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    At 2-4 15-40, Svitolina had an absolute sitter of a backhand volley to move within a game of the match. She pushed it long, and five minutes latter it's 3-4 instead. Could be a turning point?

    Comment


      Halep hasn't broken Svitolina in the match... yet. In fact Simona has only won 9 points on return in the match to date. It's now 5-4 and Elena is about to serve for it. To be honest, it wouldn't be a great shock if the break came when it had to, the momentum is very definitely changing.

      Comment


        Nope, no break, despite four second serves that were getting slower and slower to nearly a donkey drop on the final point of the match. 113kph only. Also two tight unforced errors to gift points away. Svitolina was clearly nervous, but Halep made three unforced errors of her own to fail to exploit it.

        What's our evidence for the big upcoming show, then? Well, Halep remains a work in progress on the mental side, and Svitolina is still, for all her game, susceptible to finishing line nerves. Both are big handicaps to winning at the times of greatest stress.

        Comment


          Potential for the second bagel set of the Roman afternoon right now... for Zverev! He is 5-0 up in set two on Nadal. 6-1 is more likely, which was also the set one score. In Rafa's favour, obviously. All quite up and down.

          Comment


            Halep loses badly again. I don't quite understand it - number one, yet the only title she currently holds is a minor 250 one. Wonder when that was last true of a world number one.

            Comment


              Well, there's Rafa Nadal... OK, no, this afternoon he added Rome to his Monte Carlo and Barcelona crowns from this year and French, US and China Open titles from the later half of 2017. 6-1 1-6 6-3 in the end.

              More seriously, what had Pliskova got behind her when she topped the tree? Was there anything above a Prem 5 in there?

              There is certainly a problem with Halep, in that when she starts slowly she can fade rather than recover. Nigel Sears in commentary did a list of recent heavy defeats, all during the last 12 months, i.e. during a period when she has been the No.1 or on the brink of it. I'm not sure if they mentioned all of these, but with the reference source open this is what has happened - working backwards there is 3&0 vs Osaka in Indian Wells this year, 0&2 vs Wozniacki in last years Tour finals, 2&1 vs Kasatkina in Wuhan, 1&0 vs Muguruza in Cincinnati, 1&1 vs Svitolina in Toronto. Including today that is six complete thrashings she has taken, all in big tournaments, many of them in Semis or Finals when she should have played her way into form and been razor sharp. I guess the straw to clutch at today for her and Darren Cahill in that today didn't quite fit that pattern as the second set was notably better than the first. But even so it was nowhere near the Tennis she is capable of.

              Comment


                Looking it up, Pliskova had three titles to her name when she was the top seed in New York last summer, all standard Premiers (i.e. the equivalent of ATP500s rather than ATP Masters) - Eastbourne, Qatar and Brisbane. Those are each decent events, but not earth-shattering ones or indeed ones that feature the full roster of the WTA's top players. She has only ever won one Premier 5, in Cincinnati in 2016 and has never even made a Premier Mandatory Final, though she has made a slam one. Pliskova has only ever won 10 titles, one of which came subsequent to her achieving the top ranking, and also post-dating her losing it again.

                Comment


                  Roland Garros men's qualifying begins tomorrow. British hopes are with Liam Broady and Jay Clarke.

                  Comment


                    Anyway, the French Open qualies start tomorrow for the Men. British draws as follows:-

                    Rogério Dutra Silva Bra [6] vs Christian Garín Chi
                    Kevin King USA vs Andrej Martin Svk
                    Liam Broady GBr vs Zdeněk Kolář Cze
                    Stefano Napolitano Ita vs Marcel Granollers Esp [23]

                    Ramkumar Ramanathan Ind [12] vs Jay Clarke GBr
                    Bernard Tomic Aus vs Darian King Brb
                    Gonçalo Oliveira Por vs Jason Kubler Aus
                    Jan Choinski Ger vs Alexander Bublik Kaz [27]


                    No Cameron Norrie in there, so I'm assuming his ranking a shade outside the top 100 has been enough to get him a direct main draw entry.

                    Women's q-draw will be out tomorrow evening. Naomi Broady has opted to skip it, but the other eligible Brits, Gabirella Taylor and Katie Boulter, should be there. Harriet Dart would also make it if the entry was taken right now, but as it dates back a couple of weeks she is somewhere on the ALTS list and will probably miss out, as likely will Katy Dunne.


                    Edit - too slow trying to look up which of the Women have made the cut and which haven't.

                    Comment


                      That's an astonishing fact about Halep as current #1. I take the point that Pliskova's haul of titles held during her reign was not impressive either, but there's a huge difference between having 3 bog standard Premier titles and having zero current titles at that level or above.

                      Just to confirm: current slam holders in chronological order are Ostapenko, Muguruza, Stephens and Woziacki.

                      Wozniacki is the current tour finals champion

                      And the current Prem Mandatory, Prem 5 and basic Premier title holders can be found in a handy table on this page:

                      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WTA_Premier_tournaments

                      Looking at tomorrow morning's WTA rankings (derived by looking at the current unofficial "live" list), I see that Halep and Venus are the only two women in tomorrow's top 13 who don't currently hold at least one title at basic Premier or higher level. (To be fair, the players ranked #11, 12 and 13 just have one basic Prem title each.)
                      Last edited by Evariste Euler Gauss; 20-05-2018, 23:53.

                      Comment


                        Originally posted by Jimski View Post
                        Halep loses badly again. I don't quite understand it - number one, yet the only title she currently holds is a minor 250 one. Wonder when that was last true of a world number one.
                        Wozniaki a few seasons ago must have had a similar record, no?

                        Comment


                          Nah, Wozniacki was number one from October 2010 until January 2012 - she had three premier titles to her name when she first became number one, and won two more during her stay at number one, so a much better record at any point that you judged it.

                          What is more, she won in total 9 titles in 2010 (including the 3 premier ones), and 8 titles in 2011 (including the 2 premier ones), so was actually very successful at winning titles (if not majors) at that time.
                          Last edited by Jimski; 21-05-2018, 19:08.

                          Comment


                            And Halep would be ranked number one even *without* her minor title in China. I guess she's just ultra-consistent at racking up points without winning titles, and everyone else is staggeringly inconsistent. You feel that Serena Williams is still the spiritual number one really.

                            Comment


                              Wozniacki, Safina and others were underwhelming no.1s on account of a lack of a major. Halep is a different story - her points total must be close to the historic low for the leader of the WTA. The recent end-of-season totals certainly suggest that

                              2017: Halep - 6175
                              2016: Kerber - 9080
                              2015: S.Williams - 9945
                              2014: S.Williams - 8485
                              2013: S.Williams - 13260
                              2012: Azarenka - 10595

                              Intriguingly, Halep's own level has changed little since 2014. It's just where that has got her has moved up the list.

                              2017: 6175 - #1
                              2016: 5228 - #4
                              2015: 6060 - #2
                              2014: 6292 - #3
                              2013: 3335 - #11


                              On court, Jay Clarke won his opening round in Paris. Which is nice. Liam Broady starts tomorrow, as do the women who can't both qualify as they have ended up in the same sector.

                              Mariana Duque Mariño Col [7] vs Katie Boulter GBr
                              Lu Jingjing Chn vs Gabriella Taylor GBr
                              Olivia Rogowska Aus vs Kathinka von Deichmann Lie
                              Eugenie Bouchard Can vs Dalila Jakupović Slo [13]


                              There were also a win on the regular circuit for Cameron Norrie, who beat the excellent named Jose Hernandez-Fernandez in R1 of the ATP250 event in Lyon.

                              Oh, and the Loughborough Trophy (no Murray) is also underway. Dan Evans has worked his way through qualifying, but then landed the #2 seed Max Purcell in R1. There were also some R1 games played today, all involving Brits. Mostly in on wild cards. One such was an all local match in which James Ward (remember him?!?) beat Lloyd Glasspool. The others were Ed Corrie losing to #5 Cem Ilkel and Alex Ward (who didn't need a wild card) beaten in two breakers by Maximilian Neuchrist (also a great name).
                              Last edited by Janik; 21-05-2018, 19:48.

                              Comment


                                Hernandez-Fernandez is a great name.

                                Jay Clarke plays Bernard Tomic next, who's on the comeback trail after lasting 3 days in the Australian I'm a Celebrity before quitting as he decided it was time to concentrate on his tennis. Well - duh! He's only 25, FFS. Why's he appearing on reality shows? Anyway - go Jay!

                                Comment


                                  Every sport needs a number one, I suppose, and to get to the top by the system chosen is something that can't be taken away. But yes, a lot of recent women's number ones have been pretty underwhelming by historical standards. Bit like men's golf since Tiger, really, with number ones like Lee Westwood, Luke Donald, Martin Kaymer and Jason Day, none of whom I expect to win a major again (well the first two never did).

                                  Comment


                                    Like how the EPL would have been this season without Man City.

                                    Comment


                                      My judgement was clouded by her lack of a slam, but I didn't realise she'd won other big tournaments.

                                      Comment


                                        Oddly enough it is since Halep became number 1 that her ability to win tournaments (any tournaments) has gone out of the window. She won quite a few before then. She won something like 6 in a year a couple of years back (and it was some kind of record but I can't remember what). She's been in the top ten longer than any other active player (consecutively I mean).

                                        I don't think there's a coach in the WTA or ATP that is more vital to their player's success than Cahill but I don't think even he can get Halep to a grand slam which is the one thing she wants so badly. If she doesn't win at Roland Garros (and she won't) I think she'll fairly quickly fall down the rankings and quit by 2020.

                                        It's a real shame. She's talented enough and she's genuinely a lovely person, but the psychological barrier seems insurmountable

                                        Comment


                                          Looked up that "record" and I had misremembered somewhat. She won her first 6 titles in the same calendar year (2013), which only Steffi Graf had done previously (she won 7)

                                          Comment


                                            And on all three surfaces to boot. Wasn't there back-to-back weeks where she won on clay then grass, or something? She made a very rapid ascent, I certainly recall that. It's also a fact that Halep has only been the No.1 without a significant title behind her for 10 days; up until two weeks ago she had one of the four Premier Mandatories (Madrid) against her name.


                                            OK, a lack of updates for half the season. It’s not been that great from the leading local players perspective (i.e. Murray and Konta), hence a lack of enthusiasm. However there are positive stories in the cohort just below, so let’s do a Tennis state of the Nation review, limiting ourselves to players in the top 250 and a handful of significant others.

                                            Men

                                            Kyle Edmund
                                            Ranking today: 17
                                            Ranking at start of year: 50 (+33)
                                            Year to Date position: 11
                                            Edmund feels on the cusp of really breaking through, but he urgently needs to win a trophy. Any trophy. Currently Kyle is the highest ranked player without a tour title (in singles). It looked like it might come in Marrakech until Andujar made mincemeat of him in the title match. The standout result of Edmund’s season to date remains the Aussie Semi rather than a runner-up spot in an ATP250, and he also has QFs in Madrid, Brisbane and Estoril. The biggest disappointment was losing first up in both Miami and Indian Wells and not being properly fit for the Davis Cup tie with Spain. With a top 16 seeding in his back pocket, will be looking for another run into a second week of a Slam at Roland Garros though a really deep run may be beyond him. It’s quite possible, seeing as Edmund has made either R2 or R3 as a non-seed on all his previous visits. Wimbledon is likely to be more of a problem for the new British No.1 as his game is bettered tooled for slower surfaces.
                                            The ‘in singles’ caveat above is because Edmund did win a career first Tour level doubles title w/ Norrie in Estoril.

                                            Andy Murray
                                            Today: 45
                                            Start: 16 (-31)
                                            YtD: n/a
                                            Missed the Glasgow Trophy and has withdrawn from the Loughborough Trophy, two indoor hardcourt events which were both likely one-off efforts for 2018 set up with his comeback in mind. Still Dan Evans is thankful, I’m sure… Is still entered for Rosmalen, Queens and Wimbledon but that remains rather doubtful. Indeed whether we will ever see him on the court again at all must be very much open to question – there are lots of risks when a 31 year-old has an operation which was described beforehand as potentially career ending.
                                            Given everything Murray has achieved, it would be pointless for him to come back unless he is in the sort of shape to challenge for Slams. Unless he fancies a new career playing doubles with Jamie, that is…

                                            Cameron Norrie
                                            Today: 102
                                            Start: 114 (+12)
                                            YtD: 158
                                            Norrie made waves with his performances in the Davis Cup against Spain; taking down Roberto Bautista Agut and pushing Albert Ramos-Vinolas extremely hard in five set matches on clay is a fearsome achievement. Unfortunately, that major high point has not been matched in the mundane week-to-week stuff where Norrie has not made the push on into the top 100 that the Davis Cup performances and run of form in US Open qualifying/Challengers at the back end of 2017 suggest is possible. There is a reason why the Year to Date ranking is lower than the rolling one…
                                            Beaten in the 2nd Round of qualifying in the Aussie. Had a better run in qualies on the American spring hard court swing, getting through to the main draw in four consecutive events (Delray Beach, Acapulco, Indian Wells and Miami), but then losing in R1 in each; best result in that period was pushing Thiem to a 5-7 deciding set in Acapulco.
                                            For all the Davis Cup showing, the clay court season proper has been disappointing, with just two singles wins to date, one at challenger level and the other in Estoril. Went down 2&0 to Delbonis in the opening round of qualies for Rome, which is more like the sort of result one expects for a Brit on clay. Norrie is playing another warm-up for Paris this week in Lyon (ATP250 level), and could do with some confidence under his belt before the Slam. His R1 match in that is tomorrow yesterday against a qualifier from the Dominican Republic, Jose Hernandez-Fernandez [this summary took longer to complete than expected; due to the delay in finishing it, Norrie has already won this match (see up thread)! Norrie plays Maximilian Marterer in R2 tomorrow, yes, tomorrow tomorrow].

                                            Liam Broady
                                            Today: 166
                                            Start: 171 (+5)
                                            YtD: 241
                                            A mixed bag so far in 2018 for Broady. He recorded his first ever Masters Series main draw victory at Miami when he qualified and then beat Bjorn Fratangelo in R1. However that came after four straight opening match losses on the US hardcourt circuit, both in full Tour qualies and Challenger main draws. Also lost first up in Aussie Open and his Challenger warm-up for that, and in his first clay court event in Tunsia. However since then his results show some signs for cautious optimism. Two wins, two defeats in Challengers, but one of the losses being a tight three-setter with Tommy Robredo and one of the wins an equally tight three-setter (OK a three-setter with a tight final set, not quite the same thing) against Zdenek Kolar, who will also provide Q1 opposition in Paris. That is due up tomorrow today. This is the second match on Court 14 and may not be delayed long as the first match is a holdover from yesterday that is already into its second set.

                                            Jay Clarke
                                            Today: 225
                                            Start: 220 (-5)
                                            YtD: 153
                                            Despite the lack of relative movement in Clarke’s ranking, he is actually having a pretty decent season as evidenced by the Year-to-Date ranking being well in advance of the rolling one; if he can maintain his form through the year then he should progress up the rankings.
                                            Clarke’s year really got going with a trip Qatar to play Futures; he was there for three weeks, and his results got gradually better as they ran Semi, Final, Won. After that has come a relatively successful time on American clay, with at least one win in every tournament Clarke has entered. Having crossed the Atlantic, he will make his first ever Grand Slam qualifying singles appearance later today yesterday. That makes him a rarity among British players in that he has earned his first ever attempt to get to the big stage, rather than being gifted it. If it matches his doubles exploits at Wimbledon last year (Clarke and Marcus Willis beat defending champs Herbert/Mahut to reach the last 16) then it may be quite an exciting debut. Opponent is Indian player Ramkumar Ramanathan, who lists clay as his favourite surface, and they are the fifth match on Court 9. [which Clarke won, see the Norrie comment above. Clarke now faces Bernard Tomic in Q2, which should take place tomorrow]


                                            Dan Evans
                                            Today: 1194
                                            Start: 134 (-1060)
                                            YtD: 860=
                                            Obviously the numbers above are rather skewed by the year spent suspended on account of Evans being a self-destructive idiot. However he is talking the right talk, so once again disbelief is suspended and on we go with the up-and-down career.
                                            This week that means the redundant Loughborough Andy Murray Comeback Trophy, and the qualifiers as Evans was not handed a wild card for it (these went to Luke Bambridge, Ed Corrie, Lloyd Glasspool and James Ward instead, the last option being a particularly forward looking decision by the LTA). Evans has won through to the final round of qualifying, where he will play Tobias Simon – a win means ranking points picked up and some money earned, which is important as the last year has got to have been extremely costly. In so many ways. [again, this has now happened, and Evo did indeed win. He faces #2 Max Purcell in R1 next, second match on the main court not before 11:30am]
                                            Last edited by Janik; 22-05-2018, 10:17.

                                            Comment


                                              Women

                                              Johanna Konta
                                              Today: 22
                                              Start: 9 (-13)
                                              YtD: 34
                                              Ten months ago Jo Konta was the World No.4, just coming off a Wimbledon Semi-Final and with a Premier Mandatory title (Miami) in her back pocket. She had one of her best Slams coming up in New York, where she had made her first serious impressions on the top end of the game, and was close enough to World No.1 to have been considered a realistic contender to climb to that exalted status. She promptly went on a terrible run, winning just two more matches all year (both in Cincinnati) to end up missing out on the Tour Finals by one spot for the second consecutive year.
                                              It will take a huge and very unlikely turnaround for her to be as close this autumn, as whilst the funk is no longer as deep, there does seem to have been some lasting damage to Jo’s confidence and previous mental strength. The R2 defeat in Australia to Bernarda Pera (who has become something of a nemesis) was barely thinkable in 2016 or ’17. But not only is Konta no longer reliable against lower ranked opponents, the wins against other leading players have also dried up. Her last top ten win came at Wimbledon ‘17. Her only QF of the year came in her first event, Brisbane. There have been other runs to last-16s of 56+ player tournaments, which have 6 or more rounds to them (Rome last week, Miami, Doha) and generally there has been at least one win each week with first match exits in only 3 of her 10 tournaments to date, adding up to an overall Tour win/loss which is just positive at 11/10 and the Year-to-Date ranking that isn’t disastrous in the mid-30s but isn’t the same as recent seasons. Those are the positives, the negative is glaring though; in the seven events where Jo has progressed somewhat, one win has sometimes become two but never turned into three.
                                              R2 in Madrid and R3 in Rome is as good as anything Jo has previously managed on clay, and she will still be seeded again at Roland Garros. Depending on the draw two wins, and some much needed ranking points, is possible in Paris, but baring a R3 meeting with a fellow grass-courter like Rybarikova (again) it’s very hard to see her going any deeper than that. And then it will be time to defend the 1200 points she collected during the 2017 grass court season. That is over half her current total...

                                              Heather Watson
                                              Today: 86
                                              Start: 74 (-12)
                                              YtD: 146
                                              Oh Christ. If Konta’s year has been below par, Heather Watson ‘s has been an absolute disaster. It started OK as Heather won 7 matches across her first two events in Brisbane and Hobart. However the decline of 2017 meant that she started both events in qualifying, so the best run in Hobart (where she is a previous champion) just got her to the Semis. And since her QF win in South Australia against Donna Vekic (date: 11th Jan), Heather’s only wins have come in the Fed Cup zonal round. Her tour record is 8 straight defeats, and the scorelines are getting heavier as well – Heather has lost the last nine sets she has played, and only got more than four games in one of them. The Fed Cup play-off was also a massive kick in the guts as Watson lost both singles rubbers and then the decisive doubles.
                                              Another departure from the top 100 is looming as, like Konta, over half of her ranking points date from the 2017 grass court season (85 for runner-up in Surbiton, 185 for making the Eastbourne Semis and 130 for R3 of Wimbledon). Delete those, and also take away the 60 she gathered in French Open qualies last year (Heather was also outside the top 100 12 months ago) and she will be struggling to stay in the top 200, let alone the top 100.
                                              Watson is playing this week in Nuernberg, which is an International level event. Her first match comes tomorrow about now against Kateryna Bondarenko (today, first match on Centre, 11:00am start local time). This is now the last chance saloon as it becomes much more difficult to earn points if your ranking drops so low that you can’t even guarantee main draw entries for the bigger value ITF events. Wins, even singleton ones, are urgently needed.

                                              Naomi Broady
                                              Today: 120
                                              Start: 120 (n/c)
                                              YtD: 103
                                              Just like Roger Federer, Naomi Broady has sacked off the clay court season. However there the similarities cease as Broady can’t afford to put her feet up for three months, so she has been slogging around the Far East looking to garner the ranking points to lift herself back into the top 100. This has gone decently at this level, with the last four results running SF, QF, QF, SF. That should have sparked up the winning habit again, which must have been ground down by a depressing time in WTA Tour qualies prior to that when Broady went 2/6.
                                              Recent weeks have also seen a lot of winning in Doubles, Naomi picking up her first ever Tour level title with Sorribes-Tormo in Monterrey and winning back-to-back ITF doubles crowns in Fukuoka and Kurume.
                                              As noted above, Broady is not bothering with the French Open so presumably will be on to the grass at the first possible opportunity at Surbiton. Then her season proper gets underway. Before ending five weeks later!

                                              Katie Boulter
                                              Today: 166
                                              Start: 199 (+33)
                                              YtD: 128
                                              Won the biggest title of her career to date two weeks ago in Fukuoka (a $60k) which took her briefly to a career high ranking of 152 last week before some points from 2017 expired. That was her second title in quick succession, having also won a £25$ in Portugal (on clay) at the end of April. Will play the qualies in Paris via the strength of her results rather than through a wild card. She will hope for a similar outcome to her entry to Indian Wells, where she won through qualifying (including a notable win over Taylor Townsend) to reach her first ever earned WTA main draw place (l to Hsieh in R1).
                                              Age and ranking profile make her nailed on for a Wimbledon main draw wild card, and a good shout for similar in one some of the British Tour level grass court events. Actually the LTA have an interesting juggling act here, as they will be in the unusual situation of having more British Women who can make a good case for including than they will have spots available. Boulter probably won’t play all of Nottingham, Birmingham, Eastbourne and Wimbledon, but should get into at least two, maybe three (I’ll go with Nottingham, possibly Birmingham and Wimbledon for Boulter’s invites).
                                              First things first, though – Mariana Duque Marino in Paris tomorrow, i.e Wednesday.

                                              Gabriella Taylor
                                              Today: 184
                                              Start: 323 (+139)
                                              YtD: 97
                                              A rise of over 100 rankings spots is definitely good going. A year to date ranking inside the top 100 is even more than that. Taylor is having an outstanding year so far, with four ITF level singles titles to her name within the last six months. Taylor had a particularly successful spell down under in February and March, winning back-to-back titles in Perth and Mildura, compiling 13-match winning run in singles, part of an overall 22-3 analysis in singles over her six tournaments in this period. She also won the doubles title in Mildura (w/ Dunne) for good measure.
                                              Things slowed down a bit when she took a step up in class to compete in a couple of $60-80k events in Japan, but let’s treat that as a blip for the moment. She can certainly expect good treatment from the LTA* in terms of wild cards, with Wimbledon surely nailed on like Boulter as well as an entry to one of the Premiers. I’m going with Eastbourne for Taylor and Birmingham for Boulter as that works geographically.
                                              Another making her Slam qualies debut this week through her own efforts in driving her ranking forwards. Maybe we shouldn’t expect too much of Taylor in this regard though, seeing as she hasn’t played any clay court tournaments in preparation... The first test will be Lu Jingning tomorrow (Wednesday).
                                              * - notably, Taylor was the player brought in for the Fed Cup tie against Japan. Yes, some of that was giving a youngster experience, but Keothavong must also have had in mind which player she had the greatest belief in if it came to an injury to her frontline players. It was a serious vote of confidence for Gabi.

                                              Harriet Dart
                                              Today: 204
                                              Start: 315 (+111)
                                              YtD: 151
                                              Another who has made a 100-plus leap up the rankings so far in 2018. Probably holds a lower profile than either Boulter or Taylor, despite beating both back-to-back in a recent ITF event in Gifu, Japan. Dart has also won fewer and less notable titles than those two players, just a £25k in Germany (on a clay court no less), but as the points gained is similar one can easily read between the lines that her consistency has been good. It’s been a rare week when she hasn’t managed a couple of wins. Indeed the title in Altenkirchen needed 7 (including three former top 100 players), seeing as she came through qualifying to do that.
                                              Should expect a Wimbledon main draw wild card based on her combination of ranking, upward mobility and age (Dart is only 21), and may get into one or two of the other WTA events happening in Britain over the next two months. Dart is possibly better known for doubles, and may get another Wimbledon main draw wild card for that.
                                              Last edited by Janik; 22-05-2018, 10:23.

                                              Comment


                                                Katy Dunne
                                                Today: 214
                                                Start: 301 (+87)
                                                YtD: 158
                                                Another to make a significant move up the rankings so far in 2018, with a consequent better Year-to-Date number than the rolling one. She has done it with consistency rather than titles, the only pot she has won this year being the Mildura doubles with Gabi Taylor. That event also provided her better singles showings as Dunne made the SFs before losing to… her doubles partner! The very best effort was also down-under, a final showing in one of the Perth $25k’s (l to Kromacheva). Three QFs, two of them in the decently valuable (financially and in terms of ranking points) recent events in Japan, complete the picture.
                                                Dunne has followed the same pattern as the other Brits in Australia then the Far East, but unlike those in the French or with a realistic hope of a alternate spot she has stayed out there for another week to play an event in Changwon, South Korea. She is the no.1 seed and her opening match is tomorrow. That will be the last event before heading back to blighty and the grass, starting at Surbiton. And ending at SW19 as the sub-250 ranking should lead to a coveted main draw wild card.

                                                Katie Swan
                                                Today: 238
                                                Start: 299 (+61)
                                                YtD: 193
                                                The transition to the Seniors has been slower than might have been hoped for Swan following her stellar Junior career (runner-up in the Aussie Girls Singles, peak junior ranking of #2). It’s been a steady rise rather than a meteoric one, her end of season rankings, starting in 2015, reading 514, 429, 299.
                                                However things are beginning to speed up a little now. Swan won her first $25k title in late 2017, but that was a little underwhelming as she benefitted from injury retirements in both her semi and final. So the title two weeks ago in Monzon, Spain will feel significant as the only free pass Katie got that time was in the QFs.
                                                The Monzon crown followed good weeks in Portugal which saw her reach successive Semis. She is still out there this week as well, due to the ranking not being high enough to get in to Paris and the Girls circuit now being behind her. Oddly these Iberian events are all hard courts or outdoor carpet (which I assume actually means astroturf), which was a circuit I didn’t know existed. She’s done well to find that, and will be looking to keep the strong run going (10-2 in singles in her last three events) in Les Franqueses del Valles, starting today.
                                                And then the grass, where Swan will surely get invites to the main show at Wimbledon and at least one of the WTA Tour events.

                                                Laura Robson
                                                Today: 331
                                                Start: 251 (-80)
                                                YtD: 263
                                                So, that was a lot of good news. Now the bad. We are now over two years into Robson’s comeback from the long spell out injured. And she is going backwards, not forwards. She is absent from the singles for the second successive Grand Slam currently as her ranking is not high enough to get her into the qualifying tournaments. She may also find that she doesn’t get a main draw wild card for Wimbledon, as on bare facts a 24 year-old ranked outside the top 300 doesn’t justify one. The only way she might is some kind of vague hope that she can somehow revive the blazing teenaged star. But with each passing failed ITF tournament, that is becoming more and more forlorn.
                                                In fact, Robson’s ranking drop, which came with the expiry of the ranking points from her title in Kurume last year (at $60k, this was comfortably the biggest pot of Laura’s career so far), means she is far from guaranteed to get into even the qualifying of the bigger ITF events. She currently sits 10th on the Alternate list for Surbiton, for example. And that is the qualifying alternates, she is bloody miles from an earned place in the main draw of that.
                                                This makes the next month or so crucial. Robson’s record to date this season shows one SF in Perth (and that ended in a retirement against Dunne) and two QFs. Those three somewhat positive results are exactly balanced by three R1 exits from ITFs. Including the last two she has played. Her form has to turn around in the British events, where Laura can hope for wild card entries, as these are tournaments that can provide enough points to jump back inside the top 200 in single leaps rather than slow increments. Otherwise it will be Women’s equivalent of Futures, which will feel like entirely the wrong word in this case.
                                                One wonders how much desire is left to continue with the career, if this is all it’s going to offer. Unless she fancies becoming a doubles specialist, which is more plausible in playing terms (her current ranking for that is just outside the top 100) but feels harder to justify in personal motivation. Though if it means playing in WTA events as opposed to the Tennis boondocks, then maybe...?
                                                Last edited by Janik; 22-05-2018, 10:30.

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                                                  Watson into a deciding set against Bondarenko. Won the first 6-3, lost the second by the same score. A fifth straight 2-0 defeat is off-the-cards at least, but that would be a very minor consolation if the goes against her. And she is a break down early.

                                                  Broady and Kolar are on serve in set 1.

                                                  Norrie's R1 win yesterday should mean he has broken into the top 100 - the in-play rankings have him at 99, and the players close behind are either already out this week, or are involved in the Roland Garros qualies which won't feature in next Monday's update.
                                                  Last edited by Janik; 22-05-2018, 10:57.

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                                                    Heather won! 7-3 in a deciding set tie-break. *phew*. Words can't explain how much she needed that.
                                                    The first six games of the deciding set were all breaks, Watson falling behind three times. No idea whether this pattern continued after that, as I went to lunch and left her to it.

                                                    Not so good tie-break news for Liam Broady, who was beaten 7-610-8 7-67-4. That is a painfully close one to lose.

                                                    In Second Division news, Dan Evans beat Max Purcell 6-4 6-2 in Loughborough. Katie Swan is yet to take to the court for her match in Spain.

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