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JAMIE EASES INTO RD2
Jamie dispatched Argentinian wildcard Gabriel Montenegro with total ease in rd1, winning 6-1, 6-1 to progress through to rd2. The win has secured a much needed 5 points for Jamie, he'll move back up to 315 in the rankings after slipping down into the 320s.
He faces Anerican Kevin Kim for a place in the quarter-finals. The 3rd seed dropped the 1st set 6-4 against compatriot Wayne Odesnik in rd1 but was in imperious form in the 2nd and 3rd sets to win 4-6, 6-1, 6-0.
Kim is ranked 105, he has a career best ranking of 63, reached in March 2005. This year he's made 2 challenger finals and 3 quarter-finals. He's competed mostly on the ATP tour, winning matches at the Australian Open and Roland Garros and qualifying for Wimbledon before losing in rd1. He's won matches in three of the masters series events, beating Youzhny in Indian Wells, Melzer in Miami and Ginepri in Montreal. Last week he lost in rd2 of the Champaign challenger to South Africa's Kevin Anderson.
Baker v Kim is 2nd on centre court at approximately 6.30pm GMT
JAMIE FACES ARGENTINIAN WILDCARD IN NAPLES OPENER
Jamie has received a double stroke of luck in the last few days. Firstly, he got into the main draw directly, through withdrawals, meaning that he hasn't had to go through qualifying as in Champaign last week.
Secondly, in rd1 he's drawn unranked 29 year old wildcard Gabriel Montenegro of Argentina. Montenegro's best ranking was 1353 and that was back in 2001 ! He's played several futures and challenger qualifying events this year but hasn't reached the main draw. His best result came in the Mantra challenger when he reached the final qualifying round, beating an unranked Ecuadorian and then his rd2 opponent withdrew.
Jamie should win quite comfortably and that'll guarantee him 5 points for the week which will move him a little closer to getting back into the top 300. In rd2, he's likely to face American 3rd seed Kevin Kim, Kim is ranked 107 so that would be a really tough match for Jamie.
Baker v Montenegro is 1st on court 1 on Monday at 6pm GMT.
WARBURG EDGES PAST JAMIE INTO RD2
Jamie came close to a shock victory over Sam Warburg, despite a ranking difference of more than 100 places.
The 1st set was close but Warburg broke in the 9th game and held to take it 6-4. However, Jamie upped his level in the 2nd set, breaking in the 6th game and going on to take the set 6-3. Unfortunately Warburg broke midway through the 3rd set to lead 4-2 and held on to the break to win 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
Jamie now heads to Florida for the Naples 50K Challenger next week, his final tournament of 2006. He'll be seeded in qualifying which starts on Saturday.
JAMIE INTO THE MAIN DRAW
Jamie has reached the main draw with a 6-0, 4-6, 6-3 with over Tim Smyczek. Jamie cruised through the first set, comprehensively outhitting Smyczek. The American upped his level in the 2nd set but Jamie remained unfazed and came back strongly in the 3rd to seal a match against Sam Warburg in rd1.
Warburg is ranked 203 and he made the quarters of Nashville last week. He also beat Phillippoussis in straight sets recently. His other 2006 highlights are making the final of the Yuba City challenger, reaching the semis of Binghamton and the quarters of New Orleans and Vancouver. He qualified for ATP San Jose and beat Joachim Johansson before losing to Hewitt in rd2. He's also won futures titles in Costa Rica and Korea. It will be a really tricky match for Jamie but given the strength of the field in Champaign it's a decent draw.
JAMIE REACHES FINAL QUALIFYING ROUND
Jamie is through to Monday's final qualifying round where he will play American Tim Smyczek for a place in the main draw .
In rd1 Jamie defeated local wildcard Brandon Davis 6-0, 6-2 and Armenia's Tigran Martirosyan also posed few problems in round 2, Jamie winning 6-3, 6-3.
18 year old Smyczek reached no 14 in the juniors and is currently ranked 572 in the seniors. In futures this year, he won a title on clay in the States and also made 2 semis and 3 quarters. He's yet to qualify for a challenger but earlier this year he got a wildcard into the Yuba City challenger and won a round before losing to Phillip King. Smyczek got revenge over King in Champaign yesterday, beating him in a final set tiebreak in the 2nd qualifying round.
JAMIE SEEDED NO 1 IN CHAMPAIGN QUALIES
Jamie is the top seed in qualifying for the Champaign challenger which starts on Saturday.
In round 1 he faces unranked American wildcard Brandon Davis. Davis is 20 and hasn't played since July. Since the end of 2004, he's lost 11 of his past 13 matches. He's been awarded a wildcard as he's a local player.
If Jamie avoids a shock defeat, then he'll face either Armenia's Tigran Martirosyan or American Bjorn Munroe, in rd2. Munroe has just one ranked point and Martirosyan is ranked around 500 places lower than Jamie.
Jamie still has 8 points to defend from the GB satellite this time last year and he's got just two more tournaments before the end of the season, so he could do with a good in this challenger to ensure that he stays close to the top 300 and still in with a slight chance of making the Australian Open qualifying cut at the start of 2007.
JAMIE FALLS TO WHITEHOUSE IN STRAIGHTS
Wesley Whitehouse proved too strong in the 2nd qualifying round, defeating Jamie 7-5, 6-2 to move to within 1 victory of reaching the main draw.
As in Louisville, Jamie has entered doubles qualifying with Brendan Evans. They beat 2nd seeds Simon Stadler and Horia Tecau 6-7[0], 6-2, 10-8 and now face top seeds Stephen Mitchell and Izak Van der Merwe for a place in the main draw.
Once out of the doubles in Nashville, Jamie will head to Champaign for the 50K challenger next week. He'll be one of the top seeds in qualifying
JAMIE THROUGH TO FACE WHITEHOUSE IN 2ND QUALIES ROUND
Jamie came through a tight match with Scott Lipsky, winning 7-5, 7-5 to gain revenge over the American for his defeat in New Zealand F2 back in March this year.
In the 2nd qualifying round he faces South African Wesley Whitehouse who outplayed 7th seed Igor Sjisling in rd1 to win 6-0, 6-1. Whitehouse is a 27 year old leftie, currently ranked 386 with a career best ranking of 214 which he reached in 2004. This year Whitehouse has been mainly playing challengers, qualifying on a regular basis. In Surbiton he beat Josh Goodall in qualifying and then knocked out former Wimbledon finalist Mark Phillippoussis in straight sets in rd1. He qualified for the Sacremento challenger a couple of weeks ago, before losing to Wayne Odesnik in rd1 and lost in qualifying in the Calabasas and Louisville challengers
Baker v Whitehouse is on court today at approx 7pm GMT.
JAMIE TO FACE LIPSKY IN NASHVILLE
Jamie faces hard-hitting American Scott Lipsky in the first round of qualifying for the Nashville challenger.
They've played once before, in the quarters of New Zealand F1 earlier this year when Lipsky won 6-3, 6-2 on the way to reaching the final. He's currently ranked 400 and has had a reasonable year since, making 3 futures semis in the USA in the first half of 2006. Like Jamie, since July he's been playing mostly challengers, trying to make the step up to the next level. He's had slightly more success, making the quarters in Lubbock in September and last week he made the quarters of the Rimouski challenger in Canada. Lipsky possesses a massive first serve which is very difficult to read due to the amount of variation he possesses. He's got a good all-round game for outdoor hard, very aggressive from the baseline and has good touch at the net. When he beat Jamie in New Zealand, he caused a lot of damage that day with his powerful returning. Jamie didn't get enough first serves in and Lipsky really let rip into the 2nd serves.
The entry list for Nashville is extremely strong so Jamie's not seeded in qualifying. However, he has been drawn in the best section - the highest ranked player is German 4th seed Simon Stadler who's ranked 246. If Jamie gets past Lipsky he's likely to play Dutch 7th seed Igor Sjisling in rd1.
CAPDEVILLE PROVES TOO TOUGH FOR BATTLING BAKER
Chilean 6th seed Paul Capdeville proved too strong for Jamie, winning 6-4, 6-2.
Capdeville broke midway through the first set and was able to hold serve to clinch the set though Jamie pushed him all the way. The 2nd set was more one-sided; Jamie led 2-1 on serve before Capdeville upped his level on the return and took advantage of some erratic groundstrokes from Jamie to reel off 5 successive game to take the match. It was always going to be a tough one for Jamie as Capdeville is ranked over 150 places higher, he's competed quite a bit on the ATP tour this year and has reached the latter stages of several challengers. In comparison, Jamie has had a lot of success in futures but he's only made a challenger quarter-final once, so is still finding his feet at this level of men's tennis.
There was further disappointment for Jamie as he and Brendan Evans narrowly failed to make the doubles main draw, losing 5-7, 7-6, [10-6] to Robin Haase and Igor Sjisling.
Jamie's next tournament will be the Nashville 75K challenger. He will be in qualifying which starts on Saturday 4th November.
CAPDEVILLE FIRST UP IN LOUISVILLE
Jamie has drawn Chilean 6th seed and world no 149 Paul Capdeville in rd1 of the Louisville 50K Challenger.
It's a very tough draw as Capdeville reached 102 in the world in April this year. He's made two challenger
finals; in Santiago and Bronx and has also competed successfully on the ATP tour. In Los Angeles he beat Clement before losing to Haas in 3 sets and he also won rounds in Indianapolis and Newport and reached the quarters of Memphis. At the French Open he beat Greg Rusedski in 4 sets before losing to Mario Ancic.
However, the good news for Jamie is that Capdeville is an out and out clay-court specialist and this tournament is on indoor hard. Capdeville hasn't competed indoors since September 2005.
Jamie has also entered doubles qualifying with Brendan Evans for some extra match practise. They won their first match 4-6, 6-4, [10-6] and play Dutch pairing Robin Haase and Igor Sjisling on Monday night for a place in the main draw.
Baker v Capdeville is on Monday at approx 6pm GMT.
JAMIE MAKES LOUISVILLE MAIN DRAW
Jamie has made the main draw of the Louisville 50K Challenger, courtesy of several withdrawals.
This is a big boost for him, having lost in qualifying in his last 3 challengers in the USA.
His ranking has yo-yoed lately due to the amount of points he had to defend in October. Although he won his first 15K title in Nottingham at the end of September, this was almost immediately cancelled out by the points he was defending for reaching the finals of the Edinburgh and Bolton 10Ks in October 2005. A further 4 points dropping off from reaching the Jersey 10K semis this time last year has meant he's slipped down to 308.
Jamie will be hoping for some good runs in challengers in November as he's defending 9 points from 2005.
JAMIE CRASHES IN CALABASAS
Jamie slipped up in qualifying for the Calabasas challenger, losing in rd1 to Korean Daniel Yoo, 7-6[1], 4-6, 6-3.
He will now take two weeks off, to train on the indoor hard courts in the States in preparation for a series of indoor challenger in November in the USA.
Jamie has decided to miss next week's Nottingham challenger.
JAMIE FACES REMATCH WITH YOO IN CALABASAS QUALIFYING
Jamie is the top seed in qualifying for the Calabasas 50K challenger which starts on Saturday 14th October.
In rd1 he faces Korea's Daniel Yoo, a repeat of their match in the first qualifying round for the Sacramento challenger last week. Jamie just scraped through that one in two tiebreaks - 7-6[5], 7-6[6]. In Sacramento, he struggled with the change of going from outdoor acrylic in Nottingham to the faster, higher bouncing cement courts of the USA. With an extra week's training under his belt, he'll be hoping to find some of his best form here especially given that his points from winning a 10K futures title in Bolton in 2005 are coming off this week.
20 year old Yoo is a leftie, ranked 497 who's shot up the ranking this year with good results in Asia and Indonesia. If Jamie gets past him, he'll face either Jesse Levine or David Martin in the 2nd qualifying round later on Saturday. Jamie's seeded to face 6th seed Scoville Jenkins in the final qualifying round on Sunday.
JAMIE SLIPS UP IN SACRAMENTO
Jamie lost in rd2 of qualifying for the Sacramento 75K Challenger to American Nikita Kryvonos 7-5, 6-2.
Jamie was seeded 3rd in qualifying and came through a tough first round match in two tiebreaks against Korea's Daniel Yoo.
However, he was unable to find his best form against Kryvonos, who had previously beaten him a couple of years ago at the junior French Open.
Jamie competed in the doubles in Sacramento with American Brendan Evans. They had to enter qualifying and they won their first match against the top seeds but lost to no 2 seeds Scoville Jenkins and Nikita Kryonos 7-5, 7-6 in the final qualifying round.
Jamie now heads to Calabasas where he'll be competing in qualifying for next week's 50K challenger.
JAMIE DEMOLISHES MARRAY TO TAKE 1ST 15K TITLE
Jamie produced a superb performance in the final to beat 7th seeded compatriot Jonny Marray 6-1, 6-1 and take his 1st 15K futures title.
Jamie had come close previously this year to winning a 15K, finishing runner-up in futures in Australia and New Zealand. This is his 4th futures title, having won 10Ks in Mexico, Bolton and Greece.
Leading up to this final, both players had come through several tight matches and this one was expected to be the same. Marray plays an aggressive serve-volley game looking to attack the net at every opportunity. However, both players and the spectators were surprised at the quality of Jamie's play, he really peaked for the final, producing a much higher level of tennis than earlier in the week. Jamie's powerful groundstrokes were too much for Marray to handle and he raced through the first set in less than 30 minutes. Although the pair have never played each other in competition before, they know each other's game well, having both used Nottingham Tennis Centre as a training base. Jamie was able to sustain his powerful groundstrokes and accurate passing shots for the entire match and in the 2nd set he produced some breathtaking tennis and Marray was powerless to do anything about it.
Speaking after the match Jamie said “I was really pleased with how I played. Jonny is a great serve-volleyer and I knew I had to take the ball early and try and put him under pressure. I hit some good returns early on and he missed a few at the net which I think caused him to tighten up a bit.”
Reflecting on the week he said “I played some pretty ugly tennis at the start of the week. I found it really hard coming from two weeks of being part of a team during the Davis Cup with everyone really up for it all the time to the tournament here. I just felt a bit flat and tired. I was lucky to get through the first couple of rounds. It wasn't until the quarters that I started to play well. I had to seriously up my game to get through the match. After that I felt much more comfortable and today everything just seemed to come together. I didn't actually think I'd play as well as I did.”
The ranking points gained from this tournament will lead to a big increase in Jamie's ranking, he'll move up to approximately 279, close to his career best.
Jamie now heads to the USA for several challengers, starting with the Sacremento 75K challenger. Jamie will have to play qualifying there and that starts on Saturday 7th October.
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Jamie dispatched Argentinian wildcard Gabriel Montenegro with total ease in rd1, winning 6-1, 6-1 to progress through to rd2. The win has secured a much needed 5 points for Jamie, he'll move back up to 315 in the rankings after slipping down into the 320s. He faces Anerican Kevin Kim for a place in the quarter-finals. The 3rd seed dropped the 1st set 6-4 against compatriot Wayne Odesnik in rd1 but was in imperious form in the 2nd and 3rd sets to win 4-6, 6-1, 6-0.
Kim is ranked 105, he has a career best ranking of 63, reached in March 2005. This year he's made 2 challenger finals and 3 quarter-finals. He's competed mostly on the ATP tour, winning matches at the Australian Open and Roland Garros and qualifying for Wimbledon before losing in rd1. He's won matches in three of the masters series events, beating Youzhny in Indian Wells, Melzer in Miami and Ginepri in Montreal. Last week he lost in rd2 of the Champaign challenger to South Africa's Kevin Anderson.
Baker v Kim is 2nd on centre court at approximately 6.30pm GMT
JAMIE FACES ARGENTINIAN WILDCARD IN NAPLES OPENER
Jamie has received a double stroke of luck in the last few days. Firstly, he got into the main draw directly, through withdrawals, meaning that he hasn't had to go through qualifying as in Champaign last week.Secondly, in rd1 he's drawn unranked 29 year old wildcard Gabriel Montenegro of Argentina. Montenegro's best ranking was 1353 and that was back in 2001 ! He's played several futures and challenger qualifying events this year but hasn't reached the main draw. His best result came in the Mantra challenger when he reached the final qualifying round, beating an unranked Ecuadorian and then his rd2 opponent withdrew.
Jamie should win quite comfortably and that'll guarantee him 5 points for the week which will move him a little closer to getting back into the top 300. In rd2, he's likely to face American 3rd seed Kevin Kim, Kim is ranked 107 so that would be a really tough match for Jamie.
Baker v Montenegro is 1st on court 1 on Monday at 6pm GMT.
WARBURG EDGES PAST JAMIE INTO RD2
Jamie came close to a shock victory over Sam Warburg, despite a ranking difference of more than 100 places.The 1st set was close but Warburg broke in the 9th game and held to take it 6-4. However, Jamie upped his level in the 2nd set, breaking in the 6th game and going on to take the set 6-3. Unfortunately Warburg broke midway through the 3rd set to lead 4-2 and held on to the break to win 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
Jamie now heads to Florida for the Naples 50K Challenger next week, his final tournament of 2006. He'll be seeded in qualifying which starts on Saturday.
JAMIE INTO THE MAIN DRAW
Jamie has reached the main draw with a 6-0, 4-6, 6-3 with over Tim Smyczek. Jamie cruised through the first set, comprehensively outhitting Smyczek. The American upped his level in the 2nd set but Jamie remained unfazed and came back strongly in the 3rd to seal a match against Sam Warburg in rd1.Warburg is ranked 203 and he made the quarters of Nashville last week. He also beat Phillippoussis in straight sets recently. His other 2006 highlights are making the final of the Yuba City challenger, reaching the semis of Binghamton and the quarters of New Orleans and Vancouver. He qualified for ATP San Jose and beat Joachim Johansson before losing to Hewitt in rd2. He's also won futures titles in Costa Rica and Korea. It will be a really tricky match for Jamie but given the strength of the field in Champaign it's a decent draw.
JAMIE REACHES FINAL QUALIFYING ROUND
Jamie is through to Monday's final qualifying round where he will play American Tim Smyczek for a place in the main draw .In rd1 Jamie defeated local wildcard Brandon Davis 6-0, 6-2 and Armenia's Tigran Martirosyan also posed few problems in round 2, Jamie winning 6-3, 6-3.
18 year old Smyczek reached no 14 in the juniors and is currently ranked 572 in the seniors. In futures this year, he won a title on clay in the States and also made 2 semis and 3 quarters. He's yet to qualify for a challenger but earlier this year he got a wildcard into the Yuba City challenger and won a round before losing to Phillip King. Smyczek got revenge over King in Champaign yesterday, beating him in a final set tiebreak in the 2nd qualifying round.
JAMIE SEEDED NO 1 IN CHAMPAIGN QUALIES
Jamie is the top seed in qualifying for the Champaign challenger which starts on Saturday.In round 1 he faces unranked American wildcard Brandon Davis. Davis is 20 and hasn't played since July. Since the end of 2004, he's lost 11 of his past 13 matches. He's been awarded a wildcard as he's a local player.
If Jamie avoids a shock defeat, then he'll face either Armenia's Tigran Martirosyan or American Bjorn Munroe, in rd2. Munroe has just one ranked point and Martirosyan is ranked around 500 places lower than Jamie.
Jamie still has 8 points to defend from the GB satellite this time last year and he's got just two more tournaments before the end of the season, so he could do with a good in this challenger to ensure that he stays close to the top 300 and still in with a slight chance of making the Australian Open qualifying cut at the start of 2007.
JAMIE FALLS TO WHITEHOUSE IN STRAIGHTS
Wesley Whitehouse proved too strong in the 2nd qualifying round, defeating Jamie 7-5, 6-2 to move to within 1 victory of reaching the main draw. As in Louisville, Jamie has entered doubles qualifying with Brendan Evans. They beat 2nd seeds Simon Stadler and Horia Tecau 6-7[0], 6-2, 10-8 and now face top seeds Stephen Mitchell and Izak Van der Merwe for a place in the main draw.
Once out of the doubles in Nashville, Jamie will head to Champaign for the 50K challenger next week. He'll be one of the top seeds in qualifying
JAMIE THROUGH TO FACE WHITEHOUSE IN 2ND QUALIES ROUND
Jamie came through a tight match with Scott Lipsky, winning 7-5, 7-5 to gain revenge over the American for his defeat in New Zealand F2 back in March this year.In the 2nd qualifying round he faces South African Wesley Whitehouse who outplayed 7th seed Igor Sjisling in rd1 to win 6-0, 6-1. Whitehouse is a 27 year old leftie, currently ranked 386 with a career best ranking of 214 which he reached in 2004. This year Whitehouse has been mainly playing challengers, qualifying on a regular basis. In Surbiton he beat Josh Goodall in qualifying and then knocked out former Wimbledon finalist Mark Phillippoussis in straight sets in rd1. He qualified for the Sacremento challenger a couple of weeks ago, before losing to Wayne Odesnik in rd1 and lost in qualifying in the Calabasas and Louisville challengers
Baker v Whitehouse is on court today at approx 7pm GMT.
JAMIE TO FACE LIPSKY IN NASHVILLE
Jamie faces hard-hitting American Scott Lipsky in the first round of qualifying for the Nashville challenger. They've played once before, in the quarters of New Zealand F1 earlier this year when Lipsky won 6-3, 6-2 on the way to reaching the final. He's currently ranked 400 and has had a reasonable year since, making 3 futures semis in the USA in the first half of 2006. Like Jamie, since July he's been playing mostly challengers, trying to make the step up to the next level. He's had slightly more success, making the quarters in Lubbock in September and last week he made the quarters of the Rimouski challenger in Canada. Lipsky possesses a massive first serve which is very difficult to read due to the amount of variation he possesses. He's got a good all-round game for outdoor hard, very aggressive from the baseline and has good touch at the net. When he beat Jamie in New Zealand, he caused a lot of damage that day with his powerful returning. Jamie didn't get enough first serves in and Lipsky really let rip into the 2nd serves.
The entry list for Nashville is extremely strong so Jamie's not seeded in qualifying. However, he has been drawn in the best section - the highest ranked player is German 4th seed Simon Stadler who's ranked 246. If Jamie gets past Lipsky he's likely to play Dutch 7th seed Igor Sjisling in rd1.
CAPDEVILLE PROVES TOO TOUGH FOR BATTLING BAKER
Chilean 6th seed Paul Capdeville proved too strong for Jamie, winning 6-4, 6-2.Capdeville broke midway through the first set and was able to hold serve to clinch the set though Jamie pushed him all the way. The 2nd set was more one-sided; Jamie led 2-1 on serve before Capdeville upped his level on the return and took advantage of some erratic groundstrokes from Jamie to reel off 5 successive game to take the match. It was always going to be a tough one for Jamie as Capdeville is ranked over 150 places higher, he's competed quite a bit on the ATP tour this year and has reached the latter stages of several challengers. In comparison, Jamie has had a lot of success in futures but he's only made a challenger quarter-final once, so is still finding his feet at this level of men's tennis.
There was further disappointment for Jamie as he and Brendan Evans narrowly failed to make the doubles main draw, losing 5-7, 7-6, [10-6] to Robin Haase and Igor Sjisling.
Jamie's next tournament will be the Nashville 75K challenger. He will be in qualifying which starts on Saturday 4th November.
CAPDEVILLE FIRST UP IN LOUISVILLE
Jamie has drawn Chilean 6th seed and world no 149 Paul Capdeville in rd1 of the Louisville 50K Challenger.It's a very tough draw as Capdeville reached 102 in the world in April this year. He's made two challenger
finals; in Santiago and Bronx and has also competed successfully on the ATP tour. In Los Angeles he beat Clement before losing to Haas in 3 sets and he also won rounds in Indianapolis and Newport and reached the quarters of Memphis. At the French Open he beat Greg Rusedski in 4 sets before losing to Mario Ancic.
However, the good news for Jamie is that Capdeville is an out and out clay-court specialist and this tournament is on indoor hard. Capdeville hasn't competed indoors since September 2005.
Jamie has also entered doubles qualifying with Brendan Evans for some extra match practise. They won their first match 4-6, 6-4, [10-6] and play Dutch pairing Robin Haase and Igor Sjisling on Monday night for a place in the main draw.
Baker v Capdeville is on Monday at approx 6pm GMT.
JAMIE MAKES LOUISVILLE MAIN DRAW
Jamie has made the main draw of the Louisville 50K Challenger, courtesy of several withdrawals. This is a big boost for him, having lost in qualifying in his last 3 challengers in the USA.
His ranking has yo-yoed lately due to the amount of points he had to defend in October. Although he won his first 15K title in Nottingham at the end of September, this was almost immediately cancelled out by the points he was defending for reaching the finals of the Edinburgh and Bolton 10Ks in October 2005. A further 4 points dropping off from reaching the Jersey 10K semis this time last year has meant he's slipped down to 308.
Jamie will be hoping for some good runs in challengers in November as he's defending 9 points from 2005.
JAMIE CRASHES IN CALABASAS
Jamie slipped up in qualifying for the Calabasas challenger, losing in rd1 to Korean Daniel Yoo, 7-6[1], 4-6, 6-3.He will now take two weeks off, to train on the indoor hard courts in the States in preparation for a series of indoor challenger in November in the USA.
Jamie has decided to miss next week's Nottingham challenger.
JAMIE FACES REMATCH WITH YOO IN CALABASAS QUALIFYING
Jamie is the top seed in qualifying for the Calabasas 50K challenger which starts on Saturday 14th October. In rd1 he faces Korea's Daniel Yoo, a repeat of their match in the first qualifying round for the Sacramento challenger last week. Jamie just scraped through that one in two tiebreaks - 7-6[5], 7-6[6]. In Sacramento, he struggled with the change of going from outdoor acrylic in Nottingham to the faster, higher bouncing cement courts of the USA. With an extra week's training under his belt, he'll be hoping to find some of his best form here especially given that his points from winning a 10K futures title in Bolton in 2005 are coming off this week.
20 year old Yoo is a leftie, ranked 497 who's shot up the ranking this year with good results in Asia and Indonesia. If Jamie gets past him, he'll face either Jesse Levine or David Martin in the 2nd qualifying round later on Saturday. Jamie's seeded to face 6th seed Scoville Jenkins in the final qualifying round on Sunday.
JAMIE SLIPS UP IN SACRAMENTO
Jamie lost in rd2 of qualifying for the Sacramento 75K Challenger to American Nikita Kryvonos 7-5, 6-2.Jamie was seeded 3rd in qualifying and came through a tough first round match in two tiebreaks against Korea's Daniel Yoo.
However, he was unable to find his best form against Kryvonos, who had previously beaten him a couple of years ago at the junior French Open.
Jamie competed in the doubles in Sacramento with American Brendan Evans. They had to enter qualifying and they won their first match against the top seeds but lost to no 2 seeds Scoville Jenkins and Nikita Kryonos 7-5, 7-6 in the final qualifying round.
Jamie now heads to Calabasas where he'll be competing in qualifying for next week's 50K challenger.
JAMIE DEMOLISHES MARRAY TO TAKE 1ST 15K TITLE
Jamie produced a superb performance in the final to beat 7th seeded compatriot Jonny Marray 6-1, 6-1 and take his 1st 15K futures title.Jamie had come close previously this year to winning a 15K, finishing runner-up in futures in Australia and New Zealand. This is his 4th futures title, having won 10Ks in Mexico, Bolton and Greece.
Leading up to this final, both players had come through several tight matches and this one was expected to be the same. Marray plays an aggressive serve-volley game looking to attack the net at every opportunity. However, both players and the spectators were surprised at the quality of Jamie's play, he really peaked for the final, producing a much higher level of tennis than earlier in the week. Jamie's powerful groundstrokes were too much for Marray to handle and he raced through the first set in less than 30 minutes. Although the pair have never played each other in competition before, they know each other's game well, having both used Nottingham Tennis Centre as a training base. Jamie was able to sustain his powerful groundstrokes and accurate passing shots for the entire match and in the 2nd set he produced some breathtaking tennis and Marray was powerless to do anything about it.
Speaking after the match Jamie said “I was really pleased with how I played. Jonny is a great serve-volleyer and I knew I had to take the ball early and try and put him under pressure. I hit some good returns early on and he missed a few at the net which I think caused him to tighten up a bit.”
Reflecting on the week he said “I played some pretty ugly tennis at the start of the week. I found it really hard coming from two weeks of being part of a team during the Davis Cup with everyone really up for it all the time to the tournament here. I just felt a bit flat and tired. I was lucky to get through the first couple of rounds. It wasn't until the quarters that I started to play well. I had to seriously up my game to get through the match. After that I felt much more comfortable and today everything just seemed to come together. I didn't actually think I'd play as well as I did.”
The ranking points gained from this tournament will lead to a big increase in Jamie's ranking, he'll move up to approximately 279, close to his career best.
Jamie now heads to the USA for several challengers, starting with the Sacremento 75K challenger. Jamie will have to play qualifying there and that starts on Saturday 7th October.
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