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    A win! For Dart, and a convincing one too. Swan lost though, narrowly against Khumkhum.

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      There's a TV movie thing upcoming, called Strokes of Genius about Federer v Nadal, Wimbledon final in '08.

      I will be very annoyed if the theme tune is not this:

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        I think James Ward can feel pretty hard done by when he's only out of the top 250 because of injury, recently got to a challenger final and has been to R3 in the past. I think it's a shame for Evans as well but it is what it is, it's understandable I suppose.

        It's one thing giving QWCs to youngsters but they've gone a bit far this year, one is 16, doesn't have a ranking and lost in the first round of the juniors at Oz and the French. They're going to be badly out of their depth and it's hard to see the point.

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          Maybe the policy needs to be spelled out, to make it seem less arbitrary?

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            Originally posted by Seven Saxon Kings View Post

            It's one thing giving QWCs to youngsters but they've gone a bit far this year, one is 16, doesn't have a ranking and lost in the first round of the juniors at Oz and the French. They're going to be badly out of their depth and it's hard to see the point.
            If the 16 year old is in the juniors, and has a chance, I see why they've done it. There won't be a British winner this year, and everybody knows it, so to keep whatever funding they are getting, they have to show they are doing something with their money.

            Admittedly, no-one ever used to go to Wimbledon thinking that a Brit would win.

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              Originally posted by Chemin-de-fairy View Post
              If the 16 year old is in the juniors, and has a chance, I see why they've done it. There won't be a British winner this year, and everybody knows it, so to keep whatever funding they are getting, they have to show they are doing something with their money.

              Admittedly, no-one ever used to go to Wimbledon thinking that a Brit would win.
              If you need a QWC then you're outside the top 200 in the world, so British or otherwise no one is expecting you to win. But they ought to at least go to people who might realistically get through qualifying, I don't see how a kid without a win at futures level could possibly hope to achieve that and he's surely better off focusing on the juniors.

              The LTA certainly do have published criteria and it focuses on top 100 potential, Davis Cup potential, etc as well as the commercial side of things. But Wimbledon has its own committee and just seems to be very rigid on top 250, even when someone like James Ward has pretty clear mitigating circumstances for falling below that.

              Evans won his first pre-qualifier and plays Marcus Willis in the next round, who came through quail two years ago and beat Bernakis before losing to Federer in R2.

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                QR1: Daniel Evans [1] 340 def Evan Hoyt 859 PR 547 6-2 6-4
                QR1: Marcus Willis 730 def Patrick Foley [WC] 6-2 6-4
                QR1: Jack Findel-Hawkins [WC] 851 def Finn Bass [WC] 792 6-3 6-7(8) 6-2
                QR1: Neil Pauffley [WC] 749 def Tom Farquharson [3] 481 6-4 6-2

                QR1: Billy Harris 644 def Edward Corrie [2] 457 6-4 2-6 6-3
                QR1: Lloyd Glasspool 578 def Luke Johnson [WC] 766 6-4 6-1
                QR1: Luke Bambridge 589 def Jonathan Gray 588 6-3 7-6(3)
                QR1: Brydan Klein [4] 499 def Isaac Stoute [WC] 952 6-2 6-1

                Couple of results still to come from the women

                Tara Moore [1/395] def Eden Silva 6-4 6-4
                Emily Appleton def Ella Taylor 6-4 6-3
                Emily Webley-Smith def Victoria Allen 6-1 6-3
                Samantha Murray [3/504] def Alicia Barnett 6-4 6-7(1) 6-2

                Beth Grey [2/502] def Amelia Bissett 6-0 6-1
                Freya Christie def Erin Richardson 6-0 5-2 Retired

                Jack Draper has only played 2 futures tournaments, in both cases losing in the first round after winning 3 qualifying matches. In one of them he won the first set before retiring in the second set. He's very talented, and could well be a top player. I don't see a problem with giving him a qWC for experience.

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                  Danielle Daley def Katherine Barnes 6-2 6-0
                  Eden Richardson def Jodie Anna Burrage [4/513] 4-6 6-4 6-3

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                    PQR2: (q1) Dan Evans WR 340 defeated Marcus Willis WR 730 by 7-6(4) 7-6(4)
                    PQR2: (qWC) Jack Findel-Hawkins WR 851 defeated (qWC) Neil Pauffley WR 749 by 3 & 4

                    ****

                    FPQR: (q1) Dan Evans WR 340 vs (qWC) Jack Findel-Hawkins WR 851

                    Findel-Hawkins is at college in the US, so is considerably under-ranked, but would still be a big surprise if he beat Evans. In his favour is that they will play this afternoon, so Evans' lack of match practice may catch up with him.

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                      Andy Murray has decided to play Eastbourne.

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                        He's come out as a lesbian?

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                          It looks like tiredness will beat Evans. He won the first set but 5-2* down in 2nd set. Asks for more water but the organisers have no more bottles left. Evans: "My legs have completely gone. Two matches in one day". Then loses set 6-3.

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                            So I shall be watching Rybarikova v Strycova, and Kvitova v Buzarnescu tomorrow, it seems.

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                              Evans came back to win, Lloyd Glasspool, Sam Murray and Freya Christie the others to win through.

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                                There are Men's and Women's events in Eastbourne this year GO, as they were last as well. Novak Djokovic won the Men's title there last year. Which may well be the last tournament he won, thinking about it...

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                                  Originally posted by Jimski View Post
                                  So I shall be watching Rybarikova v Strycova, and Kvitova v Buzarnescu tomorrow, it seems.
                                  Lots of grass court expertise there. Rybarikova vs Strycova in particular should be old school Tennis; serve-volleys, chip-charges and using angles and guile rather than just simply biff. In the other one, it's just another step in the remarkable rise of Mihaela Buzarnescu. Kvitova has to be a strong favourite on grass, though.

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                                    Murray drawn against Wawrinka in the 1st round at Eastbourne, winner plays Edmund who gets a bye as top seed.

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                                      Originally posted by Janik View Post
                                      Lots of grass court expertise there. Rybarikova vs Strycova in particular should be old school Tennis; serve-volleys, chip-charges and using angles and guile rather than just simply biff. In the other one, it's just another step in the remarkable rise of Mihaela Buzarnescu. Kvitova has to be a strong favourite on grass, though.
                                      Yeah, Rybarikova v Strycova was brilliant (exactly as you presumed), and very very close. At match point, I remarked that it could be just one more point (it was), or another hour of tennis.

                                      Kvitova v Buzarnescu was disappointing by compare. Kvitova had too much power for her opponent, and won without playing particularly well.

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                                        Originally posted by Janik View Post
                                        There are Men's and Women's events in Eastbourne this year GO, as they were last as well. Novak Djokovic won the Men's title there last year. Which may well be the last tournament he won, thinking about it...
                                        Eastbourne '17 was indeed the last tournament Djokovic won. And indeed the last final he made... up until he beat Chardy this afternoon to be in the Queen's showpiece tomorrow against Cilic. The final over in Halle is Federer vs Coric. Federer needs to win to keep the No.1 ranking.

                                        J.Murray/Soares are into the Queen's doubles final, where they are the defending champions.

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                                          Have we got a Wimbledon thread yet?

                                          John McEnroe wades into the debate about seeding Serena, he says she should be a top ten seed and 16 at worst.

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                                            Not yet. Wimbledon will announce their seeds on Tuesday, so that can be the prompt.

                                            One thing we can be sure of is that Federer will be the top seed of the Men's, despite not being World No.1 anymore as Borna Coris has just beaten him in the Halle final.
                                            Another defending champion in trouble is Petra Kvitova, who has just lost the first set of the Edgbaston title match (and indeed all tournament) to Magdalena Rybarikova. Rybarikova converted both her break point opportunities is set 1, Kvitova was 1/6 and the set ended 6-4 to the Slovak.

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                                              Kvitova levels in Brum. Just like for Coric in Halle, this is a big challenge for Rybarikova in two ways: Kvitova is both very good at finals, and not just the Slams where both her appearances resulted in straight sets wins (just 10 games conceded in total) but anywhere with her tour with a Serena-esque 24-7 record prior to today, and also remarkable in converting three setters into wins (13/15 in 2018 to date).

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                                                Oh, and Eastbourne is underway, not just the qualifiers but also the main draw.

                                                Starting with the qualies, none of the Brits made it through, though Katy Dunne and Jay Clarke did at least pick up q1 wins, Dunne against a higher ranked player Arruabarena. Naomi Broady (who I thought had a main draw wild card, but apparently not), Eden Silva and Jonathan Gray all lost in the opening round. Silva, Clarke and Grey were wild cards, though in Clarke's case that must have been due to a late decision to entry as he was one of the qualifying seeds.
                                                The one main draw match involving a Brit today was Katie Swan vs Danielle Colins. It went to three, which classes as a decent performance from Swan, but ultimately the American won. Alongside Swan the other main draw wild cards have ended up with to Heather Watson and Harriet Dart (plus Sam Stosur) in the Women's and as reported Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka in the Men's with the third going to Cameron Norrie. As Etienne notes up thread Murray and Wawrinka have drawn each other in R1, which presumably neither is happy with. The winner plays #2 seed Kyle Edmund, who along with the other top four seeds gets a bye in the 28-player Men's event. Norrie plays #8 Martin Fucsovics in R1.
                                                On the Women's side, with its bigger draw/ranking points/prize money/prestige, Watson (who has SF points from last year to defend) plays Kiki Mladenovic in R1 and if she gets through Ash Barty in R2, Dart faces Krystyna Pliskova (eyes wide, reactions primed Harriet) followed by Anastasija Sevastova if she can get enough balls back. Jo Konta, who also made the Semis last year and gets in by right, is seeded #13 so like all the Women's seeds in the 48-player draw, gets a R1 bye. She will face the winner of Sestini Hlavackova vs Krunic in R2.

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                                                  The challenge was too big for Rybarikova, Kvitova winning 4-6 6-1 6-2. That is a fifth title of the year for Petra, who could easily add another in a three weeks time if she continues at that level.

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                                                    Clarke has got in as a lucky loser despite defeat today.

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