British Tennis Forum - Celebrating 20 Years!

Var · Challenger level

RE: Week 23 - WTA500 - HSBC Championships, Queens, London

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Var wrote:
Coup Droit wrote:
So, Vekic won Queens - and then lost in R1 of Wimbledon (to a qualifier)

And F. Cerundulo won the men's at Queens - and then lost in R1 of Wimbledon (to an unseeded guy)

So much for warm-up events
Fatigue? The tour is relentless. Maybe we just dont have enough grass court play at the right level to anchor players in the UK before a slam?

Can't be fatigue - if it were fatigue, then the same would apply to winners in other warm-up grass events

GAMEOVER · Futures qualifying

Var wrote:
Coup Droit wrote:
So, Vekic won Queens - and then lost in R1 of Wimbledon (to a qualifier)

And F. Cerundulo won the men's at Queens - and then lost in R1 of Wimbledon (to an unseeded guy)

So much for warm-up events
Fatigue? The tour is relentless. Maybe we just dont have enough grass court play at the right level to anchor players in the UK before a slam?

Vekic was 6-3,4-1 up and served for the match twice I don't think fatigue was responsible for that loss .

sammmm · Strong Club Player

Var wrote:
Coup Droit wrote:
So, Vekic won Queens - and then lost in R1 of Wimbledon (to a qualifier)

And F. Cerundulo won the men's at Queens - and then lost in R1 of Wimbledon (to an unseeded guy)

So much for warm-up events
Fatigue? The tour is relentless. Maybe we just dont have enough grass court play at the right level to anchor players in the UK before a slam?

The loss of 500 status for Eastbourne coupled with Queens beginning 3 weeks before Wimbledon and straight after the FO has really hurt the british grass tournaments in my opinion

goldfish · Futures level

On the other hand with not so many highly ranked players entering the UK tournaments, it gives more chances for GB players to participate and gain ranking points.

sammmm · Strong Club Player

The other way to do that is have W75s and W100s on grass to go with the main tour level events ...

emmsie69 · Masters Series Champion

sammmm wrote:
The other way to do that is have W75s and W100s on grass to go with the main tour level events ...

You can view that 2 ways, yes it gives Brits more opportunity for grass court matches but it also gives others the same opportunity right before qualies.

sammmm · Strong Club Player

emmsie69 wrote:
sammmm wrote:
The other way to do that is have W75s and W100s on grass to go with the main tour level events ...
You can view that 2 ways, yes it gives Brits more opportunity for grass court matches but it also gives others the same opportunity right before qualies.

Plenty of the players in qualies played Birmingham, Ilkley or Nottingham which had a weak draw so the opportunities are there for them already

indiana · Tennis legend

sammmm wrote:
emmsie69 wrote:
sammmm wrote:
The other way to do that is have W75s and W100s on grass to go with the main tour level events ...
You can view that 2 ways, yes it gives Brits more opportunity for grass court matches but it also gives others the same opportunity right before qualies.
Plenty of the players in qualies played Birmingham, Ilkley or Nottingham which had a weak draw so the opportunities are there for them already

None of the Brits in Wimbledon Q had a play in Nottingham ( which certainly wasn't weak enough ) the week before.

Nottingham MD WCs went to Emma, Katie B ( who both withdrew ), Fran and Harriet. Q WCs to Alicia, Mika, Mimi and Hannah. All Wimbledon MD - by DE or WC.

sammmm · Strong Club Player

indiana wrote:
sammmm wrote:
emmsie69 wrote:
sammmm wrote:
The other way to do that is have W75s and W100s on grass to go with the main tour level events ...
You can view that 2 ways, yes it gives Brits more opportunity for grass court matches but it also gives others the same opportunity right before qualies.
Plenty of the players in qualies played Birmingham, Ilkley or Nottingham which had a weak draw so the opportunities are there for them already
None of the Brits in Wimbledon Q had a play in Nottingham ( which wadn't weak enough ) the week before.
Nottingham MD WCs went to Emma, Katie B ( who both withdrew ), Fran and Harriet. Q WCs to Alicia, Mika, Mimi and Hannah. All Wimbledon MD - by DE or WC.

Think you slightly misinterpreted my post Indi. Yeah that's why I'm advocating for some high tier ITFs, Emmsie said having those tournaments would help non-brits going into Wimbledon qualifying but my point is those non-brits in the 100-200 range were playing Birmingham/Ilkley/Nottingham anyway, they non-brits had tournaments they could compete in

-- Edited by sammmm on Wednesday 1st of July 2026 02:58:11 PM

indiana · Tennis legend

sammmm wrote:
indiana wrote:
sammmm wrote:
emmsie69 wrote:
sammmm wrote:
The other way to do that is have W75s and W100s on grass to go with the main tour level events ...
You can view that 2 ways, yes it gives Brits more opportunity for grass court matches but it also gives others the same opportunity right before qualies.
Plenty of the players in qualies played Birmingham, Ilkley or Nottingham which had a weak draw so the opportunities are there for them already
None of the Brits in Wimbledon Q had a play in Nottingham ( which wadn't weak enough ) the week before.
Nottingham MD WCs went to Emma, Katie B ( who both withdrew ), Fran and Harriet. Q WCs to Alicia, Mika, Mimi and Hannah. All Wimbledon MD - by DE or WC.
Think you slightly misinterpreted my post Indi. Yeah that's why I'm advocating for some high tier ITFs, Emmsie said having those tournaments would help non-brits going into Wimbledon qualifying but my point is those non-brits in the 100-200 range were playing Birmingham/Ilkley/Nottingham anyway, they non-brits had tournaments they could compete in

-- Edited by sammmm on Wednesday 1st of July 2026 02:58:11 PM

Sorry, got you now, meaning foreign players in Wimbledon qualifying.

Yes, just having the Berlin 500 and Nottingham 250 which our Wimbledon Q crew couldn't get into, was again ridiculous. I agree that a lower level home option was so clearly needed.

sammmm · Strong Club Player

indiana wrote:
sammmm wrote:
indiana wrote:
sammmm wrote:
emmsie69 wrote:
sammmm wrote:
The other way to do that is have W75s and W100s on grass to go with the main tour level events ...
You can view that 2 ways, yes it gives Brits more opportunity for grass court matches but it also gives others the same opportunity right before qualies.
Plenty of the players in qualies played Birmingham, Ilkley or Nottingham which had a weak draw so the opportunities are there for them already
None of the Brits in Wimbledon Q had a play in Nottingham ( which wadn't weak enough ) the week before.
Nottingham MD WCs went to Emma, Katie B ( who both withdrew ), Fran and Harriet. Q WCs to Alicia, Mika, Mimi and Hannah. All Wimbledon MD - by DE or WC.
Think you slightly misinterpreted my post Indi. Yeah that's why I'm advocating for some high tier ITFs, Emmsie said having those tournaments would help non-brits going into Wimbledon qualifying but my point is those non-brits in the 100-200 range were playing Birmingham/Ilkley/Nottingham anyway, they non-brits had tournaments they could compete in

-- Edited by sammmm on Wednesday 1st of July 2026 02:58:11 PM
Sorry, got you now, meaning foreign players in Wimbledon qualifying.
Yes, just having the Berlin 500 and Nottingham 250 which our Wimbledon Q crew couldn't get into, was again ridiculous. I agree that a lower level home option was so clearly needed.

Sorry I didn't make it overly clear and yes exactly. I'd hope there could be scope for a W50/75 the week of the Birmingham 125 and then a W50 the week of Queens/Ilkley. That way all our players down to around 600 would have a couple of opportunities before wildcard announcements and the playoffs