Boys: Wimbledon 2016, grass - Grade A (Week 27)

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Boys: Wimbledon 2016, grass - Grade A (Week 27)

indiana · Tennis legend

Coup Droit wrote:
Re the boys' doubles and Alexis etc. not playing because there weren't enough wildcard places...

I understand giving Jack Draper and Anton M a wildcard, if you want, to give the youngsters a 'feel' for Junior Wimbly.

But how exactly did Ben Draper get a match?

Now, I'm quite a fan of Ben's tennis - a Spanish system would knock him into shape and make a really good player out of him (not that it'll happen, I imagine, but it's there for the doing).

BUT why would he (born 1998) get a doubles play above Alexis, Ewan etc. ????

Apart from the obvious reason, of course.....

And, as Yasmin mentioned, Alexis and Ewan won a doubles round last year ( although not apparently in partnership ).

I'm not sure I'm even totally in favour of this give a 'feel' of Wimbledon to younger players business either if that's what was going on with some, but I understand that there is an argument. I'd pick whoever looks the best available and wants to play.

-- Edited by indiana on Wednesday 6th of July 2016 06:06:30 PM

Anne · Improver

I thought I would just update on Ryan's injury . Ryan had a scan and will be off for a few weeks , nothing major and Ryan is aiming to be back for the US Open if all goes well .

DavidC · Tennis legend

Thanks for the update Anne - I hope that Ryan will be able to do himself justice in his last available Grand Slam

The one outstanding doubles result:

R1

Blanch/Kirkov (USA) d. (WC) B.Draper/Molloy 6-3 6-2

Spectator · All-time great

Yes, thank you, Anne. And an echo of DavidC's good wishes for the US Open and the rest of the season.

-- Edited by Spectator on Thursday 7th of July 2016 04:00:57 PM

Gary Bass · Improver

Alexis won a doubles round with Finn Bass last year not Ewan .

DavidC · Tennis legend

So the singles final pits Roehampton winner (and Finn conqueror) Denis Shapovalov against Aussie Alex De Minaur. I had the feisty Canadian as clear favourite against the top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, who though the highest ranked player here (ATP and ITF) hasn't been able to impose himself here or at Roehampton. Indeed he may not have made the semis, had Jurabek Karimov not injured himself when up a set in the quarters. Tsitsipas won the first set of the semi and broke to serve for the match at 6-5 in the second only for Shapovalov to raise his game and break back to love. At 5-5 in the tiebreak Tsitsipas got a netcord only to see the Canadian's shoveled pick-up bounce twice on the net and drop dead. After losing the tiebreak the Greek looked deflated, and unsurprisingly was no match in the third. De Minaur had a much easier time of it, taking care of second seed Ulises Blanch 6-3 6-2. His tough match was yesterday, when apparently he was a set and a break down to another Canadian star Felix Auger-Aliassime, before turning it around in the second set tiebreak.

Spectator · All-time great

Shapovalov and FAA are two players I would have loved to have seen - they certainly seem like two for the future. Tsitsipas v Shapovalov was a match between the 5th-highest ATP ranked and 6th-highest ATP ranked players eligible for this tournament. The other four (Tiafoe, Kozlov, Duck Hee Lee, and Michael Mmoh) are all solely on the professional circuit now. Would anticipate Shapovalov doing the same next year, though he has another year of junior eligibility left.

DavidC · Tennis legend

Spectator wrote:
Shapovalov and FAA are two players I would have loved to have seen - they certainly seem like two for the future. Tsitsipas v Shapovalov was a match between the 5th-highest ATP ranked and 6th-highest ATP ranked players eligible for this tournament. The other four (Tiafoe, Kozlov, Duck Hee Lee, and Michael Mmoh) are all solely on the professional circuit now. Would anticipate Shapovalov doing the same next year, though he has another year of junior eligibility left.

You should be able to catch the pair of them playing doubles tomorrow on the BBC stream - they are third on ct 18 against Kecmanovic/Ruud

Spectator · All-time great

Thank you!

Jaffa · Challenger level

Shapovalov is a single handed lefty, and ran Evo to within a couple of points earlier this year.

DavidC · Tennis legend

The boys final threatened to make Dustin Brown v Nick Kyrgios look pedestrian with a first set (6-4) being concluded in 24 minutes. The Australian won that, but Shapovalov became less erratic and his extra power, coupled with untimely double faults from De Minaur allowed him to run away with the other two sets 6-1 6-3