Yuki Bhambri

[Varma]

At most of these clay Challengers where lowly ranked specialists make it through qualies, ATP rankings tend to go for a toss. The results can be quite unpredictable.

- Varma

[Rajiv]

the European challengers will be flooded with Guys ranked below 60 who couldn't make it to Madrid & Rome and the Challenger field will resemble a 250 like in the ongoing Marbella challenger

Let's not confuse challengers with ATP level tournaments. The Marbella challenger has only 3 top 100 players (and they are at the lower end of the top 100) and does not by any means resemble any ATP tournament. Of course, clay challengers in Europe are tough because there are a lot of clay court specialists who ply their trade there but the clay ATP tournaments in Europe are even tougher...

It was just a small part of a bigger issue and you seem to latch on to it to score brownie points while skirting the main issue of what Yuki should be doing

It was more of metaphorical statement in nature , that Challengers are tough in Europe before the FO
Incidentally the fanatics at MTF too felt that Marbella is like an 250 which is not necessarily to your pure ranking statistics but the quality of players involved in the line up.

[RohitG]

Initially I thought he is skipping Davis Cup because it would have been an unnecessary physical strain and he would rather focus his energy in Taipei; thinking that the injury is not serious. However, if he is skipping Taipei, I guess it is that serious. Because it doesn't make sense to me to skip 2-3 matches in Taipei, which are enough imo to get in the main draw of French Open as he gets close to 600 points. In addition, if he wins the whole thing, then it makes it much easier to qualify for Wimbledon as well. Going by his hard court form and the draw at Taipei, it looked as if he had a good chance to do that.

Now if he is going to skip one week in Taipei, and play three challengers in Korea (or even 2) followed by travelling to Europe and play three grinding qualifier matches on clay, it doesn't make sense on the body front either. Especially the trip to France that is. Main intention to do that would be to play in the main draw which could have been easily achieved through a comfortable hard court run in Taipei. After all he has a lot to play in the second half of the season.

[sameerph]

Now if he is going to skip one week in Taipei, and play three challengers in Korea (or even 2) followed by travelling to Europe and play three grinding qualifier matches on clay, it doesn't make sense on the body front either. Especially the trip to France that is.

Yes, but he would be feeling that his current injuries would have healed by that time. He is probably worried about a situation where in points and money pressure, he gets back when not fully fit and breaks down and misses 6 months thereafter.

As Vishnu said he is letting comfort with his body dictate his schedule rather than points/ money pressure.

I remember in the last US hard court season, all of us were jumping on him for missing Cincy qualies after his great run at Washington. That was probably a similar situation with some niggle. He did not do too well at US open too after that.

He is probably being a bit extra cautious due to his injury history and the amount of time he has had to miss from the tour due to injuries.

[Rajiv]

The most important issue here is that he is not getting younger and he has to do best in whatever is possible to prolong and sustain his playing form.

Although he would have been a huge asset in the team line up, the standard of opposition and our bench strength can allow this luxury of missing Yuki in the line up.

Post DC scheduling in run up to the FO, would be interesting to watch and the options we have  already discussed.

[RohitG]

Well got to agree with you there Sameer. We would rather see him take one week off than 6 months which unfortunately has been a case for him in the past. It's just the desperation to see him in all 4 slams, go deeper in the big tournaments knowing that he depends more on his prize money. Hopefully the Korea challengers give him the points to qualify directly for the Wimbledon (when's the entry deadline for this?) and he wins a couple of matches there.

[sameerph]

Entry deadline for Wimbeldon main draw is May 21st. That is the week before French open qualies is the last one which counts for it.

Yuki has 33 more points falling off before that. So, he will need get something like 50-60 points before that to make sure.

If Yuki is starting on 30th April i,e $100K(+H) Seoul challenger as he says, he will have 3 weeks to do that. Do 3 weeks in Korea or 1 in Korea and 2 in Uzbekistan, so that he also gets a week on clay in Uzbekistan. But, that is also a challenge as the week after these 3 weeks is French open qualies and he would not like to go in there tired after having already played 3 weeks before. So, realistically he can play only 2 weeks to try to get those 50-60 points.

If he can come in at least a week earlier and play in $150K Anning challenger in China which gives big points, he can get 3 weeks in and also 1 more week on clay.

[Varma]

With that R1 win at $150K+H Taipei Challenger today, Yuki pocketed $2,580 and 10 more points. If he can seal his place into the main draw of French Open, he will get almost $50K for just showing up . A win in the first-round will almost double that amount. I will stop dreaming any further because I want to keep it realistic and not get too greedy. Treat your body well, Yuki. You have a lot to explore this year!

- Varma

[nitin28]

After taipei yuki has entered glasgow hardcourt challenger starting 30th Apr.
It seems he wanted to take break but at last moment decided to play taipei to reach top 100 for french open cut.

[sameerph]

Yes, that is a surprise. We were debating about if he should go for 3 weeks to Korea or 1 week Korea and 2 weeks in Uzbekistan or some such combination. And here he enters $100K challenger in Glasgow on indoor hard courts starting on April 30. It looks like he wants to got to Europe early and prepare for French open . If that is the case, following Glasgow, he can play 2 big challengers on clay in France - Aix En Provence and Bordeaux or go for some of the other smaller challengers in Europe with a slightly weaker fields.

[S_K_S]

Murray will probably get a WC to that event

[arjun2761]

After taipei yuki has entered glasgow hardcourt challenger starting 30th Apr.
It seems he wanted to take break but at last moment decided to play taipei to reach top 100 for french open cut.

Yes, it appears he isn't 100% fit but decided to play the Taiwan event to lock up a French Open main draw entry. I recall him mentioning that making main draws of the GS's is the key to financial viability on the ATP tour for someone near his ranking, so this makes a lot of sense. Of course, he will need to win a couple more rounds to ensure that without significantly aggravating his injury. Good luck to him...

Glasgow does make sense for him given that it is an indoor event. Yuki's game should do well in indoor conditions where there is very little wind resistance and those who hit the lines should do well. Not sure what the court surface is but I assume it is a hard court. I suspect Yuki won't focus too much on the clay events as his game isn't best suited to clay, so he'll only play them if there aren't any better options (outside the French Open of course).

[PKBasu]

Yes, that is a surprise. We were debating about if he should go for 3 weeks to Korea or 1 week Korea and 2 weeks in Uzbekistan or some such combination. And here he enters $100K challenger in Glasgow on indoor hard courts starting on April 30. It looks like he wants to got to Europe early and prepare for French open . If that is the case, following Glasgow, he can play 2 big challengers on clay in France - Aix En Provence and Bordeaux or go for some of the other smaller challengers in Europe with a slightly weaker fields.

Or he could try qualifying for the Rome Masters. Or perhaps even play the Madrid Open before that. Essentially, if Yuki makes the SF this week, he will have a host of good opportunities opening up for him. Of course, if he wins the title this week, he will jump to #80 in the world, and his life will change quite dramatically. Jumping back into the fray in Taipei when not quite fully fit is a gamble, but one that isn't an extreme one.

[sameerph]

Yes, with his current ranking he can probably make it to Madrid and Rome qualies. But, I am not sure if he is ready to win matches on clay at that high level. So, from the point of view of preparation of French open (i.e getting more matches on clay), I was thinking in terms of challengers. He also has to ensure he defends his points to make to to Wimbledon main draw.

If he does very well this week and is able to get comfortable on ranking front, he can just go ahead and enter Madrid/Rome qualies. Will be a lot more rewarding financially than challengers too.

[PKBasu]

I think he will gain some serious points at Taipei and Glasgow and then make some money playing clay qualifiers at Madrid and Rome. At last, Yuki has become savvy and professional with his schedule, including skipping DC when his fitness was dicey. Great to see!