Little piece I did on the new lta wild card reforms for wimby

Please read.
http://www.swlondoner.co.uk/tennis-stars-weigh-new-lta-wild-card-reforms-wimbledon/

Nice piece, LS!

You've managed to turn a one liner bit of news into an informative read.
Love the Boggo example.

So many tennis writers don't have a clue, let alone the passion for it.

Keep up the good work!

Haha ta.
It involved me spamming the entire tennisphere on twitter. 
Got a tweet from Navaratilova!..... But she hadn't seen it, said send link.... and didn't respond. 

My editor took out this line grrr.

"Andy Murray’s former coach Brad Gilbert, described as the ‘greatest coach of all time’ by protégée Andre Agassi for coaching him to win six of his eight majors, neither condoned nor condemned the new system."

yep well done. You made the most of what you had. You coudl have spoken of who those WCs would go instead.

luvsports! wrote:Haha ta.
It involved me spamming the entire tennisphere on twitter. 
Got a tweet from Navaratilova!..... But she hadn't seen it, said send link.... and didn't respond. 

My editor took out this line grrr.

"Andy Murray’s former coach Brad Gilbert, described as the ‘greatest coach of all time’ by protégée Andre Agassi for coaching him to win six of his eight majors, neither condoned nor condemned the new system."

Your editor was right! I know you said it tongue in cheek.

Haha I did no such thing!

Thoughts on the reforms otf?

I agree WCs shouldn't be wasted...one pair to be reserved for junior champions from the previous year, and one for the tennis nutter of the year...I nominate myself for 2015
They could even run a competition...imagine the list of Dreamers...
Entertainment guaranteed!

luvsports! wrote:Haha ta.
It involved me spamming the entire tennisphere on twitter. 
Got a tweet from Navaratilova!..... But she hadn't seen it, said send link.... and didn't respond. 

My editor took out this line grrr.

"Andy Murray’s former coach Brad Gilbert, described as the ‘greatest coach of all time’ by protégée Andre Agassi for coaching him to win six of his eight majors, neither condoned nor condemned the new system."

Tweet Steve Tignor from tennis.com....you'll get plenty of visibility.
Give my regards

It would be odd to ask a journalist though!
Puttign the thoughts of a journo in an aspiring ones piece.

Naaah, he's fine, one of "us"..

I have no strong views on WCs. Even if Alex B did not do well in 8 years at Wimbledon, the fact that he was in the first round as the next best UK player was good for the UK crowd.

I don't think it makes sense to set tagets...they simply have to give a fixed amount to the UK players.

I think it's just because they geared their whole year to it and rely soly on it.

That's bizarre.....as you (through Goodall parent's) say, it is very expensive to do the tour...and £25k is a good way to sponsor some of them who are struggling to finance their adventure.

I'd say in general WCs should be given to youngsters or former past players.....but I believe this is what is being done currently and the LTA should benefit the UK players.

I quite liked Goodall's idea with the age groups. 
I really wanted to speak to Richard Bloomfield who has a lot of beef with the LTA but he isn't on twitter.

The thing is there is not much difference between a player ranked 400 and a 120 one. Often down to how much money you have to afford travelling, physio, coaches etc.....

If you look at the satellite results, you 'd be surprised how many upsets there are ranking wise.

look at this tournament which happened just 2 weeks ago. Look at the seeds and names only, make 2 picks for 2 wild cards....and check who won at the end to see whether you picked the right players for the WC!

http://www.itftennis.com/procircuit/tournaments/men's-tournament/info.aspx?tournamentid=1100033784

Here's a nice article that gives a little insight in how much players struggle financially at the start of their career:

http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2015/02/payday-delray-college-star-eric-quigley-and-financial-realities-pro-grind/54087/#.VOLsCGIgGSM

And this is just one of the more successful stories...so many get injured badly along the way and never get to compete...

Good find NITB. 
Really is polar opposites to the top of the game. Hope he makes it!

luvsports! wrote:Good find NITB. 
Really is polar opposites to the top of the game. Hope he makes it!

You mean versus other players who struggle even more?

That's the name of the game in sport. That's why taking a pill to get a bit of help is so rampant.

After just reading that article my thoughts were on his plight compared to the big boys, so no I didn't mean that.

But yes 100% agree on the hot sauce.