So the Flight B playoff teams were already decided but Lakes and Springpark played each other for 1st place in the flight and the Lakes prevailed 4-1. Lakes won both singles matches in close straight set fashion, then gave up line 1 doubles and won lines 2 and 3 in tiebreaks. Lakes is the only 4.0 team to finish undefeated this season and looks to be cruising, they don’t have any ringers but have solid play from top to bottom. I have seen and played against some of this group before and they are good. Mike Runda has been one of the consistent singles players for them and he is a tough competitor with a big serve which gets even tougher on important points.
Flight A saw Stonebridge lose their final meaningless match and slip to 2nd place and High Point Somabut won a must win match v. LB Houston 4-1 with one win by default. Joel Pickett won in straights at line 1 singles and the rest of the matches went 3 sets so this was tougher than expected but they prevailed and earned a playoff spot. That win eliminated the other High Point team captained by Adrian Giuhat.
Flight C is still pending but some teams have been eliminated. Before Saturday 5 teams were still fighting for two spots but with the results posted so far Garland and Lifetime have been eliminated from playoff contention. These two had a close match Saturday with Garland prevailing 3-2 (I am sure Jonathan can give us a rundown on this match) but it was all for nothing as Brookhaven Pearlman passed by both of them sweeping JCC in their final match. Currently the two Brookhaven teams will advance but 5-2 T Bar M still has two matches to play (JCC and Brookhaven/Bartlett) and they must win both matches and they will advance along with Brookhaven/Bartlett.
We will just have to wait and see but I believe they are required to get this match in before Monday so I will update as I see it posted.
Garland vs. Lifetime. Now, I'm nowhere as good as Cary at breaking down a match, but I will try. Eddie Hill at #2 easily dispatched his opponent 6-3, 6-0. I don't remember his name, but it was not Vijay, since he was out of the country this weekend. At Line 1 Singles, Mark Wines fell to their #1 guy, William McKinney, 6-3, 6-3. What can you say, strong left handed player who gave Mark fits.
ReplyDeleteTheir #1 Doubles team did not put up much a battle, and lost 0 and 1, while I played #3 doubles, against a team that was far from being a #3 Doubles team. We went down 3-6, 6-2, 10-7.
They "neutralized" me very well, very smart team, but the fact that we made it to a third set, showed that it could have gone the other way, it just didn't. The other doubles match at Line 2 was lost as well, that one to another third set, but that final score was 10-8.
Therefore, season over, and I can put my focus on tournaments until April. Looking forward to the Southlake tournament and Cotton Bowl next month. Hopefully get my 4.0 ranking up higher than where it currently is at 385. :-)
Don't know if I shared this or not, we lost 3-2, and I am bummed, because if we win our match that I played in, we win 3-2. Well, there is always the Spring Season :-D
good rundown Jonathan sounds like a good one. Too bad you all couldn't pull that one out. W. Trey Mckinney is tough, for all of us 4.0's sake he should get bumped to 4.5 on Monday. #1 doubles, "not much of a battle" sounds like a understatement. Good luck in the tourneys, I hope to make a couple as well if I can sneak out of the house.
ReplyDeleteNewbie
ReplyDeleteYou might get a chance to see one of our conversations in action as Brookhaven Bartlett could help out a fellow Brookhaven although this time not by losing but instead putting out their best lineup and beating T Bar M.
Reuben
Two Brookhaven's and T Bar M fighting for 2 playoff spots I am guessing these private clubs are doing just fine. Flight B has Springpark and Lakes and Flight A has Stonebridge. So High Point will be the lone public team out of 6 reps at 4.0. I am thinking this might be more of a disadvantage at 3.5 as lower level players might not be as apt to join tennis clubs.
I would have to say that Somabut's team are they heavy favorites going into the Fall championship. They have their full sectionals team intact from last spring. It will be tough to beat them if their A line-up is in.
ReplyDeleteI would say they are my pick and definitely the favorite but I wouldn't say "heavy" favorite Bartlett's group and Lakes have to be listed close behind and Springpark not that far behind either. I will cheering for them though, they are good group of players. I really think 4.0 will be closely contested mainly because no one has any ringers at singles, unless they are hiding them but I don't see them and anytime you don't have guaranteed wins anything can happen. I look forward to seeing some of those matches.
ReplyDeleteCary,
ReplyDeleteHelping out another team by playing to win has never been a concern of mine. Playing to win is the name of the game and is expected...even more so when there is something on the line. I'm not sure backing into the playoffs is what anyone feels good about ... even more so if someone "intentionally" loses to keep a team out. Glad to see that is not the situation here.
I agree with you newbie, I know I have joked about playing down and I am not sure I have comprehended how to do that, I think my results have shown that. I am just way too competitive to not try my hardest. In our last match I heard one of the Canyon Creek guys say TQ and I were playing "old lady tennis" After that I had to crank up my serves and strokes and play full out, as much as I would like to be an all star at 3.5 if I am going to drag myself out of bed to play some tennis I cannot get around the idea of losing on purpose. "Others" seem to be able to do it but I guess I am just not wired that way. BTW I loved that the CC player said that, we trash talk at practice all the time and I love it, in fact we hung out 20 minutes after the match just talking and left all that on the court. Maybe the BUD LIGHT helped as well. Is it bad I had a beer at 11a??? that is a whole other subject I guess.
ReplyDeleteHey Cary,
ReplyDeleteWhat is your email address?
You can email it to me at
marc@uswebsitedesign.com
Just saw that T BAR M lost to JCC so that means Brookhaven/Pearlman is in the playoffs, kind of makes me feel good since we beat them. They are a good team and should be a good rep from Flight C.
ReplyDelete