European League Club Tennis

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

European League Club Tennis

The Optimist · ATP qualifying

Second round of Aegon National Team Tennis

Men

Tom Farquharson (Sutton TS&C) by Marshall Tutu (Globe) 6-4, 6-2

Pavlo Zhukov (Globe) bt Jack Carpenter (Sutton T&SC) 6-3, 7-5

Adam Thornton-Brown (Sutton T&SC) bt Andrew Rozanov (Globe) 6-3, 6-3

Myles Orton (DL Ipswich) bt Keelan Oakley (Bromley) 6-4, 6-4

Harry Skinner (Bromley) bt Matt Hough (DL Ipswich) 6-0, 6-1

Sean Thornley (Bromley) bt Ben Smith (DL Ipswich) 6-0, 3-6, 7-5

Josh Goodall (DL Raynes Pk) bt Oliver Hudson (Roehampton) 6-2, 3-6, 7-6

Jamie Baker (Roehampton) bt Mark Whitehouse (DL Raynes Pk) 6-3, 6-7, 6-3

Ross Hutchins (Roehampton) bt James Feaver (DL Raynes Pk) 6-2, 6-2

Oli Golding (DL Raynes Pk) bt Blake Hutchins (Roehampton) 6-4, 6-2

Marcus Willis (A1) bt Michael Suleau (Connaught) 7-6, 6-4

Neil Pauffley (A1) bt Julien Belair (Connaught) 6-1, 6-3

Matthew Short (A1) bt Lewis Thompson (Connaught) 6-2, 6-2

Josh Ward-Hibbert (Lady Bay) bt Barnaby Thorold (Carisbrooke) 6-1, 6-1

Marcus Walters (Lady Bay) bt Joseph Cook (Carisbrooke) 6-1, 6-2

Chris Priddle (Sutton Coldfield) bt Mason Recci (Edgbaston) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4

Richard Bloomfield (Mackintosh) bt Jordan Parker (Leicestershire) 6-0, 6-2

Paul Jubb (Beverley) bt James Turner (Bramhall) 7-5, 7-5

Women

Esther Adeshina (W Hants) bt Natalie Ayton (Taunton) 6-2, 6-1

Holly Hutchinson (Halton) bt Freya Davies (Winchester) 6-0, 6-3

Florence Abbott (Bath) bt Julie Sinkins (Millfield) 2-6, 7-6, 6-4

Eden Richardson (Bath) bt Emily Thomas (Millfield) 6-0, 6-1

Katy Han**** (Millfield) by Louie Mclelland (Bath) 6-2, 1-6, 6-3

Jane O'Donoghue (Virgin Surrey) bt Josefin Hjertquist (Queens) 6-4, 6-2

Mollie Crouch (Goslings) bt Jasmine Asghar (Wilton) 6-3, 6-2

Aimee Gibson (Wilton) bt Meghan Forster (Goslings) 7-6, 7-5

Louise Holtum (Wilton) bt Manisha Chowdhury (Goslings) 6-1, 6-1

Katie O'Brien (DL Raynes Pk) bt Winde Janssens (Connaught) 6-1, 6-2

Serena Nash (DL Raynes Pk) bt Valentine Gonzalez Ramirez (Connaught) 6-3, 6-0

Gemma Heath (DL Raynes Pk) bt Phoebe Collins (Connaught) 6-0, 6-0

Ceire Mullins (Lady Bay) bt Kerry Pollard (Roundhill) 6-1, 6-3

Lauren McMinn (Bridgenorth) bt Lucy Linnell (Blossomfield) 6-3, 6-1

Ellie-Rose Griffiths (Edgbaston) bt Victoria Bullock (Loughborough) 6-1, 6-4 (and Manisha Foster played dubs with Ellie and they won 6-0, 6-3)

Really pleased to see this competition well supported and particularly nice to see some of our younger players giving it a go. In my book playing different types of players, mixing with those just a couple of steps ahead or even veterans who have had good careers is all to the good when it comes to tennis development.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Love your posts, The O.

Like you, love to see the youngsters playing (and am completely convinced that British youngsters do not play enough adult tennis, of all shapes and sizes, so it's brilliant to see them here).

And the 'oldies'. And the doubles one playing singles. And the current players who are 'laying low' at the moment (JWH) or maybe might one day give it another go (Oli? Jack?). Or whatever....

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

Coup Droit wrote:
Love your posts, The O.

Like you, love to see the youngsters playing (and am completely convinced that British youngsters do not play enough adult tennis, of all shapes and sizes, so it's brilliant to see them here).

And the 'oldies'. And the doubles one playing singles. And the current players who are 'laying low' at the moment (JWH) or maybe might one day give it another go (Oli? Jack?). Or whatever....

Totally agree. To be honest, the match that brought the biggest smile for me was Ross Hutchins v James Feaver. Just fabulous to see Rosco playing tennis.

Spectator · All-time great

Would be interested to know what others make of this post by Eric Butorac on the topic of leagues, money tournaments, and how they support nascent pros: blog.universaltennis.com/2016/04/26/how-to-make-pro-tennis-a-realistic-career/

There's clearly a financial interest on the part of UTR in promoting the solution that makes the most use of their proprietary system ... but that doesn't invalidate the wider point.

-- Edited by Spectator on Wednesday 27th of April 2016 05:36:09 AM

Born2WinTennis · Club Coach

I read that with interest on the British Tennis Coaches Facebook forum and it has sparked a bit of debate. I suggested the French money tournaments could be compared to the British Tour events due to their different stages, i.e. Pre-Quals, Quals and Main Draw (i.e. 3 stages) with only the best players entering at the final stage and now 3 tiers/grades. They both offer prize money but only offer domestic ranking/ratings points. Someone has suggested they are very much different in terms of many more stages, loads more prize money, loads more entrants and loads more events in general. 400/year vs 30/year. So is this correct, how many entrants and stages do they have, how long do they typically run for, how much is the usual entry fee?

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Born2win, the others are right - French money tournaments aren't really like the British Tour events. And the points made above about the differences are right.

I will be entering several this summer (as normal) (I am the reigning champion of the Losers' Draw at one of them !!!! i.e. got knocked out in round 1 and then won the Consolation draw .....)

It's like this:

They are usually spread over 2-3 weeks. They all cross over and there are a huge number going on at any one time (especailly over summer). I will be staying in the middle of nowhere and there are about 4 tournaments within 45 mins drive going on every week (although not all big ones). 400/year sounds definitely on the low side if you count them all (I'll go and check one day - I've got the lists).

Entrants numbers will be about 150-250 individuals (although that's for men and women, and is a very approx number - some have about 350-400. Some about 100. Never really any less. More men than women. There is always doubles, nearly always seniors events i.e. +35, +45 and +55 for men, often only +35 for women. NB The 200 (approx) entrants number does not include double entries i.e. the guy who plays both the Open, and the +35 (and the doubles) only counts as one entrant.

It goes, in theory, from complete beginner to ATP/WTA decently ranked. That is, they ALL start at complete beginner but some cap themselves out at a certain level (it keeps prize money small, makes it more likely the local lad will win, etc. etc. and a lot of the money tournaments form part of a wider umbrella Challenge or whatever and so all the ones in that Challenge will be governed the same). That means the very top players have less they can pplay (although the money prizes for these will be more) and there are still tons of ones they CAN play.

It costs about 17 euros to enter (25 euros for two singles categories), doubles is about 14 euros per team.

There are prizes down to QFs (generally) - always money in the big events, sometime only money for the finalists in the small events, and money-in-kind for all the other levels. (Losing in the first round and winning the Consolation draw is a great tactic - you win a cup, and a lunch voucher, a bottle of wine, etc. etc. smile - way better than winning your first match, and then just losing the second - I wish I could say I'd done it on purpose last year but, no, I just honestly got beaten and then managed to scrape a few! Managed a few rounds of the doubles with sonny Jim though, and I'm diabolical at doubles...).

There are also good prizes for 'fin de tableau' of the 4ieme series draw, and the 3ieme series draw. i.e. all the beginners start in the draw. The top ones go through about to the 4ieme series draw (although this is staggered - multiple entry points as the blog calls it). By the end of that there are four (say) who go through to the 3ieme series draw (again staggered entry), and so on through to 2ieme series, then the negative numbers, then the ATP/WTA ones. The top 4 of that 4ieme series table will play off between themsleves to decide the 4ieme series champion and runner-up and they will get prizes.

They obviously use the French domestic ranking system (like the UTR?) to make up the staggered draws (it works really well). You get points based on the ranking of the opponent you beat, relative to yours, not the stage you get to (although there's a bonus for winning a title).

I think that's all. Is there anything I've missed out?

PS The prize money does not come from the federation (nor do the entry fees go to them) - the events are run by the clubs. Sometimes the FFT has absolutely nothing to do with the event, sometimes the FFT has provided the 'umbrella' structure for the event i.e. it feeds through to a final, end-of-season Challenge event or whatever.

-- Edited by Coup Droit on Wednesday 27th of April 2016 01:32:00 PM

The Optimist · ATP qualifying

How would a British player go about getting a French rating (presumably needed for entry) and find out where and when these tournaments are on? And how far in advance would they need to enter?

The Optimist · ATP qualifying

Results from the latest round of the Aegon Team Tennis.

The results of the men's Southeast Region have already been posted in the mens tennis thread so these are just some results from the other regions, plus women's results

Men

Josh Ward-Hibbert (Lady Bay) bt Matt Bailey (Sutton Coldfield) 6-0, 6-0

Marcus Walters (Lady Bay) bt Chris Priddle (Sutton Coldfield) 6-1, 6-2

Luke Oakley (Edgbaston) bt Samuel Reay Smith (Beechwood) 6-1, 6-1

Richard Love (TennisWorld) bt Paul Jubb (Beverley) 7-6, 7-6

Jonathan Kinsella (Manchester) bt Jonathan Binding (Wearside) 7-6, 6-3

The teams topping the tables in the 4 regions are

North - Wrexham

Midlands - Lady Bay

South East - Roehampton

South West - Halton

Women

Lauryn John-Baptiste (W Hants) bt Ali Blackett (Kings) 6-2, 6-0

Holly Hutchinson (Halton) bt Flo Abott (Bath) 6-3, 6-1

Julia Bone - (Halton) bt Louie Mclelland (Bath) 6-2, 6-0

Naomi Cavaday (Cumberland) bt Annie Goransson (Queens) 6-2, 6-2

Emily Arbuthnott (Gosling) bt Winde Janssens (Connaught) 6-1, 6-2

Mollie Crouch (Gosling) bt Phoebe Collins (Connaught) 6-0, 6-3

Megan Forster (Gosling) bt Olivia Sofroniou (Connaught) 6-2, 6-2

Jasmine Asghar (Wilton) bt Worthy Goldman (Woodford) 6-2, 7-5

Louise Holtum (Wilton) bt Annali Olivelle (Woodford) 6-3, 6-1

Charlotte Pearce (Wilton) bt Winworth Goldman (Woodford) 6-2, 6-0

Serena Nash (Raynes Pk) bt Lindsay Cunnigham (Virgin Surrey) 6-3, 6-2

Manisha Foster (Edgbaston) bt Kerry Pollard (Roundhill) 6-2, 6-1

Ellie-Rose Griffiths (Edgbaston) bt Elizabeth Allwood (Roundhill) 6-1, 6-1

Lauren McMinn (Bridgenorth) bt Rebecca Donald (Loughborough) 6-4, 6-2

Yasmin Clarke (Grantham) bt Elizabeth Massie (Lady Bay) 6-2, 6-0

Georgia Lawson (Lady Bay) bt Maia Dunn (Grantham) 6-1, 6-2)

Topping the table for the women

North - Thongsbridge

Midlands - Edgbaston

South East - Wilton

South West - West Hants

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

The Optimist wrote:
How would a British player go about getting a French rating (presumably needed for entry) and find out where and when these tournaments are on? And how far in advance would they need to enter?

There are various points here:

Firstly, the key thing you need is an FFT licence and a medical certificate. The rating itself is not necessary but if you don't have the other two things, no club will accept you as their insurance will be invalid.

Licence:

You need a club to apply for a licence for you. The actual cost of a licence is 27 euros. Most clubs are very happy to do it (because the more licencees they have, the more 'important' they are as far as the FFT is concerned (this applies to smaller clubs in particular). Some might ask you to take out a summer membership too (not a lot, say, 25 euros) but if you kept looking someone would definitely do it just for the bare cost. If doesn't matter who you licence is with - you can play any competition, anywhere. And you can change club next year if you want to.

Rating:

When a new person applies for a licence, he/she is automatically Non-classé (NB) i.e. Unranked (UNR). TO be honest, there's a big difference in level, so my advice (to most friends etc) is just to play as a NC. Certainly, if you are 10.2/1 or 9.2/1m then do this. Even if you're 8.2/1. A friend is club champion at a smallish club in Surrey. He played last year as a UNR and won his first round (with difficulty) and then lost at the next level (i.e. the very first rating level).

If you're actually a pretty good player (7.1 or 6.2 and above, say), then you can ask for a special 'administrative' ranking. You will have to give them proof of your LTA ranking and they will use the equivalence table and award you a higher rating.

Medical certificate:

Every player needs a medical certificate (less than 12 months old), in French, saying there is no counter-indication to you playing competitive tennis. it looks something like this:

Certificat médical dans le cadre des articles 193, 194 et 195 des Règlements Sportifs de la FFT pris en application des articles L.231-2 à L.231-2-2 du Code du Sport

Je, soussigné, Docteur :
________________________________________________________
Demeurant à
:
________________________________________________________________
Certifie avoir examiné ce jour M/Mme/Melle:
_____________________________________________________________________________
Né(e) le:
____/____/____
Demeurant à:
______________________________________
Et navoir pas constaté, à ce jour, de contre-indication à la pratique du tennis/beach tennis/padel et des sports suivants, y compris en compétition:
_________________________________
_________________________________
Fait à
_____________________,
le

_____/____/20___
Signature du médecin

Cachet du Médecin Règlements sportifs de la Fédération Française de Tennis

I honestly don't know if a GB one would be OK (maybe Bob could ask the Brit guys who play in France when he sees them) but otherwise you'd have to pop to a French GP (cost about 22 euros, no waiting time, next day no problem) and they'll give you one.

NB My friend didn't have one and quite a few clubs are pretty lax about it but you're supposed to have one.

Events:

http://www.ei.applipub-fft.fr/eipublic/competitionRecherche.do?dispatch=afficher

They're all listed here (by area, then department etc. etc.)

There are contact details for the president or tournoi umpire on every site so he/she's the one to contact about getting a licence and inscribing.

Inscription and TIming:

If you have a licence, you can inscribe up to two days before it starts (or later if you have a good ranking because you come in the draw later and so the draws for the later stages isn't done at the beginning but at stages as you go through). I'm not sure how long it takes to get a licence (I'm guessing about 2 weeks). So, contact the club contact person, ask if you can inscribe for the tournament, and say you need to take out a licence too.

Money:

You pay the entry fee just before your first match. So that's not a problem. But you need to pay the licence up-front so I'm not sure how that might work (send some euros in a letter?, make a bank transfer?)

Please let me know if I've left anything out.

The Optimist · ATP qualifying

Wow....what a wonderfully detailed answer!!!!! Thank you. Certainly, I think very few of the young players I know would be aware of how to go about playing in France and it does sound like it could open up so many more competitive opportunities for them.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

OK, French league tennis kicks off today and the first result through is a bit of a mystery....

Damon Roberts is listed as playing for Vignal, as a GBR player.

However, the ITF have a Damon Roberts as a Hungarian - age 19 - currently unranked but ex-WR 1164

On the other hand, I found this link to a Damon Roberts who is at a French academy and is going the US college tennis.

info.ebicaschool.com/blog/scholarship-for-damon-roberts

But this implies to me he's French (because only the French can play in the French championships). Although, the event might be mis-trnaslated i.e. lots of sites get the different championships confused.

And there's a twitter account for him (must be the same guy) who says he's living in France but half-Hungarian and half-Australian.

Everything but British, in fact ....

So if anyone knows anything about the lad, I'd be curious....

NB He's ranked about British Tour main draw level/ ITF quali level.

Anyway, he won, as did his team.

So well done, Damon - especially if you're British !

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Jessica Simpson lost quite heavily to a player ranked two levels below her.

(Frankly, Jesss ranking is ridiculously optimistic, she'd have done herself a favour to ask for something more conservative).

She also lost her doubles and her team lost 0-6

In the men, Dan Cox chalked up a good win, 7-6 6-1, against a pretty high-ranked player. Dan also won his doubles, and the team won 6-0

-- Edited by Coup Droit on Sunday 1st of May 2016 01:21:06 PM

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Oliver Hudson and Adam TB are both playing in Div 2 for Mondeville, both ranked -4/6

Oli played number 1 today, to a guy ranked one level above (-15), and lost. Adam TB also lost to a guy ranked one level above (-15) but in three tight sets

Oli H lost to Arthur Pain, 2-6 4-6

Adam TB lost to Thomas Grinberg, WR 1637 ex 876 (last year), 6-3 1-6 6-4

The two won their doubles, the team lost 1-5

In the women, Lucy Brown def. Delphine Bance 4-6 7-6 6-1, which looks terribly close and Delphine is only ranked 0 (a long way below Lucy).

But a wins a win. However, she lost her doubles, in a MTB, and the team lost 2-4

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Marcus Willis was out in Capdenac (near Rodez), in Div 3, and got a good win against a decently ranked player.

Marcus Willis def. Julien Ubiergo WR 713 (CH 571 last year) 6-3 6-3

Unfortunately, he and his partner lost the doubles in a MTB and the team lost 2-4

Stuart Parker (from Jersey) continues his good form, as seen in his victories in the money tournaments. He played in Div 2, as number 4 (ranked 1/6) and won nicely against a player of the same rank

Stuart Parker def. Augustin Delahodde 7-6 6-0

Stuart+ also won the doubles and the team won 5-1