All the world's a stage

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Whistle Down The Wind in the West End, Ewan in The Adventures of Greyfriars Bobby and an extra wearing a very large moustache in one of the early 118 118 adverts are amongst the acting highlights of the new US Open boys singles champion.

Question is how much does having the experience of appearing on the stage help Ollie Golding in his quest to become a top player on the ATP tour? Draper and his predecessors weren't convinced about his acting work - Ollie even trained up in Scotland in one of their indoor tennis venues for a few months when scheduling permitted during filming of his role as Ewan.

Seems his acting days are well behind him now but I have a sneaking feeling all those hours hamming it up on one kind of stage will give him all the belief he needs for a totally different kind.

I don't think it applies in anyway, maybe it could help him act in a commercial and make him an effective pitchman but he has to win something first before he gets to that position.

It should give him an edge with MTO's, which can be vital as we all know.

Otherwise, whilst winning the Junior USO is obviously a considerable achievement, he'll turn 18 ranked at about 780 in the world - much the same as Henman at the same age. Murray was about 350 places higher when he won the Junior USO at a similar age in 2004, Federer was in the top 80, and Nadal was RG winner. Henman was a fairly exceptional late bloomer for tennis, and Murray is proving latish by comparison with other members of the current top 4 and also with most players who achieve the milestone of a slam in their careers. Unless Golding rockets up the rankings and does something extraordinary in the next 2-3 years past experience suggests he's unlikely to threaten the top 20 much, let alone at a slam (and there's no shame in that).

I had no idea he was an actor as well. Maybe he could get tips from Vijay Amritraj.
Perhaps now, all the world's a court and all the men and women merely tennis players.

JuliusHMarx wrote:I had no idea he was an actor as well. Maybe he could get tips from Vijay Amritraj.

Yup - stay away from dodgy yo-yo's

barrystar yes interesting to compare him with the junior careers of the top players now.

Nadal (like Becker before him) is a freak. I don't mean in a nasty way but to be that developed physically and mentally to win slams at such an early age.

Djokovic doesn't appear to have won any of the junior slam titles correct me if I'm wrong) but was no. 1` in Europe at both U14 and U16 level. There are plenty of players out there who do very well on the pro tour without such titles to their name as well.

In terms of ranking he does appear to have more in common with Henman though I would argue he has a much more developed game than Tim ever had. He (Tim) was a late developer but was hindered by the lack of a big weapon being a throwback to the old serve and volleyer type of player.

Golding has little in common with Henman though in terms of his playing style and, interestingly,, he cites Soderling as someone who he believes to be a similar type of player to himself. Soderling was also a late developer, in terms of getting success on the tour after a good junior career, maybe due to lack of mental strength early on,injury and inconsistency. He may well still win a slam though so who knows what the future has in store for Ollie?

newballs wrote:
Golding.... cites Soderling as someone who he believes to be a similar type of player to himself. Soderling was also a late developer, in terms of getting success on the tour after a good junior career, maybe due to lack of mental strength early on,injury and inconsistency. He may well still win a slam though so who knows what the future has in store for Ollie?

I don't think Soderling will get a slam - but a career as good as his is absolutely no disgrace to anyone. Were Golding to manage that I'd be delighted for him. Everyone is different and the comparisons I made can't govern the future for Golding, they merely show that he'd be a pretty major exception if he turned his current ranking into slam success.

barrystar agree that Soderling probably is an outside bet to win a slam but certainly has the game to do so.

Someone though on an earlier thread said that probably only Ollie's mum believes he'll ever win a slam. Winning a junior one is no guarantee that'll happen but it's a pretty good start.

newballs wrote: Winning a junior one is no guarantee that'll happen but it's a pretty good start.

There is little correlation between Junior and Senior winners - I don't know why, perhaps those that will go on to be senior winners are more interested trying to move on from being a big fish in a small pond to being a big fish in a large one.

barrystar wrote:

newballs wrote: Winning a junior one is no guarantee that'll happen but it's a pretty good start.

There is little correlation between Junior and Senior winners - I don't know why, perhaps those that will go on to be senior winners are more interested trying to move on from being a big fish in a small pond to being a big fish in a large one.

Agreed that's why I'm glad to hear he wants to play more futures events than chase the no.1 junior slot. Nobody will remain in years to come if he was no. 1 junior but if he were to win a slam...

Agreed that's why I'm glad to hear he wants to play more futures events than chase the no.1 junior slot. Nobody will remain in years to come if he was no. 1 junior but if he were to win a slam..

Indeed, I don't remember Djokovic and Nadal wasting alot of time in the juniors and if they did play, it was seldomly. Murray and Monfils on the other hand..