Ongoing British Tennis…

Callumcafc

Draper scheduled around 5 or 5:30pm against Mensik.

Fearnley Zverev scheduled for 4 or 4:30pm.

Callumcafc

Fearnley beaten by Zverev 6-2 6-4.

Callumcafc

Draper still a while to wait yet. Next on court after Fritz match ends, currently in the first set.

PrincessFiona

killerandflash said:

Getting blisters in the second set, and feeling the effects of the heat when it's not particularly hot by the standards tennis players are used to, does make you wonder about her fitness and conditioning. As you noted, her record in 3 set games isn't great.

She's been a full time pro now for 4 years, how long will it take to reach acceptable levels of fitness?

she's only been back approx. a year since 3 operations - not a full time pro for all 4 of those. There was also this issue/complications form going from 8 hors a week when she was doing her A levels then ramping up far too much far too quickly after the surprise US Open win . At least she has now engaged a full-time experienced fitness trainer. That should help. Its not like she is the only one - just amongst the Brits, Jack Draper and Jake Fearnley have had issues too

Callumcafc

Fritz just won so Draper should be starting shortly.

Callumcafc

Draper breaks serve early

Callumcafc

Draper loses the first set in a tie break.

Callumcafc

Draper beaten in his first match post-Indian Wells.

7-6 7-6 to his 19 y/o opponent Mensik.


Been a shit day for sport.

soapboxsam

Callumcafc said:

Draper beaten in his first match post-Indian Wells.

7-6 7-6 to his 19 y/o opponent Mensik.


Been a shit day for sport.

After the Charlton defeat I watched Jack Draper to cheer me up; that didn't go to plan🤦🏻‍♂️

Mensik is the best teenage male tennis player I've seen since I first saw Alcaraz.
21 aces and 46 winners in two tie break sets and throw in the Brazilian crowd that disturbed the match when hundreds booed and walked out together during the match when told their young Hero Fonseca's match was being moved to another court. 

Hopefully, Jack can rest and practice before the clay court part of the season starts.

West coast USA better than east coast for Jack Draper.

Gisappointed

Addick Addict said:

PrincessFiona said:

Blackheathen said:

PrincessFiona said:

Gisappointed said:

Draper is a leftie who is right handed. It would be interesting if he had a coach who have him change hands depending on which side of the court the ball goes. 

Might be a game changer and undefendable.

If only he wasn't pretty damn good already!

Same with Nadal re playing left handed but being right handed otherwise. Although I recall reading it was a conscious decision (by his uncle?) to get him to play left handed. I read the other day Jack Draper picked up a tennis racquet with his left hand from the beginning

Dennis Compton was a right handed batsman who bowled left arm wrist spinners.  Just saying.

a lot of cricketers bowl and bat with different hands - Ben Stokes for one, but not sure of he is 'traditionally right or left handed for writing etc. I'll leave it to the cricket experts on here to explain why it is not unusual and often to do with what the top and bottom hands do when batting. 

There's a Sri Lankan who can even bowl both right-arm off-spin and left-arm orthodox spin.

Can happen in golf too - Brian Close, took up golf as a right hander. As he batted left handed he reckoned this way his golfing would not hinder his cricket.

After Close retired from cricket he also played golf left handed. He maintained separate handicaps as a right hander and a left hander.

The reason that a lot of the very best batsmen batted left handed and bowled/threw right handed (Lara, Gower, Cook, Ganguly, Smith, Langer, Stokes, Hayden, Warner etc) and vice versa (Clarke and Finch) is because that is the way they were taught - batting always used to be perceived as needing to be top hand dominant in order to stop the bottom hand forcing the issue and to have more control over the shot. Tendulkar who batted and bowled right handed but, off the field, did everything, such as writing, with his left hand. There are instances of some that bowl and throw (Williamson) with different arms and some that have the ability to bowl with both arms such as Kamindu Mendis. With the advent of T20 cricket top hand dominance certainly isn't considered so much a necessity over here but one imagines that in the likes of India this still is very much the case in some instances as technique and timing is very much considered the underpin of batting with attacking shots layered on top of that. 

There are a couple of other complications with cricket and that is whether you are right or left eye dominant. As a right handed batter, if you are right eye dominant then that eye isn't going to be in line with the ball which is why you do see players with a somewhat unusual and strained looking head position when facing the ball. Equally, some are right handed but left footed which, in the case of wicket keepers, can be a benefit when taking balls down the legside (standing up or back) because the left foot will be the one they spring off. 

My son had never played golf before he had a lesson when he was 11 to see if he liked it. The very next cricket session the coach asked me "what's happened to his back lift"? I explained about the golf lesson and he, too, suggested that he played left handed. That was too much for my son to cope with given he was also playing tennis "right handed" at the time too (at the same centre as Emma Radacanu) and he never hit a golf ball in anger again until some 20 months ago at the age of 20 as a result. Playing right handed and at every opportunity too!   

The left handed batter and tennis player do have one thing in common and that is that there are far less of them. Which does give them a bit of an advantage over their opponents in the sense that their opponents don't get to face so many of them. Whereas there are even less left handed golfers one suspects because it is a hell of a lot harder to source clubs. Left handed cricket bats and tennis rackets, on the other hand, are ten to a penny!

My sister always bemoans the lack of left-handed steam irons.She sneers at my suggestion that she should stand the other side of the ironing board.

Gisappointed

soapboxsam

I would give my right arm to be ambidextrous.

Callumcafc

Raducanu up against McCartney Kessler later on, after the Pegula match wraps up.

LenGlover

Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool through to the last 8 of the men's doubles.

Covered End

Callumcafc said:

Raducanu up against McCartney Kessler later on, after the Pegula match wraps up.

Pegula won.
Raducanu should be starting in the next 10/15 mins.

Covered End

Just started.

Covered End

Raducanu wins 1st set 6-1

Addick Addict

Kessler retires with the score 0-3 in the second set. Radacanu totally outplayed her opponent throughout and is now into the last last 16. She will play that match tomorrow. 

PrincessFiona

Addick Addict said:

Kessler retires with the score 0-3 in the second set. Radacanu totally outplayed her opponent throughout and is now into the last last 16

Very challenging next match. Hope she keeps up this level - will be interesting to see how/if she competes

soapboxsam

Raducanu has dismantled Kessler 6-1 3-0 and Emma see's her opponent throw the towel in with a back ache.

We saw the best of Raducanu tonight and maybe she doesn't need a regular coach as she has Mark Petchy assisting this tournament. She even served 3 aces in a row.

Callumcafc

Well done Emma. Asinimova or Andreeva in the last 16 - she will be underdog regardless of who she faces.

Raducanu’s never made it to the QF of a Masters 1000 tournament before - her previous bests have all been at the last 16 stage: Madrid 2022, Cincinnati 2022, Indian Wells 2023 and now Miami 2025.

hoof_it_up_to_benty

Raducanu to face Anisimova in last 16 - tough but winnable game. 

soapboxsam

hoof_it_up_to_benty said:

Raducanu to face Anisimova in last 16 - tough but winnable game. 

May sound strange but I wanted 17 year old Andreeva to win as after winning at Dubai and Indian Wells as she looked tired for once in this match but the World number 6 lost to the World num 17 Anisimova who will start favourite against Emma but Raducanu can beat her if she brings her A game and can keep the New Jersey born player of Russian parents on the move.

After having never won a match in this Miami event before this year it's good to see Raducanu looking sharp and competitive and taking on higher ranked opponents.

No rest day and third match on today.

Chris_from_Sidcup

blackpool72 said:

Addick Addict said:

hoof_it_up_to_benty said:

Raducanu through to second round at Miami.

Radacanu's just announced the end of the coaching trial with Vlado Platenik because the relationship "wasn't quite heading in the right direction". By all accounts he isn't the easiest coach to deal with but then Raducanu had previously worked with him when she was 17 so would have known what he was like anyway. Her list of coaches now include Nigel Sears, Andrew Richardson, Torben Beltz, Dmitry Tursunov, Sebastian Sachs, Nick Cavaday and Platenik and she currently has in Miami an LTA coach and a close friend helping her but neither are the short or long team solution. The sooner she finds someone she trusts the better because this constant revolving door isn't good for her. 

Maybe it's her that's the problem. 
The fact that she changes her coach as often as she does suggests to me that she doesn't respond well to being told what to do.
I could be completely wrong of course. 
But she needs to find a coach she can stick with long term if she's to have any success. 

Exactly this, if a woman was going through a string of boyfriends and failed relationships, then everyone would likely say 'yeah she is the problem'. I don't see much different here. She's been pro since 2018 and has had at least 7 coaches in that time which is crazy.

Hopefully her good form in Miami continues but she really does need to settle with 1 coach.

PrincessFiona

Chris_from_Sidcup said:

blackpool72 said:

Addick Addict said:

hoof_it_up_to_benty said:

Raducanu through to second round at Miami.

Radacanu's just announced the end of the coaching trial with Vlado Platenik because the relationship "wasn't quite heading in the right direction". By all accounts he isn't the easiest coach to deal with but then Raducanu had previously worked with him when she was 17 so would have known what he was like anyway. Her list of coaches now include Nigel Sears, Andrew Richardson, Torben Beltz, Dmitry Tursunov, Sebastian Sachs, Nick Cavaday and Platenik and she currently has in Miami an LTA coach and a close friend helping her but neither are the short or long team solution. The sooner she finds someone she trusts the better because this constant revolving door isn't good for her. 

Maybe it's her that's the problem. 
The fact that she changes her coach as often as she does suggests to me that she doesn't respond well to being told what to do.
I could be completely wrong of course. 
But she needs to find a coach she can stick with long term if she's to have any success. 

Exactly this, if a woman was going through a string of boyfriends and failed relationships, then everyone would likely say 'yeah she is the problem'. I don't see much different here. She's been pro since 2018 and has had at least 7 coaches in that time which is crazy.

Hopefully her good form in Miami continues but she really does need to settle with 1 coach.

Nope it's not as it depends on the circumstances. As several of them were only going to be temporary or just a trial, then that is quite different. And one stood down because of a serious medical condition. Mind you the mindless idiots will probably even blame that in Raducanu too

As I've commented on here before, Andrew Castle has come out and said the issues are with her father not her anyway

Chris_from_Sidcup

PrincessFiona said:

Chris_from_Sidcup said:

blackpool72 said:

Addick Addict said:

hoof_it_up_to_benty said:

Raducanu through to second round at Miami.

Radacanu's just announced the end of the coaching trial with Vlado Platenik because the relationship "wasn't quite heading in the right direction". By all accounts he isn't the easiest coach to deal with but then Raducanu had previously worked with him when she was 17 so would have known what he was like anyway. Her list of coaches now include Nigel Sears, Andrew Richardson, Torben Beltz, Dmitry Tursunov, Sebastian Sachs, Nick Cavaday and Platenik and she currently has in Miami an LTA coach and a close friend helping her but neither are the short or long team solution. The sooner she finds someone she trusts the better because this constant revolving door isn't good for her. 

Maybe it's her that's the problem. 
The fact that she changes her coach as often as she does suggests to me that she doesn't respond well to being told what to do.
I could be completely wrong of course. 
But she needs to find a coach she can stick with long term if she's to have any success. 

Exactly this, if a woman was going through a string of boyfriends and failed relationships, then everyone would likely say 'yeah she is the problem'. I don't see much different here. She's been pro since 2018 and has had at least 7 coaches in that time which is crazy.

Hopefully her good form in Miami continues but she really does need to settle with 1 coach.

Nope it's not as it depends on the circumstances. As several of them were only going to be temporary or just a trial, then that is quite different. And one stood down because of a serious medical condition. Mind you the mindless idiots will probably even blame that in Raducanu too

As I've commented on here before, Andrew Castle has come out and said the issues are with her father not her anyway

If that is true, then there surely comes a point where she has to trust her own instinct though and not listen to what her dad says. It's her career not his. 

You're never going to achieve continued success by changing coaches every year.

Callumcafc

https://archive.is/2025.03.07-193605/https://www.thetimes.com/sport/tennis/article/emma-raducanu-new-coach-vladimir-platenik-lrwsgmctl

Some insight here from when the most recent coach was appointed earlier this month.

Speaking for the first time since teaming up with Raducanu, Vladimir Platenik revealed that he had turned down two approaches in the past 3½ years from Raducanu’s father, Ian, partly because he considered the job to be “coaching suicide”.

This is the first time that a coach of Raducanu has publicly acknowledged the direct involvement of her father Ian in appointing coaches, of which Platenik is the seventh since Raducanu made her breakthrough in the summer of 2021. While parental involvement is far from unusual in tennis, it is more common for agents to enter into dialogue with potential coaching candidates when a player is aged in their twenties.

“Ian explained to me that he was looking for a coach who could do [player] development,” Platenik said. “There are many coaches on the circuit who are considered top-notch, but who have no development experience. I would rather not name them, so as not to cause bad blood.

“They [the Raducanu family] have been communicating with me for a long time because they consider me to be that kind of coach. Of course I perceive that they change coaches often. However, I want to help Emma, and if both parties recognise that I am successful, I believe that the relationship will last longer.”

PrincessFiona

Chris_from_Sidcup said:

PrincessFiona said:

Chris_from_Sidcup said:

blackpool72 said:

Addick Addict said:

hoof_it_up_to_benty said:

Raducanu through to second round at Miami.

Radacanu's just announced the end of the coaching trial with Vlado Platenik because the relationship "wasn't quite heading in the right direction". By all accounts he isn't the easiest coach to deal with but then Raducanu had previously worked with him when she was 17 so would have known what he was like anyway. Her list of coaches now include Nigel Sears, Andrew Richardson, Torben Beltz, Dmitry Tursunov, Sebastian Sachs, Nick Cavaday and Platenik and she currently has in Miami an LTA coach and a close friend helping her but neither are the short or long team solution. The sooner she finds someone she trusts the better because this constant revolving door isn't good for her. 

Maybe it's her that's the problem. 
The fact that she changes her coach as often as she does suggests to me that she doesn't respond well to being told what to do.
I could be completely wrong of course. 
But she needs to find a coach she can stick with long term if she's to have any success. 

Exactly this, if a woman was going through a string of boyfriends and failed relationships, then everyone would likely say 'yeah she is the problem'. I don't see much different here. She's been pro since 2018 and has had at least 7 coaches in that time which is crazy.

Hopefully her good form in Miami continues but she really does need to settle with 1 coach.

Nope it's not as it depends on the circumstances. As several of them were only going to be temporary or just a trial, then that is quite different. And one stood down because of a serious medical condition. Mind you the mindless idiots will probably even blame that in Raducanu too

As I've commented on here before, Andrew Castle has come out and said the issues are with her father not her anyway

If that is true, then there surely comes a point where she has to trust her own instinct though and not listen to what her dad says. It's her career not his. 

You're never going to achieve continued success by changing coaches every year.

The point is she's not changing her coach like it is made out to be though. And yes, she will but she's still only young and the dynamic with him is likely very complex - she's not 'changing her coaches every year though' 

LenGlover

PrincessFiona said:

Chris_from_Sidcup said:

PrincessFiona said:

Chris_from_Sidcup said:

blackpool72 said:

Addick Addict said:

hoof_it_up_to_benty said:

Raducanu through to second round at Miami.

Radacanu's just announced the end of the coaching trial with Vlado Platenik because the relationship "wasn't quite heading in the right direction". By all accounts he isn't the easiest coach to deal with but then Raducanu had previously worked with him when she was 17 so would have known what he was like anyway. Her list of coaches now include Nigel Sears, Andrew Richardson, Torben Beltz, Dmitry Tursunov, Sebastian Sachs, Nick Cavaday and Platenik and she currently has in Miami an LTA coach and a close friend helping her but neither are the short or long team solution. The sooner she finds someone she trusts the better because this constant revolving door isn't good for her. 

Maybe it's her that's the problem. 
The fact that she changes her coach as often as she does suggests to me that she doesn't respond well to being told what to do.
I could be completely wrong of course. 
But she needs to find a coach she can stick with long term if she's to have any success. 

Exactly this, if a woman was going through a string of boyfriends and failed relationships, then everyone would likely say 'yeah she is the problem'. I don't see much different here. She's been pro since 2018 and has had at least 7 coaches in that time which is crazy.

Hopefully her good form in Miami continues but she really does need to settle with 1 coach.

Nope it's not as it depends on the circumstances. As several of them were only going to be temporary or just a trial, then that is quite different. And one stood down because of a serious medical condition. Mind you the mindless idiots will probably even blame that in Raducanu too

As I've commented on here before, Andrew Castle has come out and said the issues are with her father not her anyway

If that is true, then there surely comes a point where she has to trust her own instinct though and not listen to what her dad says. It's her career not his. 

You're never going to achieve continued success by changing coaches every year.

The point is she's not changing her coach like it is made out to be though. And yes, she will but she's still only young and the dynamic with him is likely very complex - she's not 'changing her coaches every year though' 

Cavaday was forced on her for HIS health reasons. She may well have stuck with him otherwise.

PrincessFiona

LenGlover said:

PrincessFiona said:

Chris_from_Sidcup said:

PrincessFiona said:

Chris_from_Sidcup said:

blackpool72 said:

Addick Addict said:

hoof_it_up_to_benty said:

Raducanu through to second round at Miami.

Radacanu's just announced the end of the coaching trial with Vlado Platenik because the relationship "wasn't quite heading in the right direction". By all accounts he isn't the easiest coach to deal with but then Raducanu had previously worked with him when she was 17 so would have known what he was like anyway. Her list of coaches now include Nigel Sears, Andrew Richardson, Torben Beltz, Dmitry Tursunov, Sebastian Sachs, Nick Cavaday and Platenik and she currently has in Miami an LTA coach and a close friend helping her but neither are the short or long team solution. The sooner she finds someone she trusts the better because this constant revolving door isn't good for her. 

Maybe it's her that's the problem. 
The fact that she changes her coach as often as she does suggests to me that she doesn't respond well to being told what to do.
I could be completely wrong of course. 
But she needs to find a coach she can stick with long term if she's to have any success. 

Exactly this, if a woman was going through a string of boyfriends and failed relationships, then everyone would likely say 'yeah she is the problem'. I don't see much different here. She's been pro since 2018 and has had at least 7 coaches in that time which is crazy.

Hopefully her good form in Miami continues but she really does need to settle with 1 coach.

Nope it's not as it depends on the circumstances. As several of them were only going to be temporary or just a trial, then that is quite different. And one stood down because of a serious medical condition. Mind you the mindless idiots will probably even blame that in Raducanu too

As I've commented on here before, Andrew Castle has come out and said the issues are with her father not her anyway

If that is true, then there surely comes a point where she has to trust her own instinct though and not listen to what her dad says. It's her career not his. 

You're never going to achieve continued success by changing coaches every year.

The point is she's not changing her coach like it is made out to be though. And yes, she will but she's still only young and the dynamic with him is likely very complex - she's not 'changing her coaches every year though' 

Cavaday was forced on her for HIS health reasons. She may well have stuck with him otherwise.

exactly