kidbourbon
Disgusting!
- Joined
- Nov 12, 2005
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I figure I would devote a post to Rhyne Williams' successes and failures this summer as he plays on the pro circuit.
-Williams won a futures* event this past week. This is only his second win in a pro tournament, with his first win coming when he was a mere 16.
-Also, JP Smith won doubles at the same event.
What can we conclude from these two events:
1) I doubt Rhyne is coming back, but I'll keep y'all posted on his success this summer.
2) I think JP can pull off a decent pro career as a doubles specialist.
Williams is going to play a challenger tournament in California next week.
*For those who aren't intimately familiar with what a futures event is, I'll give a brief 411. So think about how, in baseball, you have the majors and then you have the minor leagues, which is made up by single A, double A, and triple A divisions. There is also a minor leagues in tennis, but with only two levels:
--Futures tournaments: This is the lowest level of pro tournaments. You're not going to break into the top 100 in the world winning futures, but this is where most every pro starts.
--Challenger tournaments: These tournaments would be akin to triple A ball in baseball. In these tournaments, you have a mix of (a) up and comers who haven't played ATP tournaments yet and are working on improving their ranking (basically every pro in the world has played a couple challengers at some point in their lives); and (b) established pro's who are trying to work their way back into form, or perhaps come back from an injury. For some examples on part (b): James Blake played and won a challenger tournament last week; Andre Agassi played in several challengers after an injury plus lots of crystal meth use dropped him way down in the rankings to the mid 100s. This was a deliberate decision on his part to work his way back to ATP events slowly rather than jump right in, get whupped, and get his confidence shaken.
And then of course you have your regular ATP tournaments, which are your major leagues.
Also, I'll just answer this question because it is surely going to be asked. Yes, college players are allowed to play pro tournaments. They just have to set aside any money that they earn over their expenses. I assume they have to give it back to the tournament, but I don't know how hte mechanics of that work. What I do know is that if I were a colllege player playing in the pro circuit over the summer, I would be massively massively inflating my expenses.
ZooTennis: June Aces; Williams, Davis Win Pro Circuit Events; Vicky Duval Feature**
Williams Captures Singles Title in Florida University of Tennessee Athletics
Williams still deciding status Knoxville News Sentinel
**This site is unquestionably the best available resource if you have any interest in keeping up with basically "sub-professional" tennis (e.g. juniors, college, futures, challengers)
-Williams won a futures* event this past week. This is only his second win in a pro tournament, with his first win coming when he was a mere 16.
-Also, JP Smith won doubles at the same event.
What can we conclude from these two events:
1) I doubt Rhyne is coming back, but I'll keep y'all posted on his success this summer.
2) I think JP can pull off a decent pro career as a doubles specialist.
Williams is going to play a challenger tournament in California next week.
*For those who aren't intimately familiar with what a futures event is, I'll give a brief 411. So think about how, in baseball, you have the majors and then you have the minor leagues, which is made up by single A, double A, and triple A divisions. There is also a minor leagues in tennis, but with only two levels:
--Futures tournaments: This is the lowest level of pro tournaments. You're not going to break into the top 100 in the world winning futures, but this is where most every pro starts.
--Challenger tournaments: These tournaments would be akin to triple A ball in baseball. In these tournaments, you have a mix of (a) up and comers who haven't played ATP tournaments yet and are working on improving their ranking (basically every pro in the world has played a couple challengers at some point in their lives); and (b) established pro's who are trying to work their way back into form, or perhaps come back from an injury. For some examples on part (b): James Blake played and won a challenger tournament last week; Andre Agassi played in several challengers after an injury plus lots of crystal meth use dropped him way down in the rankings to the mid 100s. This was a deliberate decision on his part to work his way back to ATP events slowly rather than jump right in, get whupped, and get his confidence shaken.
And then of course you have your regular ATP tournaments, which are your major leagues.
Also, I'll just answer this question because it is surely going to be asked. Yes, college players are allowed to play pro tournaments. They just have to set aside any money that they earn over their expenses. I assume they have to give it back to the tournament, but I don't know how hte mechanics of that work. What I do know is that if I were a colllege player playing in the pro circuit over the summer, I would be massively massively inflating my expenses.
ZooTennis: June Aces; Williams, Davis Win Pro Circuit Events; Vicky Duval Feature**
Williams Captures Singles Title in Florida University of Tennessee Athletics
Williams still deciding status Knoxville News Sentinel
**This site is unquestionably the best available resource if you have any interest in keeping up with basically "sub-professional" tennis (e.g. juniors, college, futures, challengers)
