The long overdue (no staking) tennis betting and discussion thread

[Doobs]

Norrie will be behind Fearnley in the rankings if he doesn't get a better result than him this week

Tough draw for Fearnley though.  Will likely need Norrie to bust round 1.  Raducanu tough too.

Looks like Kartal is a lucky loser, as can see her in the draw.

[Doobs]

Need Ironside's tips for the year.

Raducanu and Boulter both finish top 20, but not top 10. 
Raducanu wins a WTA tournament at last.
Sonay Kartal gets to top 50.
Burrage back in top 100.
Draper breaks top 10
Jacob Fearnley gets to top 50
Billy Harris gets close, doesn't get there
Think Jack Pinnington Jones and Paul Jubb can get top 100.
So we finish the year with 5 men and 5 women in top 100 (proper gamble)?  Don't know which over woman, hopefully Dart gets there/stays there.  Armani Banks 150 or so?
Xu finishes top of Xu, Klugman and Stojsavljevic.  Depends if any gets main draw at Wimbledon though?

Quick update. First one up   Draper looking brilliant most of this week, and is now World Class.  Just proper smashed up Rune to win Indian Wells.  If he can go further than Ruud and Djokovic this week he should go top 5.  He is obviously in the best form of the 3, but hard to perform at such a high level 2 weeks in a row.  He is also up to number 3 in the ATP race, he could even temporarily hit number 1 as Sinner can't play right now.

Neither Raducanu or Boulter are stepping up this year, but Raducanu keeps meeting higher ranked players.  Hopefully she can get a good draw this week and at least make round 3.

Kartal likely gets top 50 just from playing solid in the next couple of months, after playing well in Indian Wells. She will also be ranked high enough to get in to some of these 1000s after Miami (Indian Wells didn't count for next week).

Burrage is still struggling with injuries.  Looked like she was going to beat Kartal today, but had to pull out.

Fearnley should be top 50 looks solid still.  Norrie is a bit up and down.  Have seen him play pretty well and pretty badly this year.  Just isn't as reliable as he once was.  Definitely needs to get some solid results in as doesn't want to be playing qualifiers for the slams.

Looks more likely that Johannus Monday gets top 100 by the end of the year rather than Pinnington Jones or Jubb.  Monday has put a string of decent performances together after coming off the US circuit.

Dart is through one round of qualifiers in Miami and Xu is pulling away from the other two young British hopefuls.

[typhoon13]

I know nothing about tennis but here is a reply from someone who does


Draper different level now he is definitely world class.
 
As for others can’t really see them doing much.
 
Mi Mi Xu could come good but I still think Hannah Klugman better talent.
 
Next young Girl to watch Meg Knight ( unbelievable talent)

[Doobs]

I know nothing about tennis but here is a reply from someone who does


Draper different level now he is definitely world class.
 
As for others can’t really see them doing much.
 
Mi Mi Xu could come good but I still think Hannah Klugman better talent.
 
Next young Girl to watch Meg Knight ( unbelievable talent)

Don't disagree with much of that. 

Just thinking back 2/3 years, and was discussing if Draper could be as good as Raducanu, so not given up yet (she has a bad draw in Miami btw).

Would agree on Klugman up to last year, but last year seemed to lose her way. Seemed to be making bad shot choices, not finishing people off when I saw her.  Hope she has a good year.

[typhoon13]

I know nothing about tennis but here is a reply from someone who does


Draper different level now he is definitely world class.
 
As for others can’t really see them doing much.
 
Mi Mi Xu could come good but I still think Hannah Klugman better talent.
 
Next young Girl to watch Meg Knight ( unbelievable talent)

Don't disagree with much of that. 

Just thinking back 2/3 years, and was discussing if Draper could be as good as Raducanu, so not given up yet (she has a bad draw in Miami btw).

Would agree on Klugman up to last year, but last year seemed to lose her way. Seemed to be making bad shot choices, not finishing people off when I saw her.  Hope she has a good year.

I hope they all have a good year, its tough out there

Keep your eye on Meg Knight, she has just won U18 big tournament, aged 14

[typhoon13]

Nick Knight the cricketer, its his daughter

[bergeroo]

Got some tickets for Birmingham event. First time they've had men's tennis for as long as I remember and I can pop over to see my family for a cuppa afterwards. Perfect.

Also will be in London for the last three days of Wimbledon. Not sure if it is worth getting a grounds pass on the second Friday, or queueing up to try and get a ticket for some doubles - Maybe I will just go and watch the men's semis on the hill...!

Just a quick heads up

The LTA tickets have mostly opened to general sale today.  Think Queens opened earlier, so tickets wil be much harder to get (or lots of singles, finals hard to come by).

Open today are Nottingham, Birmingham, Ilkley and Eastbourne.

I was in the virtual queue at 10 am, took about an hour.

Got centre court, 4 rows from the front, near the middle, for the finals at Nottingham.  4 tickets (3 adults, one child) were 180 all in including parking.  You could get closer to the front with worse position for much the same price.  Even the back rows aren't far from the players, so you can pay less. 

The women's event at Queens went from good availability for finals on day 1 to really bad availability in a week, so don't spend too long procrastinating. 

[Ironside]

Kartal lost in 2nd round of qualifying,  think she is first in line for lucky loser but I am likely wrong

[Doobs]

Got some tickets for Birmingham event. First time they've had men's tennis for as long as I remember and I can pop over to see my family for a cuppa afterwards. Perfect.

Also will be in London for the last three days of Wimbledon. Not sure if it is worth getting a grounds pass on the second Friday, or queueing up to try and get a ticket for some doubles - Maybe I will just go and watch the men's semis on the hill...!

Just a quick heads up

The LTA tickets have mostly opened to general sale today.  Think Queens opened earlier, so tickets wil be much harder to get (or lots of singles, finals hard to come by).

Open today are Nottingham, Birmingham, Ilkley and Eastbourne.

I was in the virtual queue at 10 am, took about an hour.

Got centre court, 4 rows from the front, near the middle, for the finals at Nottingham.  4 tickets (3 adults, one child) were 180 all in including parking.  You could get closer to the front with worse position for much the same price.  Even the back rows aren't far from the players, so you can pay less. 

The women's event at Queens went from good availability for finals on day 1 to really bad availability in a week, so don't spend too long procrastinating. 

Think ground pass for Wimbledon will be fine. You can watch some doubles, seniors and juniors and the hill isn't so bad either.  I wouldn't mind going along if I had the time.

You can also get rebuy tickets for centre or number 1 after people leave (have got these when we went years ago).  From when I was there last year, centre was only half full for much of the day.  Think it is entirely possible to get in for the last "doubles" match of the day.  Think of it is someone unpopular, you might even get in for the second match of singles.  Would certainly prioritise the rebuy queue as soon as you get in..

[Doobs]

I thought Raducanu played well the other day, but she just smashed Kessler up there.  Think Kessler might have done what people always accuse Raducanu of, and just quit as was getting beaten up.  She started odds against tonight too, so wasn't playing some mug.

Really difficult match next against the most inform player right now.  Think she has a chance if she plays like this.

[Doobs]

I thought Raducanu played well the other day, but she just smashed Kessler up there.  Think Kessler might have done what people always accuse Raducanu of, and just quit as was getting beaten up.  She started odds against tonight too, so wasn't playing some mug.

Really difficult match next against the most inform player right now.  Think she has a chance if she plays like this.

Well, turns out Anisimova beat Andreeva, so she gets an easier match, even if Anisimova is also in form. Raducanu has beat her already this season.  She beat Pegula too last year, so the semi final isn't unachievable. 

[Doobs]

I thought Raducanu played well the other day, but she just smashed Kessler up there.  Think Kessler might have done what people always accuse Raducanu of, and just quit as was getting beaten up.  She started odds against tonight too, so wasn't playing some mug.

Really difficult match next against the most inform player right now.  Think she has a chance if she plays like this.

Well, turns out Anisimova beat Andreeva, so she gets an easier match, even if Anisimova is also in form. Raducanu has beat her already this season.  She beat Pegula too last year, so the semi final isn't unachievable. 

Well, was all very promising.  I did start watching the Pegula match, which was due at 11, and Now TV packed in after about 4/5 games.  Seems she played well, but then suffered a bit and had a medical timeout when leading 5-2 in the 2nd.  Anyway, she lost, but now is ahead of Boulter in the WTA race.

Was thinking she didn't have many points to defend on the clay, forgetting she got some in Stuttgart last year. Weirdly, it looks like she isn't playing again this year, so assume her Porsche sponsorship has gone/been downgraded just as her form picks up.  She is playing Rouen the same week, which may well be better for her as it shouldn't be a strong field.  I assume she'll be seeded there too, which means she won't face anyone strong til the quarters if she gets through.  It isn't many points to defend, and even if she doesn't get them there, she should get them by Paris easy enough.

Klugman is in the semis of a W35 tomorrow, and the GB men won a raft of ITF titles last week. Norrie seems to be still struggling though.