Yuki Bhambri

[sameerph]

Perhaps it may be the same issue with Yuki. Really bad luck if that is the case.

[bujilover]

Yuki is in Thailand as per his latest Instagram story.

[sameerph]

Is he training there ?

Incidentally, the cut moved past where Yuki was in the original entry list in both Sofia and Montpellier ATP 250 tournaments and he would have been comfortably in main draw in either of the tournaments. Whatever the reason, he should not be missing such opportunities to play ATP tournaments.

[VReddy]

ATP Sofia is going through its own issues. Main sponsor from Turkey had pulled out. Dimitrov, Chung and other main players pulled out. Not many seem to be interested here after these top players pulled out. The organizers in few conversations kept mentioning on how its important to retain event here. They had to desperately get Wawrinka to play with prize money. Yuki / Sumit had a good opportunity here. Anyway next time

Aisam is no. 1 seed in doubles! I Divij vs Aisam in 2nd round will end up winners i think

[PKBasu]

Is he training there ?

Incidentally, the cut moved past where Yuki was in the original entry list in both Sofia and Montpellier ATP 250 tournaments and he would have been comfortably in main draw in either of the tournaments. Whatever the reason, he should not be missing such opportunities to play ATP tournaments.

His scheduling is as asinine as it has always been. Why can't someone organise these things better for him? We could see that he would get into both main draws, and he should have gone to France if his Bulgaria visa wasn't coming through. Crazy to miss such opportunities!

[arjun2761]

Yes, given that he is managing a stress injury, Yuki has to be careful in planning his itinerary.

Contrary to some of the wisdom here, Yuki actually probably played the right amount last year with 73 matches (and he has played 6 matches this year). In comparison, RamK (for example) played 83 matches last year (with a fairly large dose of those being less stressful Futures matches) and has 5 matches this year.

That said, Yuki should look to enter as many ATP tournaments as he can get direct entry as his ranking will only get direct entry into some ATP tournaments and on average he will play fewer matches per ATP tournament since he is unlikely to win more than 1-2 matches at the ATP level tournaments on most weeks.

[prasen9]

And more points/won match. So less wear and tear.

[PKBasu]

A week in which there were two low-level ATP tour events (to both of which he could easily have gained entry) was a huge opportunity missed. These don't come too often. And the stress injury should have been no impediment, given that the last match he played was three weeks ago.

[sameerph]

In fact there were 3 ATP events this week if you include Quito, Equador and Yuki would have made the entry list for Quito too.

The entry list for the ATP events comes out 6 weeks prior. It would have been quite clear at that time for him that he will make the main draw at one of the events. Is 6 week period not sufficient for procuring the visas ? If that is the reason for his withdrawal.

[PKBasu]

I don’t think there would have been a visa issue with France, even if there was one with Bulgaria (which is not yet part of the Schengen visa system).

[sameerph]

Yuki is in Thailand as per his latest Instagram story.

Yes, impact acadamy. Thailand has posted on their FB page that Yuki has been there for 1 week of training to prepare for Chennai challenger and Dubai ATP. He has made the qualies draw at Dubai ATP 500 starting from Feb. 26. Impact academy, Thailand seems to be his new training base replacing NBTA.

[sameerph]

As expected after his Chennai Challenger final run, Yuki up to #101 in the latest updated rankings.

He is losing 18 points from his last year's India futures win last year. Since, he is not playing anywhere this week, he will drop back to around 108-110 next week. That is where the final loss last week will hurt.

His next target would be directly making the main draw at French open and Wimbledon. i.e to be inside to be inside top 100 or just outside it by cut-off date. French open cut off date is 15th April. Yuki has 95 points to defend till then. So, he will have to earn about 100 points till then to stay at around top 100 and make it directly to French open. It is not easy with him planning to play Dubai/IW/Miami qualies. Will need to qualify and win a main draw round at 1-2 of these events to earn those points.

[Omkara]

He should make to MD of all these tournaments. With a favorable draw he might win a round or 2. If he plays a challenger for 2 weeks in April before cut off I feel he is safe.

Looking at RamK, this is not a bad strategy.

[sameerph]

Yes, Yuki too has done well last year playing ATP qualifiers. Played in 3 (Chennai, Washington and Moscow) and qualified in all 3 won at least a match in all of those. It is a route worth taking where reward is high.

If he plays a challenger for 2 weeks in April before cut off I feel he is safe.

Since there is davis cup too in early April, no scope of playing couple of weeks of challengers. He can play big $150(+H) Taipei challenger after davis cup weekend and try to maximise points there before cut off date. He can also play a challenger in the week between IW and Miami at either Irving, Texas or Drummondville, Canada.

[Omkara]

Based on his performance on at IW he can decide on whether to play a Challenger or not. Given his health issue he may choose not to do this. One challenger right after Davis cup is a tough ask. If its a borderline case then may be he will do it.