Brit Guys lift ATP250 doubles title!!

Huge result for Ken Skupski and Colin Fleming at the weekend beating Clement and Llodra of France, doubles ranked 48 and 24 respectively, in the final at Metz, France 10-5 in the champions tiebreaker

26 year old Liverpudlian Ken started 2009 ranked 233 for doubles; this result lifts him from 99 to 76

25 year old Scot Colin started 2009 ranked 333 for doubles; this result lifts him from 101 to 79

Ken and Colin have been a team all year; they have had great results along the way including memorably beating the world number ones Mike and Bob Bryan on the grass at Queens Club; the year just got even better. Well done, Guys!!

OK, slight correction to that last post!

Ken and Colin not quite played together ALL year; there were a couple of weeks in February when Ken was palying and Ken wasn't...during which Ken only went and won a title in Germany with his German partner, thereby nipping in front of Colin in the rankings where presumably he'll stay for as long as they are inseparable!

Anyhoo...Ken up to new CH 75 and Colin up to new CH 77 in today's list.

In the singles list, time to raise three cheers for three guys who've made it to GB #8, 9 & 10 respectively.

Jamie Baker, aged 23, had four months out between early Feb and early June; since his comeback he's risen 500 places in the world list to his current 456; his last three outings have been nearly perfect with two titles and one runners-up spot

Morgan Phillips, aged 25, has also been battling back after a long injury time-out; no titles but hugely consisitent making his way through to four finals and rising from way outside the top 1000 to his current 463

And Daniel Smethurst, aged 18, who won a 10k futures in Belgium in August and a 15k in Portugal in September; he has risen from 1102 in May to 489 in today's list

Keep the good news coming guys!

Boggo lifts a title ; Jamie doesn't!

Notwithstanding Jamie's great run in Australia coming to an end in the Port Pirie final yesterday, the previous week's title has him +75 today, this week's biggest GB riser in the ATP singles list, to world #372 and GB #6

Second biggest riser is Alex B who picked up the 42,500 Euro Challenger title in Denmark yesterday (at 1 set all, Boggo having just won a very tight second set tiebreaker, when his opponent was defaulted for abusing an official; but hey, a win's a win! ) up 53 to world #185 and GB #2

Sadly, Andy Murray slipped back another 1 to world #4; hopefully his wrist injury will be behind him shortly.

In the doubles list big moves lower down the pecking order with Max Jones +117 to world #692; Burnham Arlidge +69 to #905; and Dominic Inglot +62 to #476. Higher up, Jonathan Marray inching towards the top 100; +6 to #108.

Top 10 singles: 4 Andy; 185 Alex; 196 James W; 242 Josh; 297 Dan E; 372 Jamie B; 402 Richard; 426 Colin; 454 Morgan; 465 Dan S

Top 10 doubles: 43 Ross; 70 Ken; 74 Colin; 95 Jamie M; 108 Jonathan; 122 Jamie D; 144 James A; 145 Josh; 266 Chris; 320 James W

Skupski & Fleming closing in on top 50!

Team Flemski continued their surge up the doubles rankings today with Ken Skupski +4 to #66 and Colin Fleming +7 to #67; it's been an excellent year for them

Closing ever nearer to joining them (and Ross Hutchins, #49, and Jamie Murray, #97) in the top 100 are Jonathan Marray up 7 today to #101 and Jamie Delgado up 9 to #113

In the singles list there are no fewer than 5 new career highs today with Morgan Phillips +6 to #448 ; Dan Smethhurst +12 to #453 ; Marcus Willis +7 to #572 ; Neil Pauffley +5 to #752 ; and Alexander Ward +4 to #764

Not a new CH but very worthy of mention is Jamie Baker +26 to #346 at the conclusion of his hugely successful trip around the ITFs in Australia

Andy's back!

After a few weeks on the sidelines nursing a wrist injury during which his world ranking slipped back to #4, Andy announced his return by winning his first tournament back in action which just happened to be an ATP500 level job!

No rise in the rankings for Andy on the back of his title in Valencia but he can look forward again to hunting down Federer, Nadal and Djokovic ahead of him

Biggest Brit Guy riser in the singles list this week (and very nearly ditto in the doubles list) is Dominic Inglot who made full use of his Wild Card (as a very recent University of Virginia stalwart) into the ATP $50k Challenger in Charlottesville, Virginia. As now recorded on the Stop Press Archive thread, Dom reached the QFs along the way beating a highly ranked seed in R2 to be +334 today at #770; and in the dubs he got even further, he and his partner beating the second seeds in the semis before just missing out in the final to be +67 today at #344.

Mentioned in Stop Press, Flemski surged up the dubs list again last week on the back of their ATP250 title in St Petersburg ( ) so that half of the pairing could call himself a top 50 player; bizarrely, Ken is down one this week and Colin up one to be #51 and #52 respectively with Ross down 3 to #50. A veritable log-jam of Brit Guys there!

Great to report, on the back of his ITF $125k title secured this week end with Jamie Murray in Kazakstan , Jonny Marray has eased himself nicely further (having been precisely on the 100 mark last week) into the top 100 dubs at #91 ; but Jamie Murray, albeit a bit closer again after the 100 ranking points for that title, has slipped out

Top 10 Brit Guys singles: 4 Andy; 176 Alex; 239 James W; 281 Josh; 291 Dan E; 349 Jamie B; 440 Colin; 441 Morgan; 452 Dan S; 466 Richard

Top 10 Brit Guys doubles: 50 Ross; 51 Ken; 52 Colin; 91 Jonny; 107 Jamie M; 117 Jamie D; 163 James A; 179 Josh; 239 Chris; 318 Andy

That was close!

When Andy beat Del Potro in the first round robin group match at the ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 arena in London last week, methought that was the world #4 spot in the bag for year end and maybe, who knows, might get close to world #3 again; but that was before Andy missed out on the SFs on countback by ONE game and Del Potro got all the way to the final. But, thankfully, lost

World top 5 singles at year end: 1 Federer 10,550 pts; 2 Nadal 9,205; 3 Djokovic 8,310; 4 Murray 7,030; 5 Del Potro 6,785

Nice double figure moves up the singles rankings this week for Dan Evans, Josh Goodall and Richard Bloomfield

The doubles shoot-out promised in Helsinki failed to materialise, sadly; our top 3 were all there but, unusually these days, they all went out early on

GB Top 10 singles: 4 Andy Murray; 165 Alex Bogdanovic; 246 James Ward; 260 Daniel Evans; 306 Jamie Baker; 311 Josh Goodall; 434 Daniel Smethurst; 437 Morgan Phillips; 472 Dan Cox; 474 Richard Bloomfield

GB Top 10 doubles: 50 Ross Hutchins; 54 Ken Skupski; 56 Colin Fleming; 92 Jonathan Marray; 105 Jamie Murray; 112 Jamie Delgado; 157 Josh Goodall; 161 James Auckland; 215 Chris Eaton; 309 Andy Murray

Needless to say...

But it should be said anyway: it's been a fantastic year for Andy breaking the top 3 world rankings barrier which had previously kept Tim Henman, Greg Rusedski and Roger Taylor at bay ; and, indeed, breaking into the world top 2 (albeit briefly in 2009 but, all being well, he'll be back in 2010!!)

And winning 6 ATP titles

And 66 matches won to only 11 lost

Brilliant stuff!

Good news and bad news

The good news is that Andy Murray chose to acclimatise for longer in Australia this year by taking part in the Hopman Cup exhibiiton event in Perth partnering Laura Robson all the way to the final which must hold him in good stead for the AO about to start ; the bad news is that the points he didn't defend last week and the ones picked up by others mean that he has slipped a place to #5 and will have to play a stronger player earlier

Other good news, excellent in fact, is that James Ward is back on the matchcourt after his glandular fever and has started his climb back up the rankings. A decent showing in Chennai last week has him up 11 places to world #261

Flemski also had a good ATP250 at Chennai picking up 90 points for their SF having beaten the 3rd seeds including the world #7 in the QFs. They're really breathing down the neck of Ross Hutchins now for that GB #1 spot but Ross is still there...

Top 10 Brit Guys singles this week: 5 Andy 6,780pts; 171 Alex Bogdanovic 290pts; 261 James 174pts; 266 Dan Evans 167pts; 307 Josh Goodall 138pts; 313 Jamie Baker 135pts; 426 Dan Smethurst 82pts; 429 Morgan Phillips 81pts; 466 Dan Cox 70pts; 467 Richard Bloomfield 69pts.

Top 5 Brit Guy doubles this week: 52 Ross Hutchins 1,370pts; 53 Ken Skupski 1,351pts; 55 Colin Fleming 1,296pts; 91 Jonathan Marray 789pts; 106 Jamie Murray 678pts.

Andy's back up to world #3

It would have been #2 if he'd managed to lift the AO crown but 1200 ranking points for being runner up has Andy Murray back into "no other Brit Guy has ever been ranked this high" territory again

Federer has stretched further into the distance on 11,350; Djokovic is #2 on 8,310; Andy is on 7,800; and Nadal has slipped 2 places this week to #4 on 7,670. Del Potro who snuck ahead of Andy just in time for the AO seedings has slipped back to #5 on 6,400.

James Ward is up 12 this week to just back inside the top 250 ; Jamie Baker is up 28 to inside the top 300 again ; Josh Goodall up 18 to inside top 300 again too ; Chris Eaton up a huge 83 on the back of his title in Glasgow ; and Morgan Phiilips up 15 to a new CH #412

Meantime, Ross Hutchins' agonisingly close first round loss at the AO has cost him his GB #1 doubles status, slipping 7 places to #54, one behind Ken Skupski; so that's for Ross but for Ken; with Colin Fleming just adrift in #56. Colin will no doubt be thankful for when Ken's points drop off on 1st March from his Wolfsburg Challenger title so he can catch his partner up!

Top 10 Brit Guys singles this week: 3 Andy M; 171 Alex B; 249 James W; 255 Dan E; 286 Jamie B; 291 Josh G; 404 Chris E; 412 Morgan P; 429 Dan S; 457 Dan C

Top 10 Brit Guys doubles this week: 53 Ken S; 54 Ross H; 56 Colin F; 89 Jonathan M; 96 Jamie M; 110 Jamie D; 167 James A; 167 Josh G; 208 Chris E; 268 Dominic I

A Month's worth of postings were lost into cyberspace

So, to bridge the gap here are the current rankings!

The biggest recent news is that Andy is clearly choosing not to defend some "small beer" titles this year to save himself for the bigger ones ; Alex Bogdanovic seems to have rediscovered his mojo with a very decent run of results putting him within sight of his career high #108 again and, who knows, maybe the top 100 this time and a recall to the Davis Cup fold ; Ross Hutchins reached an ATP500 final to recapture his mantle as GB doubles #1 ; and team Flemski winning their Davis Cup dubs against Lithuania whilst the rankings points advantage enjoyed by Ken Skupski has now worked itself out so that they are on precisely the same number of points (although, ironically, Colin Fleming is now one place ahead on other criteria! ); Jonathan Marray and Jamie Murray have continued their fruitful partnership winning an ATP Challenger in Italy week commencing 8th February with Jonny now at a new Career High ; and Jamie Delgado won an ATP Challenger dubs title in Serbia to dip inside the top 100 again for the third week of his career (his previous such was for two weeks in 2007)

Top 10 GB guys in singles: 4 Andy Murray; 155 Alex Bogdanovic; 249 James Ward; 252 Dan Evans; 283 Jamie Baker; 311 Josh Goodall; 399 Dan Smethurst; 408 Chris Eaton; 412 Morgan Phillips; 454 Dan Cox

Top 10 GB guys in doubles: 45 Ross Hutchins; 52 Colin Fleming; 53 Ken Skupski; 77 Jonathan Marray; 101 Jamie Murray; 107 Jamie Delgado; 171 Joshua Goodall; 176 James Auckland; 186 Chris Eaton; 243 Dominic Inglot

Andy's plan sort of worked!

Following the "Indian Wells fortnight", today's new rankings lists has Andy Murray is up to world #3 in singles as Rafa Nadal failed to successfully defend his title; mind you Andy didn't match his 2009 showing either; never mind; world #3, eh?!

Needs to step up over this next fortnight, however, as he won the ATP1000 title in Miami last year...

Excellent news further down the list is Boggo up 6 places to world #149 and, on the back of runner-up slot at the Tipton $15k, Dan Smethurst is up 45 to a new Career High #354

Top 10 Brit Guys singles: 3 Andy; 149 Boggo; 252 James; 259 Dan E; 280 Jamie; 308 Josh; 354 Dan S; 406 Chris; 408 Morgan; 451 Dan C

Top 10 Brit Guys doubles: 52 Ross; 53 Colin; 54 Ken; 80 Jonny; 99 Jamie M; 107 Jamie D; 175 James; 184 Chris; 206 Josh; 219 Dom

Oops, Andy!

Andy went out early from the ATP1000 Miami (R1 in fact) and so drops back to world #4 although with none of the top 4 excelling themselves Andy didn't drop too far albeit the chasing pack down to #8 is getting closer...

World top 10: Federer 10,765pts; Djokovic 7,630; Nadal 6,980; Murray 5,845; Del Potro 5,735; Davydenko 5,335; Roddick 4,780; Soderling 4,595; Cilic 2,980; Tsonga 2,915

New CH this week for 19 year old Dan Smethurst +12 to world #342 ; that's up 1 in the GB rankings, as are Josh Goodall and Jamie Baker, with Dan Evans dropping 3 places in the GB hierarchy with his points for winning Jersey 2009 coming off; and 21 year old David Rice into the GB top 10 for the first time

Further down new or equal CHs for GB numbers 14, 15 & 16: respectively 19 year old Marcus Willis a non mover at his CH #570; Dom Inglot +39 to #594; and 19 year old Alexander Ward +45 to #605. Keep up the good work guys

Top 10 Brits for singles this week: 4 Murray; 152 Bogdanovic; 255 James Ward; 285 Baker; 314 Goodall; 342 Smethurst; 365 Evans; 407 Eaton; 414 Phillips; 488 Rice

In the dubs, Ken Skupski won the Jersey ATP challenger with Bopanna (IND) beating Jonny Marray and Jamie Murray in the final 10-6 in the MTB; good work you 3 Brits ; with Ken Skupski reclaiming the GB #1 berth again

Top 10 Brits for doubles this week: 51 Skupski; 54 Fleming; 62 Hutchins; 77 Marray; 90 Murray; 104 Delgado; 163 Eaton; 204 Auckland; 206 Goodall; 215 Inglot

Andy slips to #5 this week

Another surprising first round defeat for Andy, this time at the ATP1000 in Monte Carlo, has him slipping behind Del Potro this week. Looking on the bright side, only defending 10 points in Rome next week

World top 10 this week: Federer 10,690 pts; Djokovic 7,390; Nadal 6,980; Del Potro 5,725; Murray 5,485; Davydenko 5,335; Roddick 4,780; Soderling 4,595; Verdasco 3,145; Tsonga 3,005

Andy did team up with Ross Hutchins in the Monte Carlo dubs and they had a good R1 win against a strong pairing ranked 19 & 14 respectively; and took the first set off the Bryan twins, ranked 3 & 3, in R2 ; Ross is +3 in todays list and Andy up a mere +526! Still only world #446 mind

Main news from the singles list today, as recently mentioned in Stop Press, is Sean Thorney +100 to world #695 thanks to reaching an ITF semi in China the week before last; with the points from another going on next Monday too

Top 10 Brit Guys singles: 5 Andy; 155 Boggo; 255 James W; 282 Jamie B; 307 Josh; 344 Dan S; 367 Dan E; 402 Chris; 411 Mors; 486 David

Top 10 Brit Guys doubles: 52 Ken; 55 Colin; 58 Ross; 77 Jonny; 93 Jamie M; 108 Jamie D; 183 Chris; 211 Dom; 214 Josh; 259 James A

Well done Josh & Sean

All fairly quiet on the dubs front this week and nothing much to shout about on the singles front either but there are a couple of highlights courtesy of Josh Goodall and Sean Thorney.

As anticipated, the second week of 20 year old Sean's great fortnight in those Chinese ITF Futures gives him another big boost this week +55 from last week's Career High to a brand new CH at world #640

Josh Goodall's excellent week at the ATP Challenger in Tallahassee, Florida has him +16 this week and back inside the top 300 again at #291; here's hoping Josh's climb back to his CH #184, and beyond, has begun!

Yay for James W & Jamie B!

Good news a bit thin this week except for James Ward and Jamie Baker having lifted the doubles title at the $50k ATP Challenger in Savannah, Georgia, USA at the week-end earning them big rises up the dubs list. James is +105 to be world #283 (and GB #11) and Jamie is +251 to be world #395 (and GB #13)

Top 10 Brit Guys singles this week: 4 Andy; 163 Boggo; 258 James; 268 Jamie B; 297 Josh; 341 Dan S; 366 Dan E; 412 Mors; 438 Chris; 489 David

Top 10 Brit Guys doubles this week: 54 Ken; 55 Ross; 56 Colin; 74 Jonny; 99 Jamie M; 109 Jamie D; 187 Chris; 215 Dom; 261 Josh; 279 Alex Slabinsky

3 new CHs this week!

OK, they're not huge gains but gains nonetheless! Dan Smethhurst +4 to new CH #337 and into the GB top 5 for the first time ; Mors Phillips +6 to new CH #406 ; and David Rice +6 to new CH #483

Top 10 GB for singles this week: 4 Andy; 161 Boggo; 262 Jamie B; 314 Josh; 337 Dan S; 344 Dan E; 356 James; 406 Mors; 467 Chris; 483 David

Top 10 GB for doubles this week: 52 Ken; 54 Colin; 59 Ross; 76 Jonny; 97 Jamie M; 108 Jamie D; 197 Chris; 213 Dom; 272 Josh; 276 Alex S

Great news for James Ward & Flemski

Thanks to their runners-up spot at the Eastbourne ATP250, Ken Skupski and Colin Fleming both record new CHs in the new ATP doubles rankings list and are both now well entrenched inside the world top 50

And James Ward's Eastbourne exploits has him +38 in the singles list and +40 in the dubs list

World top 10 this week going into Wimby: Nadal 8,745 pts; Federer 8,525; Djokovic 6,545; Andy 5,155; Davydenko 4,785; Soderling 4,755; Roddick 4,510; Del Potro 4,395; Verdasco 3,645; Tsonga 3,185

Top 10 Brit Guys for singles this week: 4 Andy; 172 Boggo; 253 Jamie B; 304 James; 325 Dan E; 351 Dan S; 397 Josh; 428 Mors; 489 David; 499 Chris

Top 10 Brit Guys for doubles this week: 45 Ken; 47 Colin; 63 Ross; 77 Jonny; 95 Jamie M; 109 Jamie D; 177 Chris; 204 Dom; 240 James; 258 Josh

Muzza still world #4

Great that Andy reached his second, and second successive, Wimbledon semi-final last week to successfully defend his points from last year; would have lost his top 4 status otherwise and he'll be wanting to preserve that for the US Open, methinks!

Nice rises in the dubs rankings post Wimbledon for Ross Hutchins (+7), Dom Inglot (+59), Chris Eaton (+14) and Josh Goodall (+53)

World top 8 this week: Rafa Nadal 10,745 pts; Novak Djokovic 6,905; Roger Federer 6,885; Andy 5,155; Robin Soderling 4,935; Nikolay Davydenko 4,740; Juan Martin Del Potro 4,350; Tomas Berdych 3,845.

British top 10 singles: 4 Andy Murray; 172 Alex Bogdanovic; 253 Jamie Baker; 301 James Ward; 314 Dan Evans; 356 Dan Smethurst; 380 Josh Goodall; 427 Morgan Phillips; 491 Chris Eaton; 502 David Rice

British top 10 doubles: 46 Ken Skupski; 47 Colin Fleming; 56 Ross Hutchins; 95 Jonny Marray; 97 Jamie Murray; 128 Jamie Delgado; 145 Dom Inglot; 163 Chris Eaton; 205 Josh Goodall; 328 Jamie Baker

Bloomin' marvellous!

Richard Bloomfield's fantastic run through 3 rounds of qualifying all the way to the SFs of the ATP250 in Newport, Rhode Island, USA on the grass at the Hall of Fame Championships including beating the world #54 in R2 has reaped its rankings reward: +260 this week!

Up from GB #12 to GB #5; from world #552 to #292

Special Exempt into R1 of the $75k ATP Challenger in Aptos, California this week; up against Boggo in R1, annoyingly, but at least there'll be a Brit in R2 for sure

Josh Goodall's points from doing the Ilkley double go on next week...

Flemski both drift upwards in the dubs list to new CHs

Top 10 Brits for singles: 4 Andy; 175 Boggo; 247 Jamie B; 288 James; 292 Bloomers; 306 Dan E; 358 Dan S; 379 Josh; 433 Mors; 489 David

Top 10 Brits for doubles: 44 Ken; 46 Colin; 56 Ross; 95 Jonny; 96 Jamie M; 129 Jamie D; 146 Dom; 162 Chris; 201 Josh; 325 Jamie B

The points from Ilkley chalked up!

Big rise for George Morgan, of course, +385 to new CH 958

Decent rises too for the other semi-finalists: winner Josh Goodall +23, runner-up David Rice +33 to new CH and Marcus Willis +32 to 624; Josh's dubs title minimising a bigger points loss from 12 months ago presumably...

Top 10 singles: 4 Andy; 176 Boggo; 246 Jamie B; 287 James; 292 Bloomers; 315 Dan E; 356 Josh; 362 Dan S; 441 Mors; 456 David

Top 10 dubs: 44 Ken; 46 Colin; 56 Ross; 96 Jamie M; 102 Jonny; 129 Jamie D; 151 Dom; 163 Chris; 237 Josh; 321 Jamie B