Shrewsbury

Jono · Shrewsbury

Great 1st rnd win. I read that Alex is defending 50 points. To claim 50 points Alex has to win the tournament . Is that correct? If so, I guess he will remain around 115-125?So far secured 5points, 12 for QF, 22 SF, 35 Final.Can I assume ranking to be 140 for now, 135 for QF, 130 for SF, 128 for F.

Jac

yes, i think you are about right withthose places - so this wekk all also about damage limitation. Alex is also defending 5 points next week, from orland last year, so he will lose a little bit there psossibly.

The draw for alex here has really opened up as all the other seeds in his half have been knocked out, so a great chnace for him to progessto the later stages.

a very good opening win for alex, it is unusual for him to totally dominate matches. If he can play like that tomorrow he should see his way past Popp.

Jono

I think having the Davis Cup coach may show Alex the way to go forward,as Alex has a goodish chance of catching Tim.

reef

Well done to Boggo for winning the tournament! Very Happy

jimmy

Well done Alex indeed Very Happy

Nice to end the year on a good note though with two titles to defend in early 2007 its gonna take a mammoth effort to get into the top 100.

When does anybody think he will make it - I'm gonna be a bit pesimistic and say not til the grass court season. Could it even be he is beaten to the top 100 by Bloomfield or Jonny Marray - he's had a decent end of year....

Jono

Fantastic win. But for Alex defending 50 points he would have reached 101st equal, just 2 points away from 100!! But Alex stays on 374 points and moves up 2 places to 121. I do not think Bloomfield and Jonny Marray will make top 100 in the near distant future. Alex has the best chance and is more consistent. On 30th Jan this year, Alex was 156 and now 10months later 121. It is going to be quite tough to progress higher.Shrewsbury was a 25K challenger, wait til you play ATP tour matches in the 100K plus bracket.

Jono

Admin, what is your take on Alex so far and for the future??

Jac

I would be very suprised if bloomers or jonny reach the top 100 b4 alex. has had 3 challenegr wins and the final of a big challenger ( which worth more points) he is also consitently reaching the quaters in events, jonny and rich had a good end to the year, but unles i have missed something out they are yet to win a challenger, yet alone effectivley 4 in the year.

I think recently following alex it has shown just how tough it is to break the top 100 as well, jonny esp will need to improve his alround game to puick up points on other surfaces.

I think overall alex will be happy, i am sure he is dissapointed with not making it a little higher and making ao de, but i think he is happy with the tennis he has been playing recently and i think he now feels that 100 is really within his grasp.

Jono

I think Josh Goodall might beat the other two after Alex.

admin

ALEX CRUISES PAST CHARDY INTO RD2

Alex moved into rd2 of the Shrewsbury challenger with an impressive 6-1, 6-2 win over France's Jeremy Chardy. Chardy's massive serve is perfectly suited to the fast indoor acrylic courts of Shrewsbury but he was no match for Alex who defused the Frenchman's power with some impressive returning. Speaking after the match Alex said "It's a great result for me as Chardy's a good player. I returned pretty well throughout the match and didn't give him a chance to get into it." Alex now faces Germany's Torsten Popp, Popp beat Alan Mackin 6-4, 6-3 in rd1. Popp's elder brother Alex, reached two Wimbledon quarter-finals several years ago. Alex confirmed that he'll be heading to the States straight after this tournament, he'll spend the off season training at the Saddlebrook Academy in Florida where he'll be looking to link up with Andy Murray and Brad Gilbert.

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POPP's PROGRESS CURTAILED BY IMPRESSIVE BOGGO

Alex eased through to the quarter-finals, with a comfortable straight sets win over Thorsten Popp. It was plain sailing in the 1st set as he raced to a 5-1 lead, breaking Popp twice and then served out the set to take it 6-2. The 2nd set was a closer affair but a break midway through proved enough for Alex to win 6-2, 6-4. Speaking afterwards Alex said "I played well today, Popp's a tricky opponent. He plays mainly from the baseline, doesn't come to the net that often but he's very fast around the court and runs a lot of balls down." The Davis Cup coach Peter Lundgren is in Shrewsbury watching the British players this week. He's going to be working with a lot of the players before the Wrexham challenger in January. Alex said "Lundgren's been speaking to quite a few guys this week, he's a nice guy, it's great to have him around. Hopefully we'll get to link up next year."

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BOGGO SLAYS GIANT SWEDE TO REACH SEMIS

A superb performance from Alex, successfully defusing the serving power of Ryderstedt with his consistently accurate returning. The Swede had no answer to the powerful array of groundstrokes and passing shots which Alex came up with and was broken 4 times, an impressive stat considering that he'd yet to be broken this week before this match. Speaking afterwards, Alex said that he was extremely pleased with his performance "It was a good win for me today as he's a dangerous opponent especially on fast courts. I played really well, returned well and never gave him a chance to get into the match which was key as it's tough when he gets into a groove with his serve."

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BOGGO BATTLES PAST MEFFERT AND INTO FINAL

A superb fighting performance from Alex saw him fight back from the loss of the 1st set to defeat German Dominik Meffert and reach his 4th final of the year. This means that Alex has defended 35 of his 50 points from last year’s Sunderland challenger and so his ranking will remain in the 120s whatever the outcome of the final. Speaking afterwards a relieved Alex said “I did well to get through the match, it was a really tough one. Meffert served really well and was hitting very heavy from the back, I hung in there and was able to take my chances in the 2nd and 3rd sets.”

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ALEX ENDS 2006 IN STYLE WITH 3RD TITLE

Alex recovered strongly after dropping the first set, to defeat Germany’s Mischa Zverev and secure his 3rd challenger title of the year. Beating Zverev meant that Alex defended all 50 points from winning the Sunderland challenger this time last year and so he maintains a ranking in the 120s. His ranking has actually increased a couple of places, a far cry from the start of the week when it looked like he was facing a drop back down to about 140. Now, with an end of season ranking of 121, Alex will definitely be in the top 8 seeds for Australian Open qualifying and he retains an outside chance of getting into the main draw directly, via withdrawals.

Speaking after the final Alex said “It was a tough match today. He's a good player and was serving unbelievably well especially in the first set. In the second set I was break point down a couple of times but managed to hang on. I got the break at 5-4 in the second and from there the momentum changed and I played much better in the third. I was quite tired coming into the tournament but it’s great to finish the season with a win. The week was good especially having Peter Lundgren around who watched my first few matches. Overall, it’s been a good year. I'm going to take a week off before I fly to the States to start training. I'm really looking forward to next year.”