ah, thanks Etienne. Just checking that I'm following the logic there for the "more points" - is the idea that, as the provision of accommodation makes participation cheaper for players, that will make the tournament more popular with players and hence increase the likely average standard of competition?
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It's accommodation and subsistence, i.e. a players restaurant isn't it?
And yes, same deal as with the higher prize money = higher points because each element like this should attract a stronger field. A $100k+H doesn't give that many more points than a $100k, just an extra 10 for the winner. The notable difference is a futures level between a basic $15k and a $15k+H - the latter is more than double the points of the former. Breakdown here:- https://wta-playerzone.com/common/pdf/Rankings.pdf
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Boulter's final is at 11:00, btw. There will be a live stream from Southsea on the ITF website, btw. Linky.
On this match, I find it odd that Kirsten Flipkens lists her favourite playing surfaces as clay and hard on the ITF website. She is one of a dying breed, a serve-volleyer. Her most notable result came on grass, when she made the Wimbledon Semi a few years ago, and she has also made two WTA finals on the surface. Flipkens' current ranking is 51 to Boulter's 150-odd and rising.Last edited by Janik; 29-06-2018, 09:00.
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It finished 6-3, so no $100k title for Katie.
In terms of who will be the British No.2 woman after Wimbledon, Boulter is in pole position but it's close between her, Watson and Broady. And in that order, i.e. Boulter just needs to match Watson and Broady's results in SW19 to be in the spot, whilst Watson needs to match Broady but go a round further than Boulter.
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Post-Wimbledon rankings. Top 20s for Singles and top 10s for doubles with selected others and Brits in top 250 (singles) and top 100 (doubles). Race positions in brackets, with the doubles ones being the best team spot rather than individual.
WTA
Singles
1. (1) Halep
2. (3) Wozniacki
3. (6) Stephens - new career high (nch) on rolling rankings
4. (2) Kerber
5. (5) Svitolina
6. (15) Garcia
7. (9) Muguruza
8. (4) Kvitova
9. (8) Pliskova
10. (11) Goerges
11. (12) Ostapenko
12. (16) Keys
13. (7) Kasatkina
14. (41) V.Williams
15. (10) Mertens
16. (19) Barty
17. (13) Bertens
18. (14) Osaka
19. (71) Vandeweghe
20. (27) Strycova
21. (21) Sharapova
25. (18) Buzarnescu - nch
28. (17) S.Williams
50. (33) Konta
109. (69=) Azarenka
117. (98) Boulter - nch
133. (122=) Watson
139. (145) N.Broady
146. (134=) Bouchard
168. (127=) Dart - nch
176. (151) Swan - nch
177. (125) Taylor
220. (168) Dunne - could do with moving up to ~200 to be comfortable of getting into US qualies
Notable things:-
Caro Wozniacki is 831 points behind Halep on the rolling rankings, and Angie Kerber is 499 adrift of Simona on the Year To Date.
CoCo Vandeweghe has a big chunk of points to defend in the American summer, not least US Open SF from last year, hence the difference between her rolling and YTD rankings.
Serena Williams fans can now rest easy about her being seeded for the US Open. But she should still be a non-seed in Montreal and Cincinnati if those events get typical entry lists and the Tournament Directors follow the rules.
A seeding for Jo Konta in New York is unlikely, she would need some excellent results in the warm-up tournaments above how she has generally been playing this year. However her lack of points to defend from last summer/autumn means continuing as she was should just about sneak a seeding for the ’19 Aussie Open.
I believe Vika Azarenka has now either used up all her protected ranking entries, or they have expired as her comeback has been so stilted (they only last 12 months from the players return to the court). If so, she is on the cusp of making the US Open cut with her rolling ranking and might need a wild card. Which she ought to get in the circumstances.
Katie Boulter’s ranking is lower than we were projecting. This is due to four reasonable high value ITF events (2 x $100k, 2 x $60k, three of the four on clay) taking place concurrently with the second week of Wimbledon. Players picked up enough points there to push Boulter down to the point where she is now pretty unlikely to make the New York main draw cut, sadly.
Continuing on the same theme, Genie Bouchard will be heading for the qualifiers in New York based on her ranking. That is unless the organisers feel a different moral obligation than that with Azarenka and give Bouchard a wild card on the basis that her career has gone into free-fall ever since the slip and concussion in their locker room, an accident the legal settlement of which says was 75% the USTA's fault. I guess some will be wondering why I still talk about this player, given her current status as a no-mark. Well, despite all that, she was still one of the top 10 earning female athletes in the World in 2017, according to Forbes. I can't see that being repeated in the new dawn and new day of 2018. I mean, did you even know she played one of those ITF tournaments mentioned above last week? The $100k in Contrexeville, France with no line judges and a small stand capable of holding a couple of hundred, in front of which Bouchard lost in R1 to Paula Badosa Gibert. Who? Well someone ranked 10 places higher than her beaten foe that day! The full match is available on YouTube if you want a mighty fallen vibe.
Talking of New York cuts, Katy Dunne could do with pushing her ranking up by ~20 spots in the next month to be comfortable about making the US Open qualies.
Doubles
1. (2) Babos - nch
2. (1) Siniakova - nch
3. (17) L.Chan
4. (1) Krejcikova - nch
5. (3) Makarova
6. (3) Vesnina
7. (8) Sestini Hlavackova
8. (8) Strycova
9. (4) Dabrowski
10. (2) Mladenovic
25. (29) Safarova
49. (23) Watson
52. (36) Smith
80. (63) Broady
81. (44) Mattek-Sands
Notes:-
Timea Babos has known for a week that she would be becoming World No.1 for the first time in this ranking update, but today it is finally official, so well done to her. She is the first Hungarian to be World No.1 in Tennis. She leads Katerina Siniakova by 275 points on the rolling rankings, but Babos and regular partner Mladenovic are actually 1087 points in arrears of Krejickova/Siniakova on the YTD (well the Czechs have just won Roland Garros and Wimbledon back-to-back).
Former No.1 Bethanie Mattek-Sands is beginning her comeback up the rankings. Good luck to her. Presumably now she is back the Safarova/Mattek-Sands partnership will be back in regular operation.
ATP
Singles
1. (1) Nadal
2. (2) Federer
3. (3) Zverev
4. (4) del Potro
5. (8) Anderson - nch
6. (13) Dimitrov
7. (7) Cilic
8. (9) Isner - nch
9. (6) Thiem
10. (5) Djokovic
11. (21) Goffin
12. (14) Schwartzmann
13. (20) Carreno Busta
14. (154!) Sock
15. (18) Fognini
16. (11) Edmund - nch
17. (17) Bautista Agut
18. (27) Kyrgios
19. (23) Pouille
20. (10) Nishikori
77. (97) Norrie
177. (303) L.Broady
199. (125) Wawrinka
225. (179) Clarke
323. (233) Evans
839. (682) A.Murray
Notes:-
Following Nadal defending in Paris and improving in London and Federer skipping the French and not defending at Wimbledon, Nadal now leads Federer by a good chunk on both rolling and YTD. 2230, i.e. more than a Slam on the rolling, 1740 on the YTD (Nadal is the reigning US Open champion)
Jack Sock’s win-loss record (in singles, the doubles is going OK… if being Wimbledon champion counts as just ‘OK’) for 2018 so far is 5-13, which is hideous. He is yet to win more than two singles matches in any one tournament. And despite that, his R1 in SW19 somehow saw him move up the rolling rankings by a spot from 15 to 14! Reality will bite hard at the end of the season though as ~66% of Sock’s singles ranking points date back to two 2017 tournaments, the Paris Indoor and the Tour Finals. He is the defending champion at Bercy so can only hold station if he wins again, and as that is a Masters Series event of course that should draw most of the top players it sounds highly unlikely. Even a runner-up spot would wipe out a good chunk of his points. There is no way he will get to defend his SF points from the O2 last year. It’s urgent that he gets some wins to avoid a ranking collapse of epic proportions.
Jay Clarke is in the same boat as Katy Dunne in being on the ragged edge of making the US Open, and could also do with climbing up to ~200 to be confident in his scheduling.
Doubles
1. (2) M.Bryan
2. (1) Pavic
3. (1) Marach
4. (2) B.Bryan
5. (13) Peers
6. (13) Kontinen
7. (5) Mahut
8. (5) Herbert
9. (8) Kubot
10. (8) Melo
13. (7) J.Murray
28. (14) Inglot
41. (23) Salisbury - nch
45. (22) N.Skupski
57. (22) K.Skupski
83. (55) Bambridge
87. (55) O'Mara
Notes:-
Mike Bryan is back at no.1 aged 40. Well done he. Mike has now topped the rankings for 16 weeks more than brother Bob. He leads Mate Pavic by 1340 on the rolling ranks, though Marach/Pavic are 1575 ahead of Bryan/Bryan on the YTD (well that pair isn’t playing at the moment due to injury!).
Joe Salisbury’s run to the Semis of Wimbledon has rocketed him 40-odd places up the rankings. At #41 he can realistically hope to make the cut for Masters Series events. He certainly should be upgrading to playing the main Tour regularly and needs to talk to a travel agent about flights and accommodation for New York and for the Far East after that.Last edited by Janik; 16-07-2018, 13:33.
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Venus doesn't play much, given her age. She had deep runs at most of the Slams last year but not this so far, and the Slams are really how her ranking is built these days. I don't think Venus is particularly bothered if she is seeded or not, as she knows that if she is fit and firing that she can beat anyone (maybe baring Serena). And if she is run-down, well it's not going to happen even if she has an easier R1/R2 draw as a seed. As long as she is in the top 50 so can play whatever events suit her, she is fine.
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Originally posted by Satchmo Distel View PostHas Murray announced which US hard court events he will definitely play?
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Since Wimbledon, then.
The first week following on the ATP was the usual mix of grass (Newport, RI) and clay (Bastad, Swe and Umag, Cro) events. Kyle Edmund was meant to be getting one last slide on dirt before the US Hardcourt summer as he was due to be the top seed in Umag, but he withdrew at short notice with a throat infection as I think I noted up thread.
That just left Doubles, with the leading pair being Inglot/Skugor, who were the top seeds in Umag. They made the Semis, whilst #3 K.Skupski/Raja and unseeded Bambridge/O’Mara played Newport, reaching the QFs and going out in R1 respectively.
With just two clay court tournaments on the WTA, all the Brits operating at this level opted for a week off. It was the Div.2 level girls who took up the baton. Tara Moore was entered for the highest value event of those, a $60k in Berkeley. She was knocked out of the main draw in R1, and as #3 seed the QFs of the doubles.
Sarah Beth Grey played an outdoor carpet (astroturf?) event in Imola ($25k). She got straight into the main draw and was the #8 seed, and played to par reaching the QFs before losing to the #1 seed in three sets. Grey was also top seed for the doubles, got a R1 bye but lost in the QFs. Another event with Brits present was a $25k+H in Portugal on hard courts. Eden Silva and Ella Taylor played the qualifying, Silva losing in the final round and Taylor first up. Silva did make the SFs of the doubles, though.
The most populous tournament though was the $25k in Gatineau, Quebec. Four Brits entered the Women’s draw of this, and all ended up as qualifying seeds. Jodie Anna Burrage (1) and Alicia Barnett (7) safely negotiated main draw passage, but Samantha Murray (3) and Freya Christie (6) fell at the last hurdle. Murray got a reprieve as a lucky loser, but then drew the main draw #1 seed in R1 and went out again. Burrage also lost in R1 to a fellow qualifier, but the story of this one was Barnett, who made it all the way to the Semis, beating the #2 and #5 seeds en route. Murray and Barnett also played the doubles (not together). Murray made the SFs of those, Barnett lost in R1.
There was a concurrent Men’s event at Gatineau, worth $75k. Liam Broady (seeded #6) and Alex Ward played the main draw of that, whilst Luke Johnson played the qualies as an alternate. None of them won a match. In singles or doubles, as Broady lost in R1 of the team stuff as well.
Then there was last week. Again there were no Brits in WTA action with the options of a clay court event in Moscow or a hard court one in the Far East. The Moscow event did have a notable final in general terms though as it pitted two 17 year-olds against each other, Olga Danilovic of Serbia and Anastasia Potapova of Russia. Danilovic won it, which was doubly remarkable as not only was she the youngest winner of a WTA title for a number of years, she was also the first WTA champion born this millennium (23rd Jan 2001) and also the first WTA champion to do so after getting entry as a lucky loser, having been beaten in the final round of qualifying!
Meanwhile on the ATP the big event was the German Open in Hamburg, which is an ATP500. But that was on clay so no Brits bothered with the singles and the only one to try the doubles, Inglot/Skugor, lost in R1. There was even less (i.e. no) interest in the Swiss Open in Gstaad. The Atlanta Open got more of a flicker though as Cameron Norrie entered it. His run through to the SFs included wins over #6 Jeremy Chardy and #3 Nick Kyrgios before losing to #8 Ryan Harrison.
Harrison’s win echoed a similar victory over Kyle Edmund in last year’s Semi, and it got the American the same reward – losing to John Isner in the final. Isner is an alumus of the University of Georgia and so is committed to the Atlanta event. Indeed this was the fifth time he has won this particular title, along with three runner-up finishes. Only once has the final not involved Isner.
Norrie also played the Atlanta doubles alongside Fritz. They beat another half-British team, #4 seeds Salisbury/Erlich in R1 before losing to a third, K.Skupski/Raja in the QFs. K.Skupski/Raja subsequently lost the Semi. Bambridge/O’Mara also played this and lost in the QFs.
As Etienne notes up thread, Jay Clarke won the Challenger title (his first) in Binghampton, NY, which is a $75k event. Clarke was seeded #8 for this, and his run included wins over the top two seeds, Marcel Granollers and Jordan Thompson in the Semis and Final. The rankings points gained should ensure he comfortably makes the cut for US Open qualifying.
Whilst Clarke was doing that, Liam Broady was playing in a $100k in Granby, QC. He was the #5 seed in the main draw, but lost in the opening Round. The doubles was better though, where Broady/Aragone were seeded #4 – they finished as runners-up. Luke Johnson also made the QFs of the doubles, but lost in q2 of singles qualifying.
As with most Canadian Div.2 events, there were Men’s and Women’s draws in Granby ($60k). The British representatives in the Women’s all started in the qualifiers, again with seedings. Jodie Anna Burrage (1) didn’t manage to repeat as she went out in q1 this time (she may have been knackered), whilst Samantha Murray (5) and Freya Christie (7) did win through. Sadly neither Murray or Christie built on that, losing in R1. Murray was also seeded #4 for the doubles, where she and partner made the SFs.
Sarah Beth Grey and Tara Moore played a clay court event in Porto ($25k). Both went straight into the main draw, Grey reaching he QFs including a win over the #6 seed for the event, before losing to #3. Moore lost in R1. The Brits were also the #1 and #2 seeds for the doubles (Moore at #1) and made the SFs and QFs respecitlve, but without winning any matches. Moore and partner got a bye and a walkover before finally playing and going out, Grey and her compadre also receiving a bye then losing.
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OK, what of this week?
Well, there is the WTA Premier event in San Jose, which has replaced Stanford. Jo Konta and Heather Watson have entered that, but neither has particularly appetising draws. Konta’s R1 match-up couldn’t really be harder, one S.Williams who is seeded #6. Watson, who sneaked in after withdrawals and because this event is still using her pre-Eastbourne ranking, faces wild card Claire Liu in R1. Liu was the only player to take a set off Kerber at Wimbledon last month. If Watson wins, she will then play #3 V.Williams.
Watson and Konta are also playing the San Jose doubles, though not together. In fact there is a good chance they will play each other as Watson is the #2 seed w/Buzarnescu, and if they win their R1 match they will face Konta/Zhang in R2 as the British/Chinese pair have already won their opener.
There is also a big event going on in Washington, albeit just an International for the Women. That has three Brits involved in the Women’s Singles main draw: Katie Boulter, who got in by right, Katie Swan, who has been given a wild card and Harriet Dart who cruised impressively through qualifying, losing just five games in four sets. Both Boulter and Dart drew seeded players with current top 50 rankings in #5 Aleksandra Krunic (WR 47) and #6 Belinda Bencic (WR 43). Boulter, however, made very light of Krunic’s good form, wrapping up a 2&0 win that was really clean and impressive. She is playing top 50 quality Tennis at the moment, she really is. Dart and Swan, who faces Zheng Saisai are yet to play their singles, and in Dart’s case also her R1 doubles.
As noted above, Washington is both a Men’s and Women’s event and the Men’s one has a good chunk of points and prize money being an ATP500 tournament. The very familiar name in the Men’s draw is Andy Murray, who plays Mackenzie McDonald in R1. If the name rings a bell, he is a Scottish former World No.1... the guy who made it to R4 of Wimbledon. The winner of that match plays #4 Kyle Edmund in R2, Edmund having benefitted from a R1 bye, just as he did at Eastbourne before denying Murray there.
Andy isn’t the only Murray in Washington as Jamie is there as well alongside regular partner Soares. They are seeded #4 and are on court in their R1 match currently.
There are also Brits playing in the ATP250 event at Los Cabos, Mexico. Cameron Norrie is the sole representative in the singles – he plays a qualifier Prajnesh Gunneswaran in R1. Norrie isn’t playing the doubles this week, but #2 Salisbury/Erlich and Bambridge/O’Mara are in Mexico for those.
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Just as with getting to No.1, Andy was following Jamie’s lead last night – he and Soares won their R1 match after an extended battle, 10-7 in a match breaker.
Challengers this week:-
The highest value Men’s event is a $125k in Chengdu, China. This has attracted one British entrant, James Ward, and he has made a start on justifying the expense of the trip (where he will presumably play more than this one tournament) with a R1 win this morning.
The main event though is the $75k (Men’s side) tournament in Lexington, KY. Liam Broady (seeded #4), Jay Clarke (#7), Alex Ward and Dan Evans all entered this and got main draw acceptances, whilst Lloyd Glasspool was in the qualifiers, where he was seeded #7. Sadly for Glasspool he had to retire from his first match with an abdominal strain. Better news for Ward though, who won in R1 against a local wild card. Broady, Clarke and Evans are yet to start in singles, though Broady has got his doubles campaign underway with a R1 win (he is the only Brit playing, part of the #4 seeded pairing). Evans initially drew top seed M.Granollers in R1 but has coped a break after the Spaniard withdrew too late to rejig the seeds, leaving Evans playing a qualifier instead.
Lexington is another joint Men’s and Women’s tournament, with the Women’s prize pot being $60k. Brits involved here are Gabriella Taylor (#6) and Katy Dunne in the main draw, and Emily Webley-Smith (#3) in qualifying. But only in the qualies as Webley-Smith won her first match but lost her second. Taylor plays a local wild card in R1, Dunne a qualifier TBD. Before that Dunne and partner will take on Webley-Smith and chum in R1 of the doubles, halving the British representation in that.
And then there is an event in Britain, Woking to be precise. On hard courts, £25k pot. Maia Lumsden, Jodie Anna Burrage, Sarah Beth Grey and Samantha Murray all made the main draw of this on account of their rankings. They are joined there by four wild cards, Alicia Barnett, Freya Christie, Francesca Jones and Ella Taylor and one who worked her way through qualifying, Eden Silva.
Silva, who was the #2 seed in the qualies, got one of the few wins by a Brit over a non-Brit in final q. The only other player to do this was Aleksandra Pitak who won a three-setter in q1 but then got tonked in final q. Katarzyna Pitak, Emilie Lindh Gallagher, Martina Paladini Jennings and Emily Arbuthnott won all-British q1 matches, beating Lily Ghodrati, Tanysha Dissanayake, Olivia Elliott and Olivia Sonnekus-Williams respectively, whilst Eloise Saraty, Jennifer Allan, Sofie Woon, Lauren Harrington, Camille Verden Anderson, Imam Garshong, Anoushka Wooller and Louie McLelland lost to non-Brits in q1.
All eight main draw matches involving Brits are due to happen today (only eight as E.Taylor is playing Burrage), the first of them starting imminently. There are also some doubles matches involving Brits happening today, the British involvement being unsurprising seeing as 8/14 of the pairs are either half- or all-British, and the draw has mostly kept them apart meaning there is just one R1 match without any Brits involved. Grey/Nicholls are the top seeds for the event and have a R1 bye due to the short number of entries.
There was one other ITF event with a Brit involved, which was at Forth Worth, TX. Elise Van Heuvelen entered the qualifiers of this, won her first match with a double bagel but then lost in q2.
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My reaction on seeing that score - WTF?!? I think that is Serena's heaviest ever professional loss!
Also a very handy win for Heather Watson against Claire Liu. I watched the first set, and it was high quality, excellent ball striking and moving, rallies ending on winners/forced mistakes rather than unforced errors. Watson plays Venus next, whilst Konta will look to back-up against Sofia Kenin. But first they have a doubles match against each other, Watson/Buzarnescu having won their R1 match two days ago.
Over in Washington, Harriet Dart lost to Belinda Bencic in two. Dart is also out of the doubles of this. Katie Swan is yet to start her singles campaign due to rain. Or indeed her doubles one, as she has got into that as an alternate. Like Dart yesterday, both her R1s are today. She will be a busy bee.
Edit - missed out Cameron Norrie beating Prajnesh Gunneswaran in Los Cabos. Also two results from the doubles of that - Salisbury/Erlich won their R1 match (very comfortably, in fact) but Bambridge/O'Mara lost.Last edited by Janik; 01-08-2018, 09:28.
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Challenger results since yesterday morning:-
Lexington
Jay Clarke continued his good form with a straight sets win, but Liam Broady and Dan Evans disappointingly lost in R1 (Evans defeat including a bagel). Women's R1 of this is due to happen today.
Woking
Very decent day yesterday, with R1 wins for Freya Christie, Maia Lumsden, Eden Silva, Francesca Jones and Jodie Anna Burrage. Only Burrage’s was against a fellow Brit (Ella Taylor). Alicia Barnett, Sarah Beth Grey and Samantha Murray lost, and all three of these were playing seeds. As was Jones, for that matter (Diana Marcinkevica being her scalp). Also Doubles wins for Arbuthnott/Danilina and Silva/Ka, the later against Sonnekus-Williams/Aney, and defeat for the Pitak sisters.
Due up today are the following:-
Tour level
San Jose
R2 Jo Konta vs Sofia Kenin – not before 3:00pm local time
Washington
R1 Katie Swan vs Zheng Saisai – nb4 2pm
R2 Andy Murray vs Kyle Edmund [4] – nb4 4:30pm
R2 Allie Kiick vs Katie Boulter – last match of the day
Doubles R1 Swan/Van der Hoek vs Bencic/Kalinina – nb4 4pm and after suitable rest (I did saw Swan was going to be busy!)
Los Cabos
R2 Cameron Norrie vs Feliciano Lopez [8] – 6pm
Challengers
Lexington
R2 Alex Ward vs Stefano Napolitano [8]
R1 Katy Dunne vs Alison Bai
R1 Gabriella Taylor [6] vs Peyton Stearns
Woking
R2 Freya Christie vs Francesca Jones – already under way as 10:30am start
R2 Maia Lumsden vs Ivana Jorovic [5] – as above, on second court
R2 Jodie Anna Burrage vs Pemra Ozegn [8] – follows Christie vs Jones
R2 Eden Silva vs Andreea Amalia Rosca [4] – follows Burrage vs Ozgen and nb4 1pm
Doubles R1 Christie/Murray [3] vs Paladini Jennings/Wooller – all-British, follows Silva vs Rosca nb4 3pm
Doubles R1 Barnett/Lumsden vs Smitkova/Wrljic – nb4 2pm
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