[GS2]

BJK Cup is not an exhibition and provides prize money to players and National Federations. The players get the majority of the money and the prize money for the Federations is intended to be invested in grassroots tennis.

 

[droogiefret]

Not sure if it's been posted elsewhere, but how we feeling about the NJ exhibition in Dec w/Amanda, Carlos and Frances?

IMO too many long-haul flights. I wish they'd just chill and have some semblance of an off-season, do some Christmas shopping

I always wonder how much prep goes into these exhibitions. Like 'Let's make it a three setter' or 'Let's play to a tie break in the second set and see what happens...'

I guess you need to have crowd pleasers (in this case you need Americans) but you also need opponents that the crowds will warm to. So Carlos is an obvious choice and I guess it's a compliment to Emma's popularity in the states that she has been asked.

As far as I can see Emma doesn't do that many competitions where she'll get a big appearance fee - so it's hard to begrudge her this one. It will probably pay for Roig this year at any rate.

 

[droogiefret]

duplicate

 

[ad in]

I always wonder how much prep goes into these exhibitions. Like 'Let's make it a three setter' or 'Let's play to a tie break in the second set and see what happens...'

I guess you need to have crowd pleasers (in this case you need Americans) but you also need opponents that the crowds will warm to. So Carlos is an obvious choice and I guess it's a compliment to Emma's popularity in the states that she has been asked.

As far as I can see Emma doesn't do that many competitions where she'll get a big appearance fee - so it's hard to begrudge her this one. It will probably pay for Roig this year at any rate.

Oh I don't begrudge Emma in the slightest. I agree she has a team to support. It was just me lamenting out of concern for their grueling schedules, the long haul flights, etc. Suppose I'm just projecting my delicate constitution

TBH, I was thinking as much about Carlos as anyone given how deep he's gone all year and the neverending ancillary demands on his time before, during and after each tourney (when he wins). He's had a history of being spent towards the end of the season thru AO...

 

[gbar23]

Emma is on the entry list for Wuhan

https://www.tennisforum.com/threads/entry-list.1428274/?post_id=85965857#post-85965857

 

[xenosys]

Just going a quick check of Emma's scheduling and activity since the start of 2024, when she came back from her injuries.

She's entered 34 tournaments, and of those, there have been :

• 7 x Grand Slams (21%)
• 11 x WTA 1000 events (32%)
• 10 x WTA 500 events (29%)
• 4 x WTA 125/250 events (12%)
• 2 x BJK Cup Ties (6%)

I've always had Emma down as someone that rarely plays 125/250 events and vultures weak fields, and this confirms it. 82% of her schedule is WTA500+ level events.

Just as a point of comparison, I'll take someone who is ranked just behind her @ #34 : Xinyu Wang. I'll check on her activity since the start of 2024.

46 tournaments played :

• 8 x Grand Slams (17%)
• 14 x WTA 1000 events (30%)
• 12 x WTA 500 events (26%)
• 11 x WTA 125/250 events (24%)
• 1 x Olympics (2%)

If we include the OGs, 73% of Wang's schedule are 500+ level events. Wang has played 12 more tournaments and 20 more matches during the same period.

It's just to demonstrate that if Emma replaced a few strong 500s with a few 250s, preferable weaker ones, she'd probably be able to go on a few more runs and accumulate more wins and ranking points. Emma has a 73% WR against players outside the top 20 on the tour, which is what most of these weaker draws would be comprised of.

It wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing to sprinkle a couple of weak 250s into her schedule each year in place of some 500s just to boost her ranking every now and again.

 

[eraddict]

It wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing to sprinkle a couple of weak 250s into her schedule each year in place of some 500s just to boost her ranking every now and again.

Or some weak 500s like Guadalajara

 

[Papasoni]

Just going a quick check of Emma's scheduling and activity since the start of 2024, when she came back from her injuries.

She's entered 34 tournaments, and of those, there have been :

• 7 x Grand Slams (21%)
• 11 x WTA 1000 events (32%)
• 10 x WTA 500 events (29%)
• 4 x WTA 125/250 events (12%)
• 2 x BJK Cup Ties (6%)

I've always had Emma down as someone that rarely plays 125/250 events and vultures weak fields, and this confirms it. 82% of her schedule is WTA500+ level events.

Just as a point of comparison, I'll take someone who is ranked just behind her @ #34 : Xinyu Wang. I'll check on her activity since the start of 2024.

46 tournaments played :

• 8 x Grand Slams (17%)
• 14 x WTA 1000 events (30%)
• 12 x WTA 500 events (26%)
• 11 x WTA 125/250 events (24%)
• 1 x Olympics (2%)

If we include the OGs, 73% of Wang's schedule are 500+ level events. Wang has played 12 more tournaments and 20 more matches during the same period.

It's just to demonstrate that if Emma replaced a few strong 500s with a few 250s, preferable weaker ones, she'd probably be able to go on a few more runs and accumulate more wins and ranking points. Emma has a 73% WR against players outside the top 20 on the tour, which is what most of these weaker draws would be comprised of.

It wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing to sprinkle a couple of weak 250s into her schedule each year in place of some 500s just to boost her ranking every now and again.

Emma is the anti-vulture, balancing things out in the ecosystem of the WTA. Like everything in life, there is always something keeping the balance.

 

[Smarter Force]

what is Emma’s schedule for the remainder of the season? Seoul, Beijing and Wuhan?

Surely she will enter one more at least, Tokyo or Hong Kong (or both)?

It’s likely that she’ll ask for a last minute WC if she doesn’t end up firmly inside top 30 after Wuhan. If she does, she might wrap it up there. The key is to be seeded at the AO though I would hope she tries as much as she can to win a title, Asia really is a good chance for Emma.

 

[RossG01_]

She is playing Seoul, Beijing, Wuhan, and Tokyo. If she finds herself well into seeding spots for Australia I would assume she won’t play any other tournaments. Improving her run in Seoul, winning a few in Beijing, and a few in Wuhan would secure it.

 

[Smarter Force]

She is playing Seoul, Beijing, Wuhan, and Tokyo. If she finds herself well into seeding spots for Australia I would assume she won’t play any other tournaments. Improving her run in Seoul, winning a few in Beijing, and a few in Wuhan would secure it.

Yes, ideally she finishes in top 24 seeding range for the AO to avoid Swiatek and Sabalenka in R3 though winning the title is also important. She needs that monkey off her shoulders.

It’s really irritating how a player of Arango caliber (though I like her) manages to play multiple 500 finals in a single season yet Emma is still in the waitlist to play another final since 2021. It’s all about smart scheduling sometimes.

 

[Jollyrads]

Yes, ideally she finishes in top 24 seeding range for the AO to avoid Swiatek and Sabalenka in R3 though winning the title is also important. She needs that monkey off her shoulders.

It’s really irritating how a player of Arango caliber (though I like her) manages to play multiple 500 finals in a single season yet Emma is still in the waitlist to play another final since 2021. It’s all about smart scheduling sometimes.

It’s also about luck unfortunately. Emma keeps drawing Iga, Sabalenka and Rybakina. So really it’s a bit like Osaka’s luck last year. If she can just have a bit of luck (though maybe all of it was exhausted in 21) and haul herself into the top 20 then it should get better….hopefully

 

[393555]

Yes, ideally she finishes in top 24 seeding range for the AO to avoid Swiatek and Sabalenka in R3 though winning the title is also important. She needs that monkey off her shoulders.

It’s really irritating how a player of Arango caliber (though I like her) manages to play multiple 500 finals in a single season yet Emma is still in the waitlist to play another final since 2021. It’s all about smart scheduling sometimes.

 

[Delurking]

If she can just have a bit of luck (though maybe all of it was exhausted in 21)

That's the thing, though. Her draw in 21 wasn't even all that lucky. It was mainly drawing someone who would either be out of form or - as indeed did happen - likely to withdraw in the first round.

But if she can stay healthy and keep on playing a full schedule then better draws are bound to happen eventually. The more draws you are part of the more likely you are to also get some good ones.

 

[Smarter Force]

It’s also about luck unfortunately. Emma keeps drawing Iga, Sabalenka and Rybakina. So really it’s a bit like Osaka’s luck last year. If she can just have a bit of luck (though maybe all of it was exhausted in 21) and haul herself into the top 20 then it should get better….hopefully

Guadalajara was the perfect opportunity to bag the 500 title. Look at the SF lineup… Jovic, Bartunkova, Arango and Jacquemot. I understand that nobody wanted to prolong their time in NYC then travel to Mexico but it’s undeniable this 500 title was up for grabs.

 

[Smarter Force]

That's the thing, though. Her draw in 21 wasn't even all that lucky. It was mainly drawing someone who would either be out of form or - as indeed did happen - likely to withdraw in the first round.

But if she can stay healthy and keep on playing a full schedule then better draws are bound to happen eventually. The more draws you are part of the more likely you are to also get some good ones.

This is true. I’m not worried about Emma now that her body seems to finally adapt to the week in week out tour demands. I believe this is the first time she’s had a full, proper season with no major injury related breaks. She’s on the right track. 2026 will be tremendously important for her, possibly even career defining. Even though she’ll still only be 23, no one has won the grand slam 6 years past their latest slam victory. If we follow that pattern, Emma would need to repeat her slam success next season. 2027 could be a little too late. Obviously none of that is set in stone but that’s what the history stats say to us.

 

[Racquetback]

That's the thing, though. Her draw in 21 wasn't even all that lucky. It was mainly drawing someone who would either be out of form or - as indeed did happen - likely to withdraw in the first round.

But if she can stay healthy and keep on playing a full schedule then better draws are bound to happen eventually. The more draws you are part of the more likely you are to also get some good ones.

I know this is a broken record but she had tremendously good luck in 21 - by playing a lucky loser (Voegele) instead of the 13 seed Jen Brady, she escaped playing a strong player in round 1, at the same time that she inherited Brady's seeded draw. Of course her wonderful run wasn't about luck from then on, but it was a very lucky start.

 

[Delurking]

I know this is a broken record but she had tremendously good luck in 21 - by playing a lucky loser (Voegele) instead of the 13 seed Jen Brady, she escaped playing a strong player in round 1, at the same time that she inherited Brady's seeded draw.

I would not call that tremendously good luck, but a pretty standard thing to happen.

Had Brady been able to play she'd have been coming back from an injury break and I'd say Emma would have had a very good chance of beating her anyway. And if she had met and beat Brady as originally drawn, people would still have been going on about her not meeting anyone in the top 10 just as they do now.

So her good luck consisted in drawing a seed whose ranking didn't reflect her current form. But that also happens all the time. Not all seeds are created equal.

 

[Racquetback]

I would not call that tremendously good luck, but a pretty standard thing to happen.

Had Brady been able to play she'd have been coming back from an injury break and I'd say Emma would have had a very good chance of beating her anyway. And if she had met and beat Brady as originally drawn, people would still have been going on about her not meeting anyone in the top 10 just as they do now.

So her good luck consisted in drawing a seed whose ranking didn't reflect her current form. But that also happens all the time. Not all seeds are created equal.

It happens and when it does, it is a stroke of good luck to play someone who didn't make it out of the qualifying round versus a seeded player, in form or not. The luck in 'lucky loser' applies both to the LL themselves AND to their first round opponent. Heck, you can be sure Emma and her team recognized this as good luck at the time!

 

[zenga10]

Yes, ideally she finishes in top 24 seeding range for the AO to avoid Swiatek and Sabalenka in R3 though winning the title is also important. She needs that monkey off her shoulders.

It’s really irritating how a player of Arango caliber (though I like her) manages to play multiple 500 finals in a single season yet Emma is still in the waitlist to play another final since 2021. It’s all about smart scheduling sometimes.

You shouldn't let it irritate you. I would be more worried if Emma felt that in order to get points she had to abandon her training schedule with her new coach and drop down into a tournament featuring the likes of Arrango and 17 yo Iva Jovic and a whole bunch of last years juniors. I hope it never gets to that. Emma's scheduling has been faultless this year- exemplary even. In fact, I'm awarding her a gold star ⭐ 😀

Arrango, being from Colombia, has gotten to three finals over the last 12 months- all in Mexico or South America. She's hardly gone past R2 anywhere else. These tournaments don't get the top players- for a number of reasons, one being that they are sometimes held right before or after a big tournament in the US. But there are other reasons.

I have enjoyed watching Iva Jovic at Guadalajara, and look forward to the final, but this is not where Emma Raducanu had any business being.