Towsend and Australian Open 2013

[TCF]

=====================

 

[Olybel]

I don't know this girl, Ana Konjuh, but I do know that a friend of mine who is Croatian, has a daughter who is 5'10" and 15 years old, just turned. Her husband is not over 5'10"(American Italian) and mom is a bit shorter. People from the region of Dinaric Alps are among the tallest in the world, and that region covers part of Croatia. Apart from that according to Wiki Croats are among the tallest nations in the world. Let's assume she is done with puberty, very likely as she is almost 15, I would say her height she not out of ordinary for her region. Is Taylor 5'6" really? Looks taller in pics. Where does this Ana train? I find it interesting that both boys are girls OB 18s winners are from former Yugoslavia but do they train at home? Where does that kid that won boys OB train? Does anybody know?

Ana Konjuh is from Dubrovnik and as far as internet says, she trained there with father and croatian trainer from her 6 year.

Laslo Djere also train in local club in his hometown Senta, struggled with finances, winters train in some adopted warehouse. Story similar to Nole and Ana in their teenage years.


You are correct Rina regarding people from Dinaric Alps. Especially part named Hercegovina (background of Dubrovnik ) is full of tall men and women. Man under 1.80 m or 6` is considered small in that region.

 

[Rina]

So, you really don't need best academy in the world to become a good junior player or even a pro! Thanks for info Olybel.

 

[MarTennis]

Great...

Re Ana Konjuh; I have no empirical evidence but seriously doubt she is 14. I saw her play the Eddie Herr G14 doubles final in 2011 when she would have been 13. She served at 110, hit 80mph groundies and had quads bigger than mine. She stands 5' 10" has an unusually deep voice and I personally herd her tell the tournament director that she was thrilled to finally win, as this was her 6th time playing the Eddie Herr. Hmmmm... that would mean she was playing the 12s when she was 7? Not likely. More believable is that the Serbian Federation gave her a new passport with a brand new birth year. International competition is filled with players who falsify their age. At this year's Eddie Herr my daughter heard two boys in the registration line complaining about a player they know is 18, playing the 16s. Interestingly, one of the boys asked his friend why he's complaining when he does the same thing. His answer was that "everybody's doing it, so why not?" I know it's impossible to police foreign players, but there should be some system that compares past registrations against current, to see if anyone suddenly got younger. TDs are so confrontation averse they prefer to look the other way, and collect the fee.

commentary. Moral hazard problems abound in a great sport.

 

[TCF]

========================

 

[MarTennis]

Okay...

Not true. That post was utter garbage of a jealous tennis parent.

He said she must have "been 7" to play the Herr 6 times. She was ALMOST 10 when she played the Herr her first time. She is 15 now. I proved his post was a total lie several times.

I am disappointed that you gave credence to a post that was so out of bounds. She is a normal looking tall 15 year old girl with a normal voice. His entire post was garbage.

If you have specific information about someone who changed the age, fine....of course that happens. But do not feed the trolls who just come on here and slander kids with no proof.

I apologize. That said I did mean to show some empathy to the age fudging that seems to occur. However, it is totally fair to call me out on the other aspects of the comments that are without proof, especially regarding a minor.
But
I will say that LeBron had to deal with the age questions for almost a decade. It is not a left field conversation in today's sports world.

 

[andfor]

Re Ana Konjuh; I have no empirical evidence but seriously doubt she is 14. I saw her play the Eddie Herr G14 doubles final in 2011 when she would have been 13. She served at 110, hit 80mph groundies and had quads bigger than mine. She stands 5' 10" has an unusually deep voice and I personally herd her tell the tournament director that she was thrilled to finally win, as this was her 6th time playing the Eddie Herr. Hmmmm... that would mean she was playing the 12s when she was 7? Not likely. More believable is that the Serbian Federation gave her a new passport with a brand new birth year. International competition is filled with players who falsify their age. At this year's Eddie Herr my daughter heard two boys in the registration line complaining about a player they know is 18, playing the 16s. Interestingly, one of the boys asked his friend why he's complaining when he does the same thing. His answer was that "everybody's doing it, so why not?" I know it's impossible to police foreign players, but there should be some system that compares past registrations against current, to see if anyone suddenly got younger. TDs are so confrontation averse they prefer to look the other way, and collect the fee.

As previously pointed out this is utter crap. BTW, it's not the TD's job to give credit to every wack job parent who protests and claims so and so player is not the age they claim. If that was the case how would any tournament be played? Protests of these types have to be made through the governing body and if you are going to protest someones age, you better have some proof, like a birth announcement from a newspaper. If you don't know how to protest through the proper channels, you don't deserve to have a kid playing the game.

 

[TCF]

=====================

 

[Chemist]

Ana Konjuh has just turned 15. She is already playing 18s tournaments and Futures. A girl as good as her would more likely to "fake" her age older and not younger so that she can start her professional career earlier. If a small number of kids did fake their age younger to win a few more matches in the younger division, they would surely be losers down the road. Good kids would always like to play up to improve faster. Common sense?

 

[TCF]

====================.

 

[julian]

Transition fom TOP ITF Junior to Top ATP

Please see
http://www.itftennis.com/shared/medialibrary/pdf/original/IO_61566_original.PDF

Pages 11-13

A quote
FINDINGS
Analysis of Top 10 ITF Junior Circuit players from 1996 – 2005 who
achieved a Top 100 ATP Tour rank in their career, indicated:
(1) 58% of players who achieved a Top 10 ITF Junior rank between
1996-2005 achieved a career high Top 100 ATP Tour Rank.
(2) First ITF Pro Circuit rank achieved at 17.6 years.
(3) Transition time from first year-end rank to Top 100 ATP Tour of 4.3
years at an age of 20.8 years.
(4) Highest ATP Tour rank achieved approximately two years after
entering ATP Tour Top 100 at 23.0 years with an average of 3.7 years
inside Top 100 rank.
(5) Players competed in 36 ITF Junior Circuit events and participated in
110 matches between age 14-18 years.
(6) Players competed in 41 ITF Pro Circuit / ATP Tour events and
participated in 84 matches between age 15 – 18 years.
(7) Career W:L Ratio of 1.6:1 on ATP Tour, 1.9:1 on the ITF Pro Circuit and
3.3:1 on the ITF Junior Circuit.
(8) The ranking benchmarks from Table 5 could be used as an indicator
prior to a Top 100 ATP Tour ranking

 

[Chemist]

Please see
http://www.itftennis.com/shared/medialibrary/pdf/original/IO_61566_original.PDF

Pages 11-13

A quote
FINDINGS
Analysis of Top 10 ITF Junior Circuit players from 1996 – 2005 who
achieved a Top 100 ATP Tour rank in their career, indicated:
(1) 58% of players who achieved a Top 10 ITF Junior rank between
1996-2005 achieved a career high Top 100 ATP Tour Rank.
(2) First ITF Pro Circuit rank achieved at 17.6 years.
(3) Transition time from first year-end rank to Top 100 ATP Tour of 4.3
years at an age of 20.8 years.
(4) Highest ATP Tour rank achieved approximately two years after
entering ATP Tour Top 100 at 23.0 years with an average of 3.7 years
inside Top 100 rank.
(5) Players competed in 36 ITF Junior Circuit events and participated in
110 matches between age 14-18 years.
(6) Players competed in 41 ITF Pro Circuit / ATP Tour events and
participated in 84 matches between age 15 – 18 years.
(7) Career W:L Ratio of 1.6:1 on ATP Tour, 1.9:1 on the ITF Pro Circuit and
3.3:1 on the ITF Junior Circuit.
(8) The ranking benchmarks from Table 5 could be used as an indicator
prior to a Top 100 ATP Tour ranking

Would that suggest that 41% of Top 100 ATP players did not rank top 10 in Junior ITF or completely skipped the junior ITF? Like Williams sisters?

 

[Chemist]

Would that suggest that 41% of Top 100 ATP players did not rank top 10 in Junior ITF or completely skipped the junior ITF? Like Williams sisters?

No I meant 42%

 

[10ismom]

Taylor updated: new fitness training

Found this on Paretingaces twitter.

Taylor is addressing the fitness issue with the new fitness routine. Seems like she is on the right track. Hope to see her progressing well at the pro level. Good Luck with the next tournament.

http://vimeo.com/58258940

 

[t135]

Found this on Paretingaces twitter.

Taylor is addressing the fitness issue with the new fitness routine. Seems like she is on the right track. Hope to see her progressing well at the pro level. Good Luck with the next tournament.

http://vimeo.com/58258940

Pretty cool. That looks like what I expect a future professional athlete to be doing. Nice.

 

[pennc94]

Found this on Paretingaces twitter.

Taylor is addressing the fitness issue with the new fitness routine. Seems like she is on the right track. Hope to see her progressing well at the pro level. Good Luck with the next tournament.

http://vimeo.com/58258940

Good for her. Hopefully it pays dividends for her.

 

[justinmadison]

Would that suggest that 41% of Top 100 ATP players did not rank top 10 in Junior ITF or completely skipped the junior ITF? Like Williams sisters?

I think it means that 42% of the top 10 ITF players never make it into the top 100 of the ATP