding, California attracted Harriet Dart and Katie Swan to play singles. Both were seeded, Dart #3 and Swan #8. Dart reached the second round where she faced a familiar name making a comeback from injury, Aga (big) little sister Urszula Radwanska. Radwanska battled to the win in a deciding set tie-break, and promptly conceded a walkover in the Quarters. A similar story for Swan who had a great run to the Semis but then had to retire from that when trailing 4-1 in the opening set to Chanel Simmonds; Simmonds was also the beneficiary against Radwanska, but having had the easiest of paths to the final promptly lost it! Simmonds fortune was not just confined to the singles, as she and Jaksic got walkovers through R1 and the QFs of the doubles, the first of these coming against Swan/Yurovsky. When Jaksic/Simmonds finally played a match in the semis, the lost it to #3 seeds Dart/Sanchez. That put them into a final which was guaranteed a British winner as the pairing on the other side of the net were Borthwick/Veselinovic. And it was the later who took the pot, which was the first title of 24 year-old Daneika Borthwick’s professional career.
                                        Two other $25ks drew a British entrant. Emily Webley-Smith qualifed in Batumi, Georgia but then lost in R1 and did likewise when seeded #2 and alongside regular partner Lykina in the Doubles. And this week’s Groundhog Day in Santa Margherita Di Pula saw the latest step on Amanda Carreras’ second attempt to come back from the injury that curtailed her progress in the Spring. Carreras had tried to play in Prague in July, but a retirement in Q3 suggested that was too soon. She tried again in Bagnatica in an event pitched against week one of the US Open, losing straight away. Winning a round, which is what happened in Santa Margherita, represents progress.

                                        This week:
                                        The US autumn series continues with an event in Columbus, OH which attracted Alex Ward and Luke Bambridge. Bambridge again had to work through qualifying, and did it properly this time but then lost in R1. Ward used another of his PR entries to get in directly, and has made use of this one by recording wins over #5 Mackenzie McDonald (who must be getting sick of the sight of Brits) and Martin Joyce to set up a QF meeting with #4 Dennis Kudla. There are also Brits in the doubles of this, and indeed there will be one in the final as the Semi in the bottom half pitches #2 Salisbury/Klein against #3 Bambridge/O’Hare.
                                        Doubles forms the only other male action, with Clayton/O’Mara moving on to Izmir, where they are the #3 seeds and after a couple of wins are looking forward to a Semi against the #2 seeds.
                                        Much, much more going on on the Women’s side, with the highest points and joint highest money event happening in Tampico, Mexico. Naomi Broady and Katie Boulter have entered this. Broady was the #2 seed for it, but got embarrassingly dismantled in R1 by Grace Min. Who is whom Boulter plays next after Katie beat Catherine Leduc in R1. Broady was also seeded #4 for the doubles with Falconi, but they lost in the QFs.
                                        Saint Petersburg (which is a joint event with an ATP World Tour one) also offers a $100k prize pot, though with lower points associated to do with hospitality provided. Emily Webley-Smith was the sole British female entrant, and like Liam Broady in the Men’s draw she started in qualifying. Unlikely Broady she also exited at this stage, winning one but losing the next. Which is also precisely what she and Lykina achieved in the doubles.
                                        We continue working our way down in total prize money to an $80k in Albuquerque, where we find Laura Robson and Tara Moore. Robson drew #6 Marina Erakovic in R1, which proved too much for her to handle as Laura lost in three. No such problems for Tara though, who beat #5 Marie Bouzkova in R1 and followed that up with a win over Amanda Rogers. Moore is currently waiting to find out who her QF opponent will be. She knows who she and fiancée Perrin will play in the doubles (an Italian pair), whilst Robson’s doubles campaign is over after she and Erakovic (who beat her in singles) lost to Eikeri and Mestach, who was her partner in winning in Vegas last week!
                                        And finally Lubbock, Texas, where Harriet Dart is the big cheese as the top seed. She is through to the Semis, where she will play Victoria Duval (and the crowd). That will be a chance for revenge after Duval w/Kleybanova beat Dart/Di Lorenzo in the doubles Semis. Dart was far from the sole Brit here, though. Sabrina Federici, Lauryn John-Baptiste and Laura Deigman all entered qualifying, Federici posted the most impressive results, handing out a double bagel in q1, beating Deigman in q2 and then earning her spot in the main draw with another win. In the main event she would play John-Baptiste, after Lauryn landed a lucky loser spot following exiting qualifying at the final stage. Federici beat John-Baptiste in the main draw but then lost in R2 to Chieh-Yu Hsu. Federici and Deigman also played doubles (not together), Federici/Dvorak losing in R1 and Deigman/Siska doing so in the QFs.

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                                          Liam Broady’s run last week in St. Petersburg came to an end in the quarter-finals against Damir Dzumhur, beaten 3-6 6-2 4-6. That set in Broady’s favour was one of only two Dzumhur lost in the event as he claimed his debut Tour title, something the Bosnian had been knocking on the door of for most of the year.

                                          When we last checked on Challenger progress, Alex Ward was through to the last eight in Colombus, OH. He didn’t stop there, beating #4 Denis Kudla and #7 Dennis Novikov to reach a career first Challenger final (singles or doubles). Unfortuantely he then ran out of American opponents of Eastern European extraction with a first name of Dennis or variant, as his opponent in the title match was Ante Pavic. Ward won the opening set after a mammoth tie-breaker, 13-11, but then lost the next two. A pity, but still a great week which lifted Ward 158 ranking spots from the mid 550s to ~400. Getting to the final represented rather a turnaround for Ward; he had lost in the first round of qualifying or the main draw at the nine previous Challengers he had played! This is both a true fact, and ignores some handy wins above Challenger level – coming through qualifying at Wimbledon and beating Andrey Rublev in the qualifiers of a Full Tour event in Marrakech.
                                          As was trailed in the last post there was also a Brit in the doubles final in Colombus. That proved to be Bambridge w/ O’Hare after they beat Sailsbury/Klein in the Semis. However, just like Ward, Bambridge/O’Hare lost the final, in their case beaten by Koepfer/Kudla.
                                          There was a title for Brits on the Men’s side, as Clayton/O’Mara beat the second seeds in the Izmir Doubles semi and then were handed a walkover against the top seeds in the title match.
                                          Katie Boulter was waiting to play a 2nd round match against Grace Min in Tampico, Mexico when we last popped by the Women’s ITF circuit. She won that, but then lost to Aliona Bolsova Zadoinov (Esp) in the QFs.
                                          Tara Moore’s last eight opponent in Albuquerque turned out to be Sherazad Reix, and that proved to be too much. However there was success for Moore in the doubles as she and Perrin came all the way through to their first title together in a while.
                                          Harriet Dart, seeded #1, was preparing for a Semi in Lubbock, TX against #3 Victoria Duval last time we checked in. Duval won. It is incredibly hard to begrudge Duval any wins with the litany of personal setbacks she has had.

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                                            And so to this week. Kyle Edmund is due to comeback from the neck injury that ended his US Open campaign tomorrow as he takes on Bernard Tomic in Chengdu. Edmund is the 6th seed for the event. Edmund is the only Brit in Men’s Tour singles action this week, with the only doubles also in Chengdu where Inglot/Nestor are the 4th seeds.

                                            As for the WTA, that was an all too familiar tale for anyone who has been watching in recent weeks: Wuhan was the latest venue to see Heather Watson lose in final qualifying and Jo Konta get beaten in her first match. Watson’s conqueror was Ons Jabeur, Konta lost to Ash Barty in R2 after a R1 bye. Jo even served for the match in set three before letting it slip. Her confidence is clearly low at the moment. At least Smith/Melichar picked up a win in the doubles, and a good one taking down Gavrilova/Strycova.


                                            Down a level to the ITF Women’s Circuit, where the highest value event is a $60k in Templeton, CA. Naomi Broady, Laura Robson and Katie Boulter were all on the last acceptance list for this as main draw entrants. Assuming all three do play (the draw isn’t out yet), they will be the only ones as Laura Deigman lost in the first round of qualifying.
                                            Suzy Larkin continues to slog around the world in pursuit of a professional Tennis career. This week took her to Brisbane for the singles qualifying; she won two matches but then lost at the last hurdle to Sara Tomic (Bernie’s little sister).
                                            A bunch of Brits played the qualifying of the event in Clermont-Ferrand, Olivia Nicholls coming through as Emily Webley-Smith, Alicia Barnett and Sarah Beth Grey fell by the wayside. Nicholls will face #6 Sofia Shapatava in R1, who coincidentally is Webley-Smith’s doubles partner this week. They play tomorrow, as do Gery/Nicholls who are also in tandem.
                                            Loads of players must know every clump of clay on the Santa Margherita Di Pula courts, and this large group includes Amanda Carreras, who is back at the venue yet again. She plays Gabriela Ce in R1 tomorrow.
                                            Emma Hurst played the qualifying of the event in Hua Hin, Thailand (which I believe is another used and reused venue). Hurst won her q1 match with a double bagel but then lost in q2 nearly as heavily.
                                            Harriet Dart, Tara Moore and Katie Swan are all in Stillwater, OK for the event there. All were ranked high enough to avoid qualifying, but haven’t quite got plum main draw, erm, draws. Moore in particular, as she faces #1 Danielle Rose Collins. Dart plays #5 Usue Maitane Arconada and Swan takes on a non-seed in Karman Kaur Thandi. Dart w/ Mestach (seeded #2), Moore w/ Perrin (seeded #3) and Borthwick w/ Thandi play the doubles.

                                            On the Men’s Challenger side, Alex Ward’s run has earned him a special exemption from the Tiburon, CA qualifiers. He joins Cameron Norrie in being straight in to R1. Norrie will play Elias Ymer (Norrie is seeded #8) and Ward faces Alejandro Gonzalez. Norrie also plays the doubles w/ King, as do Bambridge/O’Hare fresh from their bloodless coup and Salisbury/Klein. Once again Bambridge /O’Hare are seeded #2 and Salisbury/Klein #3.
                                            Just one other pair involved in events elsewhere, the Skupskis playing the €127,000+H event in Orleans, France. They are the second seeds, and their campaign is yet to start.

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                                              Nice to see Nicole Gibbs supporting the NFL kneeling protest.

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                                                Crikey. Konta's feelings at losing in the first round of the Wuhan singles to Ashleigh Barty must now be rather mitigated by the fact that Barty has gone on in the subsequent three rounds to beat all of top 10 players Radwanska, Pliskova and (to 3 and 0) Ostapenko. Barty's chances of winning the final must be good considering that, unlike her 4 victims so far, neither of her potential opponents in it are near the top 10. Future slam winner?

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                                                  .. but Garcia wins the Wuhan final.

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                                                    It was an excellent match - I didn't see all of it, but what I did see was a very equal match-up of two very in-form players. Not surprised it went to a final set tiebreaker.

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