Brit-watch & new shoots

Andy Murray - only 600 points between now and end of USO so shouldn't fall out of top10. Conversely, a good run of semis in Cincy and USO is unlikely to move his ranking given Dimitrov is 400 pts ahead and defending nothing.

James Ward - the IDS of British tennis is also quietly moving up the rankings...#148 now.

Dan Evans - crucial time coming up, already dropped 25 spots this week to #181, could drop down to #270 ranking post-USO if he bombs early. If that happens I reckon he'll slide into obscurity...

Kyle Edmunds - making good progress at #213 considering he's still only 19, and it might surprise you that he's actually the 5th highest ranked player 19 & under....Kyrgios, Zverev, Coric, Kokkinakis, Edmunds. Also, 10th highest ranked under 21 so doing ok...could have the makings of a top 75 player.

Cox/Smethurst/Rice - treading water between 250-300.

Liam Broady & Oliver Golding - languishing around #350...it's not happening is it.

So with 1 player inside top 300 under 21 I'm afraid to say the next Andy Murray is not showing himself. Ok, Edmunds is good, but not Murray-good. It could be at least 10 years away so don't hold your breath for regular Brits in Masters events after Murray for a good while. I don't think British tennis is in particularly rude health, be interested to know what new LTA chief's master plan is...

But it's not rosy elsewhere either for under 21s inside top 300:
USA only has 2 players (USA is a real concern beyond Isner given its history..Sock/Young are the standouts!)
Spain only has 1 player
Germany only has 1 player
France has 4 players

The surprising stand out is Australia - 8 players (inc. 5 in top 200)

'Stralia are making a comeback for sure, which is good to see. For a nation who have produced two legends of the highest order in tennis they've lost their way over the last decade.

Golding stated the other day he's taking a break from tennis. Career = over for him then. I never thought Broady had it in him anyway so that one's no surprise.

No female players? *scoff*

Given 69 views and 1 reply I think I won't bother posting the female side...

The Special Juan wrote:'Stralia are making a comeback for sure, which is good to see.  For a nation who have produced two legends of the highest order in tennis they've lost their way over the last decade.

Golding stated the other day he's taking a break from tennis.  Career = over for him then.  I never thought Broady had it in him anyway so that one's no surprise.

No female players?  *scoff*

  I hadn't heard that about Oli Golding. What a shame, I know he had some injury problems which stalled his progress a year or so back, but I'd hoped that he was back on track. Liam Broady always looked to be struggling once he left juniors behind. Same with a few others - Luke Bambridge, George Morgan, Josh Ward Hibbert...

I have always rated Kyle Edmund, and I think he's on the right track - he's been making steady progress up the rankings. It's just not spectacular. We seem to have been stuck for years (during Andy-time) with the various British number 2s being ranked in the 100s. I do expect Kyle to be the one to change that and reach the top 100, maybe even the top 50.

It would be so nice for a change for GB to have a number of top 100 players rather than one exceptional player only - but preferably while we still have the exceptional player.

Yes, Australia's really got going again after a worrying time for them in terms of future players too. I remember seeing Kokkinakis step in for someone at one of their pre-season exhos when I think he was only 16 - I was very impressed by him then. Even some of their not-so-young players are having a good run - I thought Sam Groth was destined only to be a lowish Challenger level player, but he's around the 100 mark now. I was impressed by a player called Alex Bolt that I saw at Wimbledon playing doubles with Andrew Whittington against Lopez & Melzer. He didn't make it through qualies in the singles, but he has won a Challenger this year.

Spain  - that's so odd. They've just had no-one new coming through for years. Why is that? Remember that junior they were so keen on years ago that they called mini Rafa - Carlos Boluda... he never came through. Mind you, I saw him at Wimbledon juniors and he was tiny - and I've heard he hasn't grown much since. A real disadvantage in today's tennis, I suppose.

Hopefully there will be some junior Brit girls coming through soon - if Laura and Heather have inspired a "surge" (and they really should have) it may take a few years to show up. I think one of the Katy/ies (Dunne, I think - I get her and Katie Boulter mixed up) has recently come out of juniors, so I suppose it will be sink or swim time for her. I like the look of Isabelle Wallace - nice game and she seems to have a good head on her shoulders. Gaby Taylor and Maia Lumsden I've heard good things about. But what happened to that girl they were raving about a couple of years ago... Eleanor(?) Dean?

Thought I'd better post to show there IS some interest here.  

It is interesting to see none big 4 threads on the forum. I tend to read those more, but comment less. It's not always good to be giving too much opinion when you have no knowledge.

I wouldn't say Golding's 'break from tennis' is as terminal as people seem to be thinking, considering it was only a couple of days ago he made the announcement and has been seen training at Roehampton since he made it. So it seems it's more of a competitive break rather than a complete hiatus.

I wouldn't write Broady off just yet though, he's remarkably consistent and has been steadily moving up the rankings. He's played 12 events this year and has always reached the quarters, but seems to have a problem finishing the job off for one reason or another. A good couple of months will easily see him in a position to make challenger main draws at will, and then we can see how he copes with that level up.

Both of the Katy/ies have recently come out of juniors and are doing pretty well, I would suggest Katy Dunne is a definite top 150 in the next year or so, and who knows after that. Eleanor Dean is still only 18 and has played sparingly this year as she's had really bad injury problems since she emerged at Wimbledon, but when she does play, she often wins - with 3 Futures titles already this season having only played in about 7 events. Hopefully her lack of action is more due to being careful than more injury problems though.

Brilliant from Wardy - he's beaten PH Mathieu to reach the main draw and has made $11k minimum.

djlovesyou wrote:I wouldn't say Golding's 'break from tennis' is as terminal as people seem to be thinking, considering it was only a couple of days ago he made the announcement and has been seen training at Roehampton since he made it. So it seems it's more of a competitive break rather than a complete hiatus.

I wouldn't write Broady off just yet though, he's remarkably consistent and has been steadily moving up the rankings. He's played 12 events this year and has always reached the quarters, but seems to have a problem finishing the job off for one reason or another. A good couple of months will easily see him in a position to make challenger main draws at will, and then we can see how he copes with that level up.

Both of the Katy/ies have recently come out of juniors and are doing pretty well, I would suggest Katy Dunne is a definite top 150 in the next year or so, and who knows after that. Eleanor Dean is still only 18 and has played sparingly this year as she's had really bad injury problems since she emerged at Wimbledon, but when she does play, she often wins - with 3 Futures titles already this season having only played in about 7 events. Hopefully her lack of action is more due to being careful than more injury problems though.

Thanks for the info.   

Relieved to hear that about Oli Golding. I had the impression he was battling away and certainly making some progress up the rankings, so it would be a shame if he stopped now. Just looked at Liam Broady's profile, which I must not have done for a long time (blush) as it seems to be ages ago he stopped his ranking slide - he's now way higher than last time I looked, and actually at his career high.

Interesting to hear that Eleanor Dean's "disappearance" is unfortunately due to injury. If she's that good, hopefully she's still got a tennis career ahead of her. Didn't Katy Dunne qualify for one of the big tournies (Edgbaston?) this summer? But then I think she had to retire in her first main draw match. Hopefully that was a minor problem.

Good win today for Katie Boulter against an upwardly mobile French girl currently in the top 200 (and rising). Needs a few more this week to back it up though.

Katy Dunne is currently having a few weeks off, but since she qualified for Edgbaston she's played sparingly, but her efforts include a tournament win in Italy which boosted her ranking as much as her run in the main tour event. Health problems aside, she has very little to defend until December so hopefully she can have a couple of good events and push toward the top 200 herself.