British Player of the Month Vote - March 2022

Ace Ventura · Tennis legend

RE: British Player of the Month Vote - March 2022

Ace Ventura · Tennis legend

I think I have actually voted for the winner in the last 11 votes, stretching back to Joe Salisbury last March (didn't vote him), although there were a couple of ties, including a 3 way, so harder not to in those months.

Madadman · Masters Series Champion

To echo the other comments was a very hard month to choose a player to vote for. I think what Harriet managed was great however I think Ill always vote for someone with a tournament win. Then Ill rank them based on who overachieved or broke new ground. So Jack winning another Challenger was not as great as say Paul winning his first one. Same for Oscar and Hannah.

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

steven wrote:
SuperT wrote:
Voting just gets more and more difficult every month due to the increased success of so many players. Normally Jack winning a Challenger would be enough to secure the vote, but we've almost come to expect him to win so it doesn't seem such a big deal any more! Joe and Cam both passed huge milestones but sadly without a tournament win this month it's more a tribute to their performance over the past year rather than an outstanding performance this month. I'd love to vote for Hannah but feel she has time on her side. So that brings it down to Paul for his exceptional performances on the clay in South America or Harriet for her breakthrough week in Miami. I love Harriet but I think the tournament win just gives Paul the edge.
The results seemed really bizarre to me (and I say that as a huge fan of Harriet!) but SuperT's explanation above is probably a very good description of how the forum's collective mind must have worked, even if he didn't vote for the winner, so thanks for convincing me that there was some logic to it and the majority of the forum isn't completely mad

Who did you end up voting for Steven?

thanks for marketing it as well. 39 votes is good, weve had 40,32 and 39 this year so far so I think one or two responded to your tweeting .

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

Madadman wrote:
To echo the other comments was a very hard month to choose a player to vote for. I think what Harriet managed was great however I think Ill always vote for someone with a tournament win. Then Ill rank them based on who overachieved or broke new ground. So Jack winning another Challenger was not as great as say Paul winning his first one. Same for Oscar and Hannah.

I take a similar approach - i start by looking out for someone who has done something good in more than one week of the month , to get repeat performance and then a winner of an event, and then doing something over and above. Usually this leads me to one person, Paul in this case.

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

Id have to go back old threads as I havent kept detailed records, but I suspect Harriet has been close a couple of times, largely when qualifying in a slam. I suspect Emma winning the US Open sort of swung it for her once!

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

Casting back through , Harriet was second in the June/July 2020 vote (it was combined as tennis was just starting again in Covid) and also August 2021, when Emma took the title due to winning a pre US Open event.

steven · Tennis legend

Bizarre was putting it a bit strongly perhaps, but I was surprised by the low numbers of votes for only the 4th British player ever to break into the ATP singles top 10 and only the 2nd ever to become world no. 1 in doubles. However, SuperT's post made me realise that as long as they won the vote in the main months that contributed to them reaching those levels (i.e. the ones where they won big tournaments), that's probably fair enough. I thought Jack would get more votes too, given that he has cemented his position as the best Challenger player in the whole of the first quarter, but maybe people are getting bored of him winning titles. wink

Anyway, you can only pick one and there are many, many months in the past when either Paul's first Challenger title, Harriet's singles run in Lyon or even Lissey & Olivia's doubles run in Lyon, all of which made me extremely happy, would have made them absolute shoe-ins for the win - we were just very spoilt in March! biggrin

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Just to help steven with his psychological studies (

), remember that some people like to vote for someone new - i.e. I voted for Jack when he won his first challenger - he definitely wasn't getting another vote now. And I've voted for Harriet twice, I think. And voted for Hannah twice, too, I think. So - again - time for a new one.

And I put a lot of store by who I've enjoyed watching most that month - I wouldn't do so, obviously, if I were the LTA and this was money we're giving out, coz I realise that - objectively - who was 'best on telly' isn't really relevant.

But, subjectively, I've decided that best of the month also means best enjoyment of the month (so non-streamed ones have a really tricky time)

And I don't really care about rankings - there's no chance I was voting for Joe for becoming world number one - he was number two before that - one-two-two-one - no real big difference as far as I'm concerned (I know a lot will feel differently). Becoming number top 10 is even less on the radar (don't particularly go for titles, as such, either, although that matters more).

And then it has to be someone I like (and like their tennis) - there's a couple who would have a really hard time to be picked.

So Paul ticked a lot of boxes.

But I thought, hmmm, I normally don't follow doubles, never vote for it, and I actually don't really like their doubles either, - BUT Lissey and Liv's out-of-the-blue surprise run to a WTA final really grabbed my attention - I actually made a note in my calendar to watch them - really enjoyed their matches - so they got the vote

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

Coup Droit wrote:
Just to help steven with his psychological studies (), remember that some people like to vote for someone new - i.e. I voted for Jack when he won his first challenger - he definitely wasn't getting another vote now. And I've voted for Harriet twice, I think. And voted for Hannah twice, too, I think. So - again - time for a new one.

And I put a lot of store by who I've enjoyed watching most that month - I wouldn't do so, obviously, if I were the LTA and this was money we're giving out, coz I realise that - objectively - who was 'best on telly' isn't really relevant.

But, subjectively, I've decided that best of the month also means best enjoyment of the month (so non-streamed ones have a really tricky time)

And I don't really care about rankings - there's no chance I was voting for Joe for becoming world number one - he was number two before that - one-two-two-one - no real big difference as far as I'm concerned (I know a lot will feel differently). Becoming number top 10 is even less on the radar (don't particularly go for titles, as such, either, although that matters more).

And then it has to be someone I like (and like their tennis) - there's a couple who would have a really hard time to be picked.

So Paul ticked a lot of boxes.

But I thought, hmmm, I normally don't follow doubles, never vote for it, and I actually don't really like their doubles either, - BUT Lissey and Liv's out-of-the-blue surprise run to a WTA final really grabbed my attention - I actually made a note in my calendar to watch them - really enjoyed their matches - so they got the vote

Fab - and this is why we get 10 players getting votes, we all have a different perspective! And, it is also why we have a vote as opposed to a simple coronation!

Much more fun!!

the addict · Tennis legend

Yes, very varied perspectives across the whole range. I do follow the women's doubles a lot, and often nominate the teams - doesn't mean I vote for them though ! It's more who has caught my eye over the whole month than one tournament.

SuperT · Futures level

steven wrote:
SuperT wrote:
Voting just gets more and more difficult every month due to the increased success of so many players. Normally Jack winning a Challenger would be enough to secure the vote, but we've almost come to expect him to win so it doesn't seem such a big deal any more! Joe and Cam both passed huge milestones but sadly without a tournament win this month it's more a tribute to their performance over the past year rather than an outstanding performance this month. I'd love to vote for Hannah but feel she has time on her side. So that brings it down to Paul for his exceptional performances on the clay in South America or Harriet for her breakthrough week in Miami. I love Harriet but I think the tournament win just gives Paul the edge.
The results seemed really bizarre to me (and I say that as a huge fan of Harriet!) but SuperT's explanation above is probably a very good description of how the forum's collective mind must have worked, even if he didn't vote for the winner, so thanks for convincing me that there was some logic to it and the majority of the forum isn't completely mad

I'm sure many would think we are mad given the time we spend watching tennis and contributing to this forum!!! I think because we are so closely involved with a wide range of players on a day to day basis our view is probably different for a casual fan, although I'm well aware that Steven of all people has better grasp of the sport than most of us. Personally I try to look at what an individual achieved compared with what was expected rather than at absolute results. According to the stats produced by Aberdaberdonian in the individual threads, Paul had virtually no points won on clay last year, yet decided to go to South America for a Challenger series, presumably to get experience and with the hope of getting into RG qualifying. He had to play qualifying in the first tournament and won through, got limited success in the second tournament and then won the third. To me that represents great progress and a suggestion that he's getting to grips with the surface. Add that to the well documented issue regarding mental health and I felt his efforts were well deserving of a POM vote. Career highs are more relevant, I think, in the Player of the Season votes which looks at the year as a whole. I think we all realise this is a subjective vote and it's interesting to see how others have a different perspective. Like CD I'm also influenced by who I like. There are one or two who I really don't like and wouldn't vote for regardless of their success. Sorry but we all have our prejudices.

-- Edited by SuperT on Tuesday 5th of April 2022 09:20:00 AM

-- Edited by SuperT on Tuesday 5th of April 2022 09:21:19 AM

steven · Tennis legend

SuperT wrote:
steven wrote:
SuperT wrote:
Voting just gets more and more difficult every month due to the increased success of so many players. Normally Jack winning a Challenger would be enough to secure the vote, but we've almost come to expect him to win so it doesn't seem such a big deal any more! Joe and Cam both passed huge milestones but sadly without a tournament win this month it's more a tribute to their performance over the past year rather than an outstanding performance this month. I'd love to vote for Hannah but feel she has time on her side. So that brings it down to Paul for his exceptional performances on the clay in South America or Harriet for her breakthrough week in Miami. I love Harriet but I think the tournament win just gives Paul the edge.
The results seemed really bizarre to me (and I say that as a huge fan of Harriet!) but SuperT's explanation above is probably a very good description of how the forum's collective mind must have worked, even if he didn't vote for the winner, so thanks for convincing me that there was some logic to it and the majority of the forum isn't completely mad
I'm sure many would think we are mad given the time we spend watching tennis and contributing to this forum!!! I think because we are so closely involved with a wide range of players on a day to day basis our view is probably different for a casual fan, although I'm well aware that Steven of all people has better grasp of the sport than most of us. Personally I try to look at what an individual achieved compared with what was expected rather than at absolute results. According to the stats produced by Aberdaberdonian in the individual threads, Paul had virtually no points won on clay last year, yet decided to go to South America for a Challenger series, presumably to get experience and with the hope of getting into RG qualifying. He had to play qualifying in the first tournament and won through, got limited success in the second tournament and then won the third. To me that represents great progress and a suggestion that he's getting to grips with the surface. Add that to the well documented issue regarding mental health and I felt his efforts were well deserving of a POM vote. Career highs are more relevant, I think, in the Player of the Season votes which looks at the year as a whole. I think we all realise this is a subjective vote and it's interesting to see how others have a different perspective. Like CD I'm also influenced by who I like. There are one or two who I really don't like and wouldn't vote for regardless of their success. Sorry but we all have our prejudices.

I'm among the maddest of the lot, so yes, but I doubt I have a better grasp of the sport than many people here (in fact, I'm completely sure I don't!), and it has been interesting to see a bit more about why people made the picks they did, it's clear a lot of thought went into it.

Anyway, it's just a bit of fun and I can certainly see the argument for voting for the players you got the most fun out of watching, even if that's a pity for those who weren't on TV or live streams or were playing in time zones that made them difficult to watch, though there are plenty of us crazy enough that the latter obstacle doesn't seem to stop us! smile