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

Ive not watched any just kept an eye on the scores. Was the performance as convincing as the score line suggest for Britain?

Not really. Boulter and Konta both won their single matches in 3 sets. It's the first time Konta has won a match after dropping the first since Miami 2017 apparently. She was also an early break down in the 2nd so did really well to recover. Sakkari and the other Greek girl were complaining about line calls, but they didn't look too bad and the most obvious one seemed to go against GB and Boulter - it's a really fast court, so it's not the easiest job without Hawk-eye. Swan and Dart won their doubles but it was a dead rubber and Greece replaced Sakkari for it as there was nothing riding on it.

GB vs Hungary later (4.30pm) where the winner of that will advance to the playoff tomorrow and face either Croatia or Serbia who are currently underway in their winner takes all match.
 


Well that was a bit exciting. Boulter won 6-4 6-7 7-6 and hopefully Konta will see the job off next and set up a deciding match against Serbia tomorrow.

It's been a ggreat success so far this Fed Cup in Bath. Sell out crowds (albeit not a huge capacity) and they've actually sold more tickets than the recent Davis Cup tie, although there is an extra day here.

Really hope they can advance to the final playoff in April and have another home tie and have that in a bigger arena.
 
It was just a really tremendous few days, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Great presentation by BT and although GB actually won all 10 matches they played, most of the ties were dramatic in their own way.

Really hope we get a home tie in April. They're talking about getting the Copper Box hired for April 20th and 21st if we are successful in the draw, and I'd definitely look to get down for both days if it happened.
 
It was just a really tremendous few days, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Great presentation by BT and although GB actually won all 10 matches they played, most of the ties were dramatic in their own way.

Really hope we get a home tie in April. They're talking about getting the Copper Box hired for April 20th and 21st if we are successful in the draw, and I'd definitely look to get down for both days if it happened.

Got to hope for a home draw. Looking at the teams involved, we should beat Brazil but are evens-ish with Kazakhstan and underdogs against Russia.
 
Got to hope for a home draw. Looking at the teams involved, we should beat Brazil but are evens-ish with Kazakhstan and underdogs against Russia.

I think BT got that wrong and it's not just those 3 nations who we could face. It'll be those sides plus the losers of the 4 current World Group II ties (Latvia vs Slovakia etc.). There'll also be seeding and I'm not sure if Britain will be seeds this year, probably not. Russia will be seeded and they'd be definitely the worst out of all the nations involved.

The draw is 12pm UK time on Tuesday, so we'll find out soon enough.

But yeah, out of those I'd say we should beat Brazil (although long distance if away, same as Kazakhstan), I'd say 50/50 with Kazakhstan and Russia would be a bit beyond us for where our players currently are at.

Russia away it is...
 
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I think BT got that wrong and it's not just those 3 nations who we could face. It'll be those sides plus the losers of the 4 current World Group II ties (Latvia vs Slovakia etc.). There'll also be seeding and I'm not sure if Britain will be seeds this year, probably not. Russia definitely will be seeded and they'd be definitely the worst out of all the nations involved.

The draw is 12pm UK time on Tuesday, so we'll find out soon enough.

Russia away it is...

Ah, I was going on wikipedia without reading in full. You're right about the other four and seeding.
 
Laura Robson makes her comeback today after 8 months following hip surgery, she's in the qualifiers for the Shrewsbury 60k event. She's 2nd on the main court, so probably around 12ish and it can be streamed here:

Videos - ITF Tennis - Pro Circuit - ITF Tennis - Pro Circuit

If she wins, she'll have another qualifying match later and the main draw starts tomorrow. It'll be good to see her back on court after a long time out.

Well done all involved in the GB Fed Cup thing... great watch.

What a terrible competition it is... in its set up.

It was a great few days, but aye, the competition is pretty complicated to work out, especially at the stage GB currently are at. If they win the play off, it does become a little bit clearer, but a bit of a revamp wouldn't do any harm.
 
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There's a competition for tickets for the semis and final the ATP finals in London this year for anyone who's interested, some other goodies as well. Gotta predict the eight players there to win...

Pick Your 8 Contest | Nitto ATP Finals

Trying to narrow it down from a top ten to a top eight was probably harder than it should be for me.
 
GB have been seeded in the Fed Cup playoff along with Russia, Netherlands and Slovakia and will face one of the following:

Japan (home only)
Italy
Kazakhstan
Brazil

Really hope it's at home.
 
GB have been seeded in the Fed Cup playoff along with Russia, Netherlands and Slovakia and will face one of the following:

Japan (home only)
Italy
Kazakhstan
Brazil

Really hope it's at home.

How easy a tie Japan would be would obviously depend on Osaka's availability. I think she played at this stage last year. Brazil at home would be the easiest draw from those four.
 
How easy a tie Japan would be would obviously depend on Osaka's availability. I think she played at this stage last year. Brazil at home would be the easiest draw from those four.

Yeah, she played in the away tie in Japan. Konta beat her, but things have obviously changed just a bit since then...

I think you have to assume she would play, especially as it would be in the UK, right in the middle of the European season.

I'd be happy enough with anyone at home, Japan would be the worst of the 4 (in terms of progression chances), but it would be exciting. Italy and Brazil away would likely be on clay which wouldn't bode too well. Brazil at home would be ideal as you say.

Draw is tomorrow at 12 UK.

There's a competition for tickets for the semis and final the ATP finals in London this year for anyone who's interested, some other goodies as well. Gotta predict the eight players there to win...

Pick Your 8 Contest | Nitto ATP Finals

Trying to narrow it down from a top ten to a top eight was probably harder than it should be for me.

Will be a bit harder if it's the 8 who's there rather than the top 8 in the race, as there's more to think about when you consider the likes of Nadal and Delpo...

In terms of points, I'd go:

Djokovic
Nadal
Federer
Zverev
Delpo

Anderson
Tsitsipas
Cilic

Thiem
Nishikori

I do really want to go either this year or next with it potentially moving away in 2021. Wouldn't be surprised if Tokyo got it out of the 5 shortlisted cities with the main sponsors from Japan, the Olympics the year before and Japan having a bit of tennis success at the moment.
 
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Yeah, she played in the away tie in Japan. Konta beat her, but things have obviously changed just a bit since then...

I think you have to assume she would play, especially as it would be in the UK, right in the middle of the European season.

I'd be happy enough with anyone at home, Japan would be the worst of the 4 (in terms of progression chances), but it would be exciting. Italy and Brazil away would likely be on clay which wouldn't bode too well. Brazil at home would be ideal as you say.

Draw is tomorrow at 12 UK.



Will be a bit harder if it's the 8 who's there rather than the top 8 in the race, as there's more to think about when you consider the likes of Nadal and Delpo...

In terms of points, I'd go:

Djokovic
Nadal
Federer
Zverev
Delpo

Anderson
Tsitsipas
Cilic

Thiem
Nishikori

I do really want to go either this year or next with it potentially moving away in 2021. Wouldn't be surprised if Tokyo got it out of the 5 shortlisted cities with the main sponsors from Japan, the Olympics the year before and Japan having a bit of tennis success at the moment.

I've gone for
Djokovic
Nadal
Federer
Zverev
Tsitipas
kachanov
Cilic
Nishikori

Not sure how much tennis del potro will play this year.
Thiem might not do as well on clay this year due to Djokovic and Tsitipas coming on strong.
 

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