SMB Tennis thread (note there is a specific Wimbledon 22 thread)

JL1985 said:
I didn't know Sky isn't showing the tennis anymore. I don't know why I bother with Sky. They've lost so much over the past 2 years.
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Aye, it's a shame because their coverage was pretty much spot on and it allows the sport much more visibility. It's also shite because as you say, they've lost so much recently - ATP rights, Champions League, La Liga, I've no interest in cricket, but they've lost some important stuff there as well, yet the price goes up.

I suppose a fair few already had Amazon Prime and if not and you were a big tennis fan, £70/79 a year or whatever it is isn't a massive amount (I know it all adds up) and you obviously get far more benefits than just tennis. I don't like sport on streaming services as it makes it awful for betting, notifications etc. but if they did end up getting the French and Aussie slams and ended up as the obvious home of tennis then it might not be too bad - their US Open coverage was generally very good after the initial hiccups.

It will be interesting to see where the WTA rights go once the BT contract expires next year.
 


Ant & Dec get share of £64m windfall after Wimbledon agrees deal with golf club

Wimbledon agree deal to buy the adjacent golf course, meaning the site will triple in size and qualification will be brought on site rather than at Roehampton, probably be the end of the queue as well. It will remain as is until 2021, but exciting times. Those ranked 200-250 will be pleased as it will give them the opportunity to play a match or two (or more) at SW19, which they normally wouldn't get the chance to do.
 
Women's Australian Open qualifying entry list, minus the 9 (mainly Aussie) QWCs. 3 British women in there - Dart, G Taylor and Swan who'll be hoping to join the 3 Brits already in the main draw (Konta, Watson, Boulter).

Qualifying starts 2 weeks on Tuesday :cool:


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I see after a year off, there's a women's ITF tournament returning to Sunderland in 2019. April 8th-14th. It's now back to a $25k event rather than $15k as well. There's also a $25k event the week before in Bolton, so it'll probably get a few decent players turning up (like 130-200) to make it more worth their wile and hopefully some of GB's better prospects too.

@JL1985
 
The Bridge Lad said:
I see after a year off, there's a women's ITF tournament returning to Sunderland in 2019. April 8th-14th. It's now back to a $25k event rather than $15k as well. There's also a $25k event the week before in Bolton, so it'll probably get a few decent players turning up (like 130-200) to make it more worth their wile and hopefully some of GB's better prospects too.

@JL1985
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I think I'll attend. Are you going?

Session said:
It looks like Jan Choinski has switched from Germany to Great Britain. Ranked ATP 269 - does anyone know anything about him?
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I recognise his name from the challenger circuit. Not sure what he will gain from switching to Great Britain unless he's hoping for a Wimbledon wildcard.
 
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JL1985 said:
I think I'll attend. Are you going?


I recognise his name from the challenger circuit. Not sure what he will gain from switching to Great Britain unless he's hoping for a Wimbledon wildcard.
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Think I might be relocating with work some time next year, but if I'm still here then I'll look to go, more likely for the semi's / final - especially with those being Saturday and Sunday.

Good that there are a few more GB events (especially in the region) this year as there is a 60k in Shrewsbury and 25k in Glasgow confirmed for February and then these 2 before the grass season. Last year there was just a 25k in Glasgow and Loughborough before the grass season (women's side).

Session said:
It looks like Jan Choinski has switched from Germany to Great Britain. Ranked ATP 269 - does anyone know anything about him?
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JL1985 said:
I recognise his name from the challenger circuit. Not sure what he will gain from switching to Great Britain unless he's hoping for a Wimbledon wildcard.
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Think the wildcard will be very likely if he is 250-300 by the time of the picks. Interesting move. I'm not too familiar with him.
 
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The tennis season officially back underway now - loads going on this week :D.

Hopman Cup in Perth (live on Eurosport and Eurosport Player) - some very big names involved - Federer, A Zverev, Serena, Kerber and Muguruza, plus some promising younger players. Team GB beat Greece earlier today (early hours) in their opening match - Norrie beat Tsitsipas in straights, Boulter lost to Sakkari in 3, but the British pair won the deciding doubles rubber. They play Switzerland (Federer and Bencic) tomorrow morning from 9am (5pm Perth time).

3 WTA events this week, the biggest being Brisbane. Heather Watson lost in the 1st qualifying round, but Harriet Dart has made it through 2 rounds of qualifying (twice beating higher ranked players) and has a final qual round tomorrow - she's in the top 150 now so could be a big year for her. Jo Konta faces Sloane Stephens in the 1st round. Azarenka plays Venus in WTA Auckland round 1 (Wozniacki the top seed) and there's also an event in Shenzhen. All 3 tournaments are on BT Sport.

3 ATP 250 events as well. Brisbane on Eurosport where Kyle Edmund is the 3rd seed and has a bye, Andy Murray plays James Duckworth in R1. Pune is on Amazon Prime and there's also an event in Doha which isn't on TV (just Tennis TV subscription channel).
 
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JL1985 said:
I'm so happy the tennis is back. It's been a long 6 weeks.

Great win for Norrie.
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Me too, even longer for the WTA stuff. Obviously not ideal timings in Australia and New Zealand and a lot will be going on in the early hours, but there is a bit of overlap due to the different time zones. A lot of their evening sessions is like 8/9am for us, so we should be able to get to see a bit of it live and it's pretty good for any night owls as well.

Yep, great win for Norrie. He's established in the top 100 now and has almost a full years experience on the main ATP tour so will be interesting to see how he gets on and if he can break into the top 50 at some point this season.

Can't wait for the Aussie Open to start.
 
Session said:
Looks like it's back down with a bump for Norrie. Well beaten by Fed.
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Yeah, not really a surprise, but they lost all 3 rubbers (and the 6 sets) today, Boulter did at least force a tie break off Bencic.

Better news for Harriet Dart though who beat Petkovic, ranked nearly 100 places above her and a former top 10 player. She has qualified for Brisbane Premier (equivalent of an ATP 500) and has drawn a wildcard who is ranked a few places lower, so a real chance for her to go even further and get some big points. Think that match will be on around 7am UK tomorrow (not before that anyway). Slight contrast in draws for her (Priscilla Hon) to Konta's (Sloane Stephens).
 
Bad day for the Brits in Brisbane as all 4 lost their 2nd round matches in straight sets through the night / this morning - Murray, Edmund, Konta and Dart. Dart did look a bit out of her depth but a fantastic week for her, 4 wins and up about 20 places in the rankings - hopefully put her in good stead for the Aussie Open qualifiers next week.
 
Fearsome foursome go to Australian Open aware the end could be near

Load of rubbish that article mind, Djokovic may have lost yesterday but I would be very surprised If he dosnt win the Australian. He won’t even need to be anywhere near his best. Nadal obviously not fit enough now to compete on hard courts and will probaby only win the French again this year. Federer probably won’t win another slam. Zverev still has to do something at a slam before he can be taken seriously. The rest are still miles behind.
 

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