New British No 1: Laura Robson

by Guest Mon 17 Sep 2012, 12:20 am

First topic message reminder :

Congratulations to Laura Robson for becoming the top ranked British Lady. clap

This has come about because of points dropped last week by Heather Watson.

Onwards and Upwards Very Happy

British Ladies
..... Name .................. Age ... WTA ranking
1... Laura Robson ....... 18 ..... 75
2... Heather Watson .... 20 ..... 76
3... Anne Keothavong .. 29 ..... 82
4... Elena Baltacha ...... 29 ..... 142
5... Johanna Konta ...... 21 ..... 148
6... Tara Moore ........... 20 ..... 241

British Men
..... Name .................. Age ... ATP ranking
1... Andy Murray ......... 25 ..... 3
2... Josh Goodall ........ 26 ..... 211

ps: Laura has an opportunity to extend her position as British No 1 as she is the only player in the top four playing this week - the $220 k WTA international event in Guangzhou, China (surface Hard, Deco-Turf) http://www.wtatennis.com/page/Tournaments/Info/0,,12781~1142,00.html

by lydian Fri 21 Sep 2012, 1:52 pm

For getting to final she gets 200 pts, will get 280 if she wins.
So she's now up to #56, if she wins up to #54 - I think...

If she can get to another final soon...say another 200pts...then she would go up to around #40.
So if she can see a good run before end of year she could be top 30!

by The Special Juan Fri 21 Sep 2012, 1:57 pm

If she could be seeded for the Aussie Open that would be magnificent. Who was the last women to be seeded at a major? Must be a long, long time ago. Google was no help:

"Showing results for: who was the last british woman to be seated at a grand slam?"

by Mad for Chelsea Fri 21 Sep 2012, 1:59 pm

The Special Juan wrote:If she could be seeded for the Aussie Open that would be magnificent. Who was the last women to be seeded at a major? Must be a long, long time ago. Google was no help:

"Showing results for: who was the last british woman to be seated at a grand slam?"

apparently the last Brit woman to get to a tour final was in 1990 Shocked

interesting that the points gap between winning and losing finalist is much much smaller on the WTA than on the ATP...

by dummy_half Fri 21 Sep 2012, 2:01 pm

DJ

Are you sure that's right - maybe I got my sums wrong (maybe carried 100 too many?), but I thought 50 or perhaps 49 depending on what others are dropping.

Anyway, this week she's beaten players ranked (at the start of the week):
111, 22, 47 and 30, with #53 to go.

Doing a fantastic job both of backing up the excellent progress of the USO and of the big win earlier this week over Zheng.

by djlovesyou Fri 21 Sep 2012, 2:01 pm

She's currently 300 points off #40 at the moment. She has 130 points to come off before the end of the year so she'll need a couple of good runs to get that high.

I would imagine it'll be Durie, the last woman to be seeded, given that 32 seeds is a relatively new thing.

by djlovesyou Fri 21 Sep 2012, 2:02 pm

http://www.tennisforum.com/showpost.php?p=20688789&postcount=2

That's how things are standing currently. (After Laura's win today).

80 more points puts her in #53 ahead of Govortsova.

All the points that have been dropped are already accounted for.

by lydian Fri 21 Sep 2012, 2:04 pm

1990 for a WTA final? wow...staggering ineptitude by British Women's tennis. And of course we cant even point to Robson being a LTA success either....just like Murray too.

Its great to be following Robson's progress at the moment, you have a feeling of real breakthrough now.

by lydian Fri 21 Sep 2012, 2:05 pm

Thanks for the link DJ...after I was able to peel myself away from the avatar on the left the ranking list was informative reading.
Thanks for that, right you were!

by djlovesyou Fri 21 Sep 2012, 2:07 pm

Haha, you shouldn't have reminded me. I've spent too long just watching that.

Boiledegg is one of the world's greatest tennis stattos, but his main motivation for the sport seems to be perving. He's a big Laura fan though.

Having said that, this doesn't account for points that are coming off next week. He takes those off at the start of next week and then adds points as they're earned during the event, so it could be different 'officially'. Laura has 70 coming off on Monday mind you.

by Guest Fri 21 Sep 2012, 2:12 pm

I didn't think Laura would win today against a player coming into the tournament ranked at WTA 32 (third seed), and following her 3 hour match yesterday - her shoulder was strapped suggesting some light muscular damage / strain.

Again Laura is not the favorite for the WTA title tomorrow (gosh I must be dreaming - a Brit competing for a WTA title!) ... because she isn't used to this level of day to day competition ... that is tournament fitness. She has shown she is good enough to win but she needs to build up the strength etc to last a tournament (mentally & physically).

On a separate note the $75k ITF tournament in shrewsbury (AEGON GB Pro-Series Shrewsbury)
A Main Draw of 32
Ten British Entries
First Round - Nine British Entries knocked out.
Second Round - remaining British Entry knocked out (Johanna KONTA)

by The Special Juan Fri 21 Sep 2012, 2:13 pm

djlovesyou wrote:Haha, you shouldn't have reminded me. I've spent too long just watching that.

Boiledegg is one of the world's greatest tennis stattos, but his main motivation for the sport seems to be perving. He's a big Laura fan though.

Having said that, this doesn't account for points that are coming off next week. He takes those off at the start of next week and then adds points as they're earned during the event, so it could be different 'officially'. Laura has 70 coming off on Monday mind you.

I worked that out after seeing the avatar and the list of players at the bottom who have some kind of heart

next to them. There must be at least 50.

by djlovesyou Fri 21 Sep 2012, 2:13 pm

Were things in danger of becoming too positive on this thread NS?

by Mad for Chelsea Fri 21 Sep 2012, 2:17 pm

yep, can't have positive attitude about Brit tennis, it's unhealthy Very Happy

well done to Konta on making the second round though; she seems to be making decent enough progress at the moment too Very Happy

I've decided from now on that I am the world's greatest anti-jinxer. I spent the whole Us Open (on a Murray fansite) saying that Murray would win, and this week I've been constantly talking up Laura's chances, so I shall continue to do so from now on Very Happy

by The Special Juan Fri 21 Sep 2012, 2:18 pm

The dream of Murray/Robson 2014 is still on Whistle

by djlovesyou Fri 21 Sep 2012, 2:19 pm

To be honest, Konta only making the second round was probably the biggest disappointment of the event. She was seeded 7 and has been playing reasonably well.

All the other players were considerably outranked, and perhaps we could have seen better from Tara Moore and Naomi Broady, they were certainly not expected to win.

by Guest Fri 21 Sep 2012, 2:39 pm

djlovesyou wrote:Were things in danger of becoming too positive on this thread NS?

Well maybe it is easy to underestimate Laura's achievement and get carried away with regard to expectation (e.g. winning the final and never having her serve broken).

by The Special Juan Fri 21 Sep 2012, 7:11 pm

I like Laura but I'm not getting up at 8am to watch her.

by Guest Fri 21 Sep 2012, 7:11 pm

c'mon laura!!!!!!

by User 774433 Fri 21 Sep 2012, 8:01 pm

The Special Juan wrote:I like Laura but I'm not getting up at 8am to watch her.

I have been inboxed by Laverfan to inform that due to this comment you will be banned between 29th-31st February next year (2013).

warning

by The Special Juan Fri 21 Sep 2012, 8:16 pm

It Must Be Love wrote:
The Special Juan wrote:I like Laura but I'm not getting up at 8am to watch her.

I have been inboxed by Laverfan to inform that due to this comment you will be banned between 29th-31st February next year (2013).

by dummy_half Fri 21 Sep 2012, 9:34 pm

TSJ

I think, from the calendar, there aren't any tournaments going on on those dates, so you'll probably only be missing some Wee Kiera discussion or other on here Wink

by User 774433 Fri 21 Sep 2012, 9:43 pm

dummy_half wrote:TSJ

I think, from the calendar, there aren't any tournaments going on on those dates, so you'll probably only be missing some Wee Kiera discussion or other on here

No, that's true I'm afraid.

I've heard rumours confirming that Ion Tiriac has decided to hold the Madrid Open between the dates of 29th and 31st February, and it will take place on green clay.

The All England Tennis Club have now opened up a lawsuit against Tiriac.

by Born Slippy Sat 22 Sep 2012, 8:12 am

lydian wrote:1990 for a WTA final? wow...staggering ineptitude by British Women's tennis. And of course we cant even point to Robson being a LTA success either....just like Murray too.

Its great to be following Robson's progress at the moment, you have a feeling of real breakthrough now.

I think Robson is an LTA product? I could be wrong on that though. No doubt the LTA has been woeful but I am prepared to give a bit of credit at the moment. We seem to have a number of decent juniors especially on the men's side, so seems like something must be improving.

by super_realist Sat 22 Sep 2012, 8:28 am

What is great about Robson is how much she appears to enjoy playing, breath of fresh air.

One thing I think she'll have to work on pretty soon though is her conditioning. I know she's young yet, but needs to be in better shape at the level she's aiming at, mind you there are a lot of female pro's who could be in better shape.

by Danny_1982 Sat 22 Sep 2012, 9:25 am

She's very hot and cold today, but at times you can see how good a player she can become. On the front foot she's devastating. Defensively needs a bit of work, her footwork is not the best and the serve is inconsistent to say the least.

But if she improves those areas... Wow, what a player she'll be. Doesn't look good today for her though. 3/6, 2/3 and a break down.

by lydian Sat 22 Sep 2012, 9:33 am

Fair comment Born-S, she is indeed a LTA product, I was thinking of someone else. The future is certainly looking positive!

by Danny_1982 Sat 22 Sep 2012, 9:55 am

3/6 4/5. Laura just saved 5 championship points on her serve, but fought throught.

Hsieh serving for the title now though.

by Danny_1982 Sat 22 Sep 2012, 10:00 am

Laura breaks back. 5/5. Great fight.

by Danny_1982 Sat 22 Sep 2012, 10:11 am

Laura takes second set 7/5. Unbelievable resolve. Saved 5 championship points.

by CaledonianCraig Sat 22 Sep 2012, 10:11 am

Robson takes the second set 7-5. Surely, she will have all the momentum now. Come on Laura.

by User 774433 Sat 22 Sep 2012, 10:11 am

SETTTT!
TSJ is going to regret not getting up to watch this; 1 set all.

I'm going to put Laura as my screen saver on my Ipod. Bubbly

by The Special Juan Sat 22 Sep 2012, 10:14 am

It Must Be Love wrote:SETTTT!
TSJ is going to regret not getting up to watch this; 1 set all.

I'm going to put Laura as my screen saver on my Ipod.

I've just gotten up. From what I've read here and seen via live scores her return game is doing the damage. With Laura, it's more about how many times she can hold serve rather than break her opponents.

by CaledonianCraig Sat 22 Sep 2012, 10:18 am

Apparently, the match has been suspended due to heat.

by Danny_1982 Sat 22 Sep 2012, 10:20 am

Craig - they're just having a break.

Match will restart in a minute.

by Guest Sat 22 Sep 2012, 10:24 am

CaledonianCraig wrote:Apparently, the match has been suspended due to heat.

There are certain things that can't be seen on the tv or score update.

Hsieuh is a good player. At 26 she is a fully developed women with experience to boot. She has won an WTA title and has got through to the final here. Guangzhou could be considered more of her backyard than Laura's since Hsieuh comes from Taiwan. The conditions throughout this tournament can be described as extremely tough - heat and humidity. This match has been suspended because the conditions are deemed to be unsafe for human health exercising vigorously. Coming at the end of a long tournament nearly 10 thousand kilometres away from London, Laura is showing an incredible amount of resistance and fight.

by bogbrush Sat 22 Sep 2012, 10:32 am

Can't serve for s*it.

Good call really to roll it in but only against this opponent level.

by The Special Juan Sat 22 Sep 2012, 10:33 am

10 DFs

by Guest Sat 22 Sep 2012, 10:34 am

Laura's second serve stats are not good - suggesting that Hseuih is really chasing after them and putting Laura under pressure on them (it is said that Laura's serving action needs improving?).

by ryan86 Sat 22 Sep 2012, 10:39 am

It would appear that they are no tossers at the LTA to teach Laura how to do it properly!

by Josiah Maiestas Sat 22 Sep 2012, 10:41 am

haha 3-0 baby.

All Laura has to do is play at 3rd gear really.

by Guest Sat 22 Sep 2012, 10:44 am

I wish I had a third gear like Laura's.

by Guest Sat 22 Sep 2012, 10:48 am

The match is coming up to two and a half hours.

by Josiah Maiestas Sat 22 Sep 2012, 10:49 am

Far from finished. Good fight from Hsieh. ;0

by Danny_1982 Sat 22 Sep 2012, 10:52 am

Momentum shifted again. 3-3.

Come on Laura. I wish she'd just go for body serves as she keeps missing the lines. Her serving stats must be awful.

by Guest Sat 22 Sep 2012, 10:54 am

Laura needs to keep grinding.

by Josiah Maiestas Sat 22 Sep 2012, 10:57 am

Stop ballbashing Laura furious

by Josiah Maiestas Sat 22 Sep 2012, 10:59 am

Hsieh mimicking Murray type pushing getting the job done.

by Guest Sat 22 Sep 2012, 11:00 am

Could be all over now ... unless Laura has some extra energy from somewhere. Overall this has been a very tight match.

by Guest Sat 22 Sep 2012, 11:05 am

Hsieh's greater experience is almost certain now to win her the match.

by The Special Juan Sat 22 Sep 2012, 11:12 am

Bottled it. Failure. No future in the game. Whistle

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