Tennis 2015

[Acornvilla]

Venus just seemed to freeze when the match was in her hands. Pretty shocking finish to the match from her POV. Serena was amazing, Cibulkova played her best and just couldn't get through her. Way too much of a power disparity.

Stan showed just why he won last year, looking very good, didn't watch the Djokovic match, but unsurprising result.

In other news I watched McGee and Cluskey, McGee won out easily against a young lad and plays Odesnik next. It's a pretty average challenger draw this week, so he has the possibility of going deep. Will probably lose now that I've said it :D

Cluskey was useless, looked like he's never played tennis before in his life, serving was awful, vollying was awful, he was passed or made an error almost every time he went to the net.

Glancy lost 7-6,7-6.

[Spudulika]

Venus just seemed to freeze when the match was in her hands. Pretty shocking finish to the match from her POV. Serena was amazing, Cibulkova played her best and just couldn't get through her. Way too much of a power disparity.

Stan showed just why he won last year, looking very good, didn't watch the Djokovic match, but unsurprising result.

In other news I watched McGee and Cluskey, McGee won out easily against a young lad and plays Odesnik next. It's a pretty average challenger draw this week, so he has the possibility of going deep. Will probably lose now that I've said it :D

Cluskey was useless, looked like he's never played tennis before in his life, serving was awful, vollying was awful, he was passed or made an error almost every time he went to the net.

Glancy lost 7-6,7-6.

Cibulkova's only a small girl. She has most of her power in her lower body (I am being polite), but Serena is a tank. Veus, I didn't see the match, but looking at the stats breakdown, she just wilted, shocking!

Odesnik.......interesting player. Quite a story and quite a character. Was scapegoated by the tennis authorities and when he blew the whistle was smeared by most players, regardless, will be a test.

Cluskey is a strange one, I think it's all confidence with him. Daniel Glancy, has the looks, skills and strength, just needs a break!

[Real ale Madrid]

More Irish updates:

Glancy beaten as per above in Sunderland F2 Event, partners Pirmin Henale of Germany in the QF of the Doubles after a L16 bye.
Peter Bothwell and his doubles partner Ewan Moore (GBR) are straight into the semi-finals of that tournament after a L16 Bye and a W/O in the QF.

F3 Event in Fucherolles France - Sam Barry has already won 2 rounds of doubles with his Spanish Doubles partner - Artenundo Martinavarr. They play the Dutch top seeds in the semi finals. Barry plays his first round singles game today.

[Spudulika]

More Irish updates:

Glancy beaten as per above in Sunderland F2 Event, partners Pirmin Henale of Germany in the QF of the Doubles after a L16 bye.
Peter Bothwell and his doubles partner Ewan Moore (GBR) are straight into the semi-finals of that tournament after a L16 Bye and a W/O in the QF.

F3 Event in Fucherolles France - Sam Barry has already won 2 rounds of doubles with his Spanish Doubles partner - Artenundo Martinavarr. They play the Dutch top seeds in the semi finals. Barry plays his first round singles game today.

Another addition to Sunderland, Amy Bowtell is on court, a set up and 3-3 in the 2nd. Poor field apart from Amy, one Polish player, a Brit Tara Moore and a Belarussian. Though top seed is a face familiar to us all, my old mucker Marta Sirotkina! She's looking to pick up some easy points after a busy 12 months, she came back from a silent doping ban, got engaged and nobody wants to sponsor her. A pity as she had massive potential after we got her training in DCU.

[Real ale Madrid]

Never even checked the Women's events - are they any others apart from Amy we should know of ?

I am setting up a Twitter account to post these types of updates over the next few days. I put up details when I do it - will call it IrishTennisUpdates or something radical like that.

[Spudulika]

In GB most futures events are run side by side, it makes good sense and business - something the Europeans don't seem to get usually. Apart from Amy, at pro level we have nobody doing anything, though I hope things will change. And the Fed Cup is on in a couple of weeks, I'm caught between going to Talinn and Budapest that weekend, Ireland are in Estonia but the Group 1 teams are pretty useful.

Real Ale, if you put up a twitter account I am sure all the Irish mob will jump on board. Tennis Ireland is decent, but they have little clue on how to commercialise or grow with SM.

[Real ale Madrid]

Set up the twitter handle tonight - @TennisUpdateIRE .

On the court Sam Barry had double disapointment in France today losing in 3 tight sets in the singles and losing in the Doubles Semis also.
Amy Bowtell completed her win the 10k event in Sunderland.

So the Venus / Serena scenario has not materialised - womens semi finals overnight and Stanley v Novak in the morning on the wireless while at work. Looking forward to sitting down with some strong coffee at the weekend mornings to watch the finals. I hope it's Serena / Maria in the womens - don't care who wins the Men's semis.

[Spudulika]

Set up the twitter handle tonight - @TennisUpdateIRE .

On the court Sam Barry had double disapointment in France today losing in 3 tight sets in the singles and losing in the Doubles Semis also.
Amy Bowtell completed her win the 10k event in Sunderland.

So the Venus / Serena scenario has not materialised - womens semi finals overnight and Stanley v Novak in the morning on the wireless while at work. Looking forward to sitting down with some strong coffee at the weekend mornings to watch the finals. I hope it's Serena / Maria in the womens - don't care who wins the Men's semis.

Great stuff - just followed you from my old places twitter - didn't know I'd still access to it but it's still on my phone - must tell the guys about it!

Amy has a great chance to win this tournament, and I'd rate her against Marta.

Serena-Maria, great final!

[Acornvilla]

You've been twittering like a mad yolke already :D

[Spudulika]

Amy's in a QF today at 11.00 against a decent Czech, but she has the weapons to reach the semi's.

[Acornvilla]

That semi wasn't all that great, Djoko was marginally better throughout and Stan just had no answer towards the end. Murray has a decent shot at this, would imagine Novak will up his game a bit yet, but will be interesting.

[Real ale Madrid]

Amy's in a QF today at 11.00 against a decent Czech, but she has the weapons to reach the semi's.

And she did - 62 63!

[Acornvilla]

And she did - 62 63!
Something I meant to link here before but forgot to.

http://robcherrytennis.com/

Looks like the best online resource for info on what the Irish are up to.

[Real ale Madrid]

Something I meant to link here before but forgot to.

http://robcherrytennis.com/

Looks like the best online resource for info on what the Irish are up to.

What ? Better than @TennisUpdateIRE ;)

Yeah - that's a great website - something to keep a track of for sure. Rob actually got in touch with the new twitter feed - nice fella. (See Spud - I know people too!)

[Crosby87]

Shoot the women's final is on at 3am here. Read today maria hasn't beaten her in 10 years? Had no idea it was that long.

Andy Murray is such a little whiner. I hope he loses and Mauresmo body slams him.

[Spudulika]

Yip, 15 straight losses, I think that also includes the Olympics, 15 times in 10 years in very little to play each other though. Apparently Serena is suffering from a cold of some sort, don't know if that will make much of a difference. Apart from the juice, she's a better match player than Maria, but it will be an interesting game. Despite all she detracts from the game and that (unlike Rio Ferdinand) she can get away with deliberately missing drug tests, she is a very clean hitter of the ball.

I'm kind of rooting for Andy, he's a nice guy, very down to earth and takes the p out of himself. Also he's a big lover of things Irish, has helped out Irish players (still does) and after everything he went through as a kid I kind of like his togetherness.

[Real ale Madrid]

James McGee just one match away from his first challenger final in Maui after a 76 (8-6) 62 win over 16 year old American Stefan Kozlov overnight. James came from 5-1 down in the first set breaker.

Amy Bowtell in action in the semi finals in Sunderland at 12.00 noon playing unseeded Czech Jesika Maleckova.

Women final bitterly predictable so far.

I hope Murray wins as well, I thought his after match comments were on point. And Kim Sears swearing was hilarious!

[Spudulika]

Maleckova was a good little junior, but she's not translated it into the senior ranks. She's a good clay courter with some good wins, but Amy must be aiming to get through this in straight sets and meet Sirotkina in the final. If she can beat Marta, she is moving in the right direction. She matched and beat her in training many times, so she could do it.

Great for James, just for reaching the semi's he must be back up close to the top-200. Winning the title must push him close to an all-time high.

Maria never stood a chance. Serena is just too strong, too healthy and too consistent.

[Acornvilla]

The lad McGee beat looks like a player, only a child really and is still very slight but as far as I'm aware he's the big American hope for the future. I remember him nearly toppeling big ol' Sam Groth last year, he's in the team that beat Clusky in the doubles, they're into the semi now.

Just checked his results last year, I had forgotten he got to a USTA final late in the season, also got a set or Corcic. in that challenger he lost to Queerey, but beat JP Smith, Tim Smyczek, Rhyne Williams and Ryan Harrison, all in the one week, that's something our James is very unlikely to be able to achieve unless he can start being more consistent. The semi is about as winnable a semi as you can ever hope for at this level. He has to take the chance, and will likely face Bradley Klahn who he lost 2-0 to earlier this year in the final.

If things go to form, James would jump to about 180 in the rankings, if he were to lose the final. A win would jump him to low 170's. I've not taken into account how other players points will fluctuate, but it's a decent approximation.

Doubles final is AUS is just starting, hope the French lads win, Fognini is an arsehole.

Sam Barry plays Taro Daniel later on in France, I'd be very surprised if he wins, Daniel is very good, bit can occasionally be an inconsistent hothead, but young and will probably eventually be a top 100 player at least.

[Spudulika]

Amy through to face Marta tomorrow at 11. I can see it being tight, but if Amy can get a head start, Sirotkina will crumble. Won't be easy, but it'll be quite the scalp fr her if she can do it. Come on Amy!

[swinfordfc]

McGee lost semi 7-6, 6-2 so he gets 29 rankings point as a semi finalist - a missed opportunity to make it to the final!

[Acornvilla]

Jesus Christ...

[Real ale Madrid]

He looked knackered to me.

[swinfordfc]

Amy won 6-4 6-3 to win the final ..... Bravo!

[Spudulika]

What a win! Brilliant! It is not going to make a huge difference in rankings, but it means a lot for the player and reputation. Tennis is like boxing. It's all about who you beat and how you beat them.

She's now beaten a player who a year ago was in Grand Slam qualifiers and a potential top 100 player (maybe top-75). And this player had beaten top-100 players and won a $75k, and even beat Nastia Rodionova last year (which is no mean feat).

So now it's up to Amy to routinely beat top-300 players and start making the quarters of $25ks and break 300. She's going to reach an all time high now, close to 350, so fingers crossed. Note: She pulled out of the $25k in Glasgow next week. She'd have been pushing it as she'd have had to play qualies, but it's a missed opportunity. - She's on the way to Estonia to play Fed Cup. Will be an impossible task for Ireland to stay up!

[swinfordfc]

James is at 193 in rankings while Amy is at 409

[Acornvilla]

Don't think the girls/ITF events rankings get updated until the following week, so I'd wager Amy is really closer to 350 in reality.

[Spudulika]

Spot on, once a fortnight for ITF tournaments. All eyes on whether Ireland can finish 3rd and play off against 4th in the opposite group, it's happy days. As it stands Estonia, South Africa, Slovenia and Bosnia will be the big guns. Finland are strong with a very experienced captain (who is still winning club matches), Luxembourg are weak and Egypt are making up the numbers. Some very good players on show.

[Acornvilla]

McGee just missed 3 match points v Smyczek. Netted an easy forehand with the whole court to aim at..

Edit: Broken to love next game. Two double faults. Moronic.

[Spudulika]

That was disappointing. 2 hours on court and nothing to show. But at least he made main draw, a decent start (without having to qualify).

[Real ale Madrid]

McGee just missed 3 match points v Smyczek. Netted an easy forehand with the whole court to aim at..

Edit: Broken to love next game. Two double faults. Moronic.

What do you think Acornvilla - do you think he has a bit of a problem with nerves or what ? Seems that he gets into a lot of good positions but cannot convert? All in all it seemed a decent performance against a (nearly) top-100 player.

James Cluskey is in action in the doubles tonight at 10.30pm Irish time apparently. Top seeds as well.

[swinfordfc]

Louk loss in 1st round in Glasgow as well ....

[Acornvilla]

What do you think Acornvilla - do you think he has a bit of a problem with nerves or what ? Seems that he gets into a lot of good positions but cannot convert? All in all it seemed a decent performance against a (nearly) top-100 player.

James Cluskey is in action in the doubles tonight at 10.30pm Irish time apparently. Top seeds as well.

He's done it a lot, I remember him losing from 5/6-1 up v Sandgern in a 1/4 final tiebreak about a year and a half ago, which is one instance that springs to mind. Or last year in the Nouema semi when he was a set and a break up, serving for it and eventually lost. Not to mention numerous matches in bigish situations where you'd expect better. Last weeks semi for instance, or that 2nd quali round in the Aus Open even. The kid he was playing was good, but really, should he be losing to people like that on a stage of that magnitude at this stage of his career, when he seems to have his off the court house in order now?

The US Open last year is the one time you can say he time and time again fought back and got over the line, in both the 2nd and 3rd q round. But even then, he nearly died of cramp and could very easily have lost it :D McGee has been very Irish in his inability to seize chances that present themselves at times.

I like James, and he's a world away from where he was two years ago, that we can be disappointed that he's losing to people like Smyczek is testament to his achievements, but he's delusional in what he says about breaking the top 100 if he can't finish off matches like this. It's just not good enough at that level.

He'll lose a few ranking points this week, but he has very few points to defend for the next couple of month going forward. If he could break the top 150 and stay there, I'd think it a great success, but I can't see him ever breaking the 100 and if he did, staying there for any extended period of time would be well beyond him unless he makes a lot of changes. One thing I will say thou, is he's coming to the net a lot more now, and being more aggressive, which is great to see. He just needs to play the big points better, and keep shortening points, too many of his matches become wars of attrition, which hurts him in later rounds.

Louk mustn't be fit at all, he's played 2(?) matches this year, and only won about 3 games.

Cluskey was Top seed in every competition he's entered so far this year. It's not exactly served him too well. Lost an ITF Final, made an ITF 1/4 final, and lost in the 1st round last week. He's playing Mardy Fish of all people today, so you'd hope he can win. I can't imagine Fish is all that match ready.

[Spudulika]

Ireland off to a poor start in Estonia. Lost 1-2 to Finland. Ireland in a group with Slovenia and Luxembourg, all matches going according to plan, but Ireland need to beat Luxembourg and face Egypt in the play off. If no, it's down with the Congo next year. Budapest is looking fine, travel today.

[Acornvilla]

Cluskey out in 2 sets as well. A bad week for the parish.

[Real ale Madrid]

Ireland beat Luxembourg 2-1 yesterday to take a big step toward maintaining Div II status .

Assuming they lose 3-0 to Slovenia today, it is looking like a tough tie against Bosnia-Herzegovina in the play-off as they were beaten 2-1 by Egypt yesterday.

[swinfordfc]

They loss to Slovenia and also loss to Bosnia so they are down to Div III status.

[swinfordfc]

Amy is now 381 ranked and James down to 200!

[Real ale Madrid]

McGee beaten in 1st round Quals of ATP 250 tour event in Delray Beach. Another solid perfomance against WR 136 and former WR26 Victor Hanescu (2) Romania. James had 2 break points to go 5-5 in the third set but could not convert - ended up losing 64 36 64.

[Spudulika]

Took in 2 days play in Budapest (Fed Cup Gp II) and was getting the feed from Estonia. Ireland really disappointed, it just goes to illustrate the lack of depth in women's tennis. Amy is a good player, she can do something with her career, but the rest are club players and from 14-18 we have a real lack of quality.

Budapest was cool though. Have to post up 1 or 2 pics.

[Acornvilla]

Good news everyone..

James McGee has apparently been given a wildcard into the ATP 500 in Dubai next week. He's never played the 1st round of a main tour competition before exculding the GS in the US last year, so this is a very big deal and opportunity for him.

[swinfordfc]

Good news everyone..

James McGee has apparently been given a wildcard into the ATP 500 in Dubai next week. He's never played the 1st round of a main tour competition before exculding the GS in the US last year, so this is a very big deal and opportunity for him.

Wow .....

[Spudulika]

Enjoying the Twitter feed for Irish Tennis Updates! Players are too!

[Acornvilla]

Draw done, plays Sousa in R1, if by some miracle wins that, gets Murray in R2.

[Spudulika]

So if he beats Sousa he faces his old hitting partner! Should be good. I cannot remember if it was Barry King or James who used to frustrate the hell out of Murray. I know Murray had great respect and time for our boys, thanks to Garry Cahill.

[Real ale Madrid]

Thats a brilliant draw - I hope its not on at working o clock or stupid o clock so we can watch!

[Real ale Madrid]

Took in 2 days play in Budapest (Fed Cup Gp II) and was getting the feed from Estonia. Ireland really disappointed, it just goes to illustrate the lack of depth in women's tennis. Amy is a good player, she can do something with her career, but the rest are club players and from 14-18 we have a real lack of quality.

Budapest was cool though. Have to post up 1 or 2 pics.

Have to say Spud I thought we put up a Sterling effort against against Slovenia. Lauren Deegan took the first set against a WR234, only to lose in 3. Amy then was a set all against WR 76 Hercog before Hercog had to retire. From what I can gather Amy was injured subsequently ( shoulder - which meant she had to serve underarm!) which scuppered our chances big time in the Relegation P/O against Bosnia.

Deegan ( who performed admirably ) and Amy - should see us bounce straight back up next year - perhaps things are not as bad ? That Lauren Deegan looked very good - know anything about her?

[Spudulika]

Have to say Spud I thought we put up a Sterling effort against against Slovenia. Lauren Deegan took the first set against a WR234, only to lose in 3. Amy then was a set all against WR 76 Hercog before Hercog had to retire. From what I can gather Amy was injured subsequently ( shoulder - which meant she had to serve underarm!) which scuppered our chances big time in the Relegation P/O against Bosnia.

Deegan ( who performed admirably ) and Amy - should see us bounce straight back up next year - perhaps things are not as bad ? That Lauren Deegan looked very good - know anything about her?

I agree that things aren't that bad, but next year will be difficult with so many teams involved and if Amy is out or off form, it'll be a couple of years at the bottom level.

Slovenia are a good side, they've strength in depth and Tadeja Majeric is probably one of the lost 5-10 players who should be top-100 and with a good run top-75. She's a little on the short side and likes her grub, but her main problem is she was pampered and due to being a real looker, just didn't bother to use her talent. That being said, Ireland were unlucky.

One good thing, for Ireland, would be to concentrate on Division 3 for 2-3 years, leave Amy out of the equation and let Juniors and hopefuls face off against good opponents. It's not giving up, it's just building. There are a few decent girls coming through, but need to be pushed. Georgia Drummy looks very good, she's still very young and (have to check her ranking) benefitted from good hitting, and there's a Moldovan kid (Jenny something) who is very promising. If I were Fed Cup captain (or Irish TF), I'd bundle together 50k, get our top 4 players and get them travelling and playing together in $10k's, mixed with some good Junior events, where they can win points, train in different climates and next year (April probably) they'd win promotion right off the bat. It won't happen as parents will object, the Irish mob won't see any value in it as it won't return something tomorrow.

Lauren (from what I heard back from Garry and Tadeja) is a good player. She's never really broken fully from Grade 5 level in Juniors, no great crime, but she's strong, a good doubles player, and if her fitness was 80% she's the makings of a top-500 pro. From there on it's money, planning, luck and determination.

[Real ale Madrid]

She's a little on the short side and likes her grub, but her main problem is she was pampered and due to being a real looker, just didn't bother to use her talent.

:D
Jaysus a bit like meself - until you mentioned the pampered bit !!!!!

[Acornvilla]

:D
Jaysus a bit like meself - until you mentioned the pampered bit !!!!!
At least you have the good looks so!