Bard Land

A Warwickshire Bluebell Wood...

@pavyg Whare are you getting the 40-15 from? He retired at a change of ends...

The 8th seed Jack Draper was getting beat 4-1 40-15 in the final set decider against Tomas Etcheverry but has just retired from the match with knee pain in R1 of ATP 500 Barcelona. Drapers nightmare last 12 months continues, Cam Norrie will now continue as the GB No 1.

Interesting new interview with Draper on Tennis TV, confirms missing Monte Carlo was purely about training, and he plans to play a full clay schedule. But, unsurprisingly in the initial months, the bone stress injury is still being taken into account. tennistv.com/videos/4486328…

@nova_tnns Etcheverry is a tough out for the first match on clay of the season... IF he gets through that it would be a good test for the subsequent rounds.

Jack Draper’s draw for Barcelona: R1 🎾 Etcheverry R2 🎾 Borges / Mannarino QF 🎾 De Minaur / Q (🥴) SF 🎾 Alcaraz / Rublev / Machac F 🎾 Musetti / Khachanov / Vacherot

Mika Stojsavljevic has been an exciting prospect for GB tennis for quite a while, but at still just 17 to beat the Aussie team No.1 Down Under is seriously impressive.

@francesbarber13 Sadly the vet industry has turned into a quasi-cartel, a great example of market failure.

Exorbitant prices for veterinary care. I paid £1000’s for pet insurance for my dog. When he had to have treatment, insurance wouldn’t pay. I suggest you put similar amount into another account of your own. Cut out the scam.

@BritishTennisUp One of those things that would be nice to have but impractical for many clubs. Recent developments in artificial clay may be more cost effective and suitable for the UK climate.

Top British player Katie Boulter🇬🇧 has had to post on Instagram asking about clay courts as she prepares for the clay season🟧 Do we need more Clay Courts in the UK?🇬🇧🤔

A Warwickshire curio... Gaveston's Cross sits isolated in the woods of Blacklow Hill, above the Avon about a mile upstream of Warwick... This 19th century monument allegedly marks the site of the execution of Piers Gaveston in 1312, favourite and rumoured lover of Edward II.

@nova_tnns I like that this feels pretty real and not PR curated / trying to turn him into a Ken Doll.

Episode 2 is out 🤍 youtu.be/UC9WtNDWEc4?si…

@nova_tnns Could be better, could be worse...

@arthistorynews Bit of a non-story, anyone near the threshold will just go visit another country for a bit...

Fetch the tiny violins.

@jamesgraysport Such a bad call, if it sets a precedent (which it won't), that players reacting to balls just landing on the line is now an automatic hindrance we are going to see dozens of hindrance calls a match, potentially ruining the sport.

The Jack Draper hindrance call seems incredibly overzealous, and seems like Medvedev rolled the dice at the end of the point (seven shots later). Which is the problem with the video review system. VAR creating more problems than it solves? Surely not…

A moment he won't forget ✨ @jackdraper0 prevails over his idol, Novak, for the first time. @BNPPARIBASOPEN | #TennisParadise

Draper downs Djokovic in the desert, always so special beat the legendary champ. Great effort in just Jack's third tournament since Wimbledon.

I watched that 2021 Wimbledon match keenly, having followed Jack's progress since his run to the Boys' Final in 2018. He really looked like he belonged on the big stage, he was the only player before the final to take a set off Djokovic all fortnight. Excited for the rematch!

So many Powell & Pressburger stills could be paintings, in this case it actually is a brilliant painting.

Great analysis of the new Draper serve (and string change) in the always fascinating Hugh Clarke's latest substack: hughclarke.substack.com/p/medvedev-cob…

Some thoughts on The Testament of Ann Lee, theologically shaky, but remarkably effective at inhabiting the Shaker experience - "a hymn to worship". bardland.wordpress.com/2026/03/01/the…

The same place in 2024...

@CapelLofft Reminds me of one of my favourite memorial tablet inscriptions, to Sarah Little, of Newbold Pacey, who "died, a martyr to the gout" and showed "exemplary fortitude and christian resignation in trying scenes of bodily infirmity". A model for us all.

I have a sprained ankle. It felt much worse when I woke up this morning. Wife's first reaction: 'You don't think this is actually gout do you?' Thanks love. Thanks a bunch