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Well I was trying to think of a player to look some stuff up about, who isn't talked about a lot - and Schalken popped into my head somehow.
As you may recall, Schalken past the fourth round of a slam for the first time this year, posting a quarterfinal at Wimbledon, and a semifinal at the USA Open.
Wimbledon did not surprise me. He'd won a tuneup, and made the semis in another.
The US Open though DID surprise me. I was at his first round match against Mark - where Mark fell - anyhow, I was not sitting there thinking "this is a guy who is going to go deep". Perhaps this is because I was rooting for Mark, who had the match totally in control even after losing that set - before he fell and eventually retired.
So I took a look at his results from 2002, wondering how he might fare in 2003. He ended 2002 at number 20 on the entry system.
However his results are surprising (to me). As follows:
Masters Series
Total Champions Race Points - 42
That is, he earned only 42 points in all nine masters series events. He played all of them, thus recieved no 0's towards his ranking.
He had 5 first round exits, 3 second round, and one 3rd round.
What I'm saying, is that his masters series results were terrible. He defends utterly nothing, everywhere.
Slams
Total Champions Race Points - 156
140 of those points came from Wimbledon (50) and the US Open (90).
THis means, that he defends 16 points in the first two slams of the year. That is, a first round exit in Oz and a third round in France, is all he has to do to stay where he is.
Best Of Other Results
Total Points from Best 5 - 108
He won 's-Hertogenbosch and made the finals in Moscow - both results gave him 35 points.
A semi in London gave him 20, while a quarter final in Estoril and Milan made up the rest.
My point?
Well if you excuse all of his "next in" best results (seeing as his best result after the ones being counted was a second round, it's pretty much a null point anyhow) - Schalken is defending a mere 225 entry points before the grass court season begins.
He has 1525 points right now, which is roughly 500 points behind the number ten spot. That is, a masters series win, or a win in a small event plus a grand slam quarter final.
Now I"m not saying that he will make the top ten. I am saying that if he continues as he did in the last half of the season, but improves his masters results - that his ranking has no where to go but up.
As you may recall, Schalken past the fourth round of a slam for the first time this year, posting a quarterfinal at Wimbledon, and a semifinal at the USA Open.
Wimbledon did not surprise me. He'd won a tuneup, and made the semis in another.
The US Open though DID surprise me. I was at his first round match against Mark - where Mark fell - anyhow, I was not sitting there thinking "this is a guy who is going to go deep". Perhaps this is because I was rooting for Mark, who had the match totally in control even after losing that set - before he fell and eventually retired.
So I took a look at his results from 2002, wondering how he might fare in 2003. He ended 2002 at number 20 on the entry system.
However his results are surprising (to me). As follows:
Masters Series
Total Champions Race Points - 42
That is, he earned only 42 points in all nine masters series events. He played all of them, thus recieved no 0's towards his ranking.
He had 5 first round exits, 3 second round, and one 3rd round.
What I'm saying, is that his masters series results were terrible. He defends utterly nothing, everywhere.
Slams
Total Champions Race Points - 156
140 of those points came from Wimbledon (50) and the US Open (90).
THis means, that he defends 16 points in the first two slams of the year. That is, a first round exit in Oz and a third round in France, is all he has to do to stay where he is.
Best Of Other Results
Total Points from Best 5 - 108
He won 's-Hertogenbosch and made the finals in Moscow - both results gave him 35 points.
A semi in London gave him 20, while a quarter final in Estoril and Milan made up the rest.
My point?
Well if you excuse all of his "next in" best results (seeing as his best result after the ones being counted was a second round, it's pretty much a null point anyhow) - Schalken is defending a mere 225 entry points before the grass court season begins.
He has 1525 points right now, which is roughly 500 points behind the number ten spot. That is, a masters series win, or a win in a small event plus a grand slam quarter final.
Now I"m not saying that he will make the top ten. I am saying that if he continues as he did in the last half of the season, but improves his masters results - that his ranking has no where to go but up.
