Tuesday, March 30, 2010

2010 HTA HOUSTON OPEN-ADULT MZ

At the risk of angering Anons by posting something that is not Dallas related or League related,
The Houston Major Zone is this weekend. Several DFW players are making the trip, including Cary "Lucky Thunder" Bazan.
Some numbers that interest me,
3.5 draw size - 45
4.0 draw size - 87
4.5 draw size - 85
5.0 draw size - 10
Looks like the end of the year ratings moves have produced a major clog in the middle of the pipeline. Statistically speaking, as skill levels increase the number of players should get lower.(fyi only six 3.0 players).
Quick observations -
3.5 - is 3.5 even relevant anymore? I'll pick "W BECK" because you must be hiding something if you won't give the USTA your first name and it takes balls to spell your name in all caps.
4.0 - James Taylor is a pretty good pick to make it out of the top half of the draw.
Bottom half ??? nobody really sticks out down here, Maybe just root for Cary and Bob Somabut.
4.5 - We have a pretty tough first round match here between Philip Griggs and Brandon Myers.
4.5 pick maybe, Adam Ewing? Looks like he has been to the finals of a MZ a couple times before.

Monday, March 22, 2010

4.0 Flights Announced

So I guess I have 5 free minutes so what the heck I will "quickly" analyze these flights for the crazies that are looking for something to talk about for 3 more weeks.

Flight A:
There are 4 solid teams here headed by Bob's team and team auto bid (Bartlett). A little step down would be Garland/Brueckner and then Don Smith's (and yes this is his best team). I like team Bartlett to do well although they need some help at singles or the DCC will be just for fun for them. DCC Sillers team is no pushover either especially if they continue to sign up some of the guys that played on the fall team. Greenhill is still a factor although they are lacking some firepower to contend but will not be an easy-out. The other three teams are just too full of bump ups to make an impact unless they add something significant to their rosters.

Flight B:
TBar returns many players from a team that finished well in the fall and has some playoff experience as well. Burt's BH team always makes some noise and has had playoff appearances as well. There seems to be a lot of mention of Canyon Creek to do well, there will have to be something new for them at singles if they are going to make the leap for 3rd place to playoff bound. Sisk Pt2 has some solid former 3.5s who know how to win and I am sure they will be tough. Luckily team SWAT has stayed together for the most part although we did lose a good portion of our players over the last two seasons but I like our core group. Eagles Landing should make noise as well as they have some new blood and Mr. Hsu is one fire right now. The other teams seem to be lacking something but their rosters are small as of now so that could change come game time.

Flight C:
Garland shouldn't find any opposition here and I am not jumping on that bandwagon because John's team was decimated but this flight is rather light compared to the other ones. With that said Eldorado is solid and Durand could beat just about anyone in this flight. Sandell, Herndon, Jenkins are good as well. OC team is good but nothing stands out that says this is the OC team.
Gleneagles may be a darkhorse as they have some solid players and plenty of people on the roster but I wonder if this isn't just the best of their 3.5s. The same can be said for the other teams but this is a new era of 4.0 tennis and I will be honest many of these names I don't recognize. (Should I even be writing this post, where is Mr. Fantastic)

Flight D:
Do I really have to say something nice about BMO's team now? Ugh. Pretty solid team of scraps from various teams (Just kidding Noeh, Ramesh, Jerry.) They should be the favorites because of depth since most teams have a drop off in talent. The Lakes looked to be a force after the few bump ups they had but after Fix and Balan exited that really changed them from hot pick to luke warm. Stonebridge's chances will depend on how many of the old crew wants to play 4.0 anymore or are they just interested in sticking together as a 4.5 group. I know Stonebriar is getting some love but not sure they are posed for success but then again I guess I haven't picked a 2nd place here yet and really it is up for grabs between the aforementioned 3 teams as the rest of the pack is not quite playoff ready.

Flight E:
I know Eldorado has some solid players but to call them out as a fav might be a tad to much love although I could see them as 3rd place. JCC and the Village should finish 1-2 here as the rest of these teams are not quite up to that level.

Looking forward to a great season!

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Ft Worth Leages Start Saturday

4.0
Flight I

Flower Mound LJP vs. TCU Mixon 4.0 Pick -FloMo
Southlake Racqueteers vs. Shelingham
Pick - Shellingham *
RTC Hitmen vs. Trophy Club 4.0
Pick -RTC
RTC Flores vs. Denton Country Club
Pick -Denton*
RTC Coyotes vs. Flower Mound We
llington Pick -RTC
Southlake vs. River Crest Pick -Southlake
Notes:
* Shelingham is a new team but has experience players from Hurst and Southlake teams, Jonathan Martinez
and Bart De Muynck are both solid players that managed to avoid the end of the year bump.
* Ernest Resma left Denton CC to join RTC Flores, both of these teams have some good players but lack depth.
4.0
Flight II

ATC Hammers vs. Ridglea Siegel 4.0 Pick -ATC
The Old Gang vs. Pecan Plantation Pick -Old Gang *
Walnut Creek vs. Cotton Creek Pick -Walnut Creek *
TCU Armadillos vs. Hurst Stars 4.0 Pick- TCU
RTC Tims vs. RTC Davis Pick- RTC Tims *
Ridglea Roughnecks vs. TCU Cowtowners Pick- TCU
Notes:
* The Old Gang is Captained by league coordinator Steve Miller, this team always seems to do well in the spring and not as well in the fall, after the tri-level scoring debacle this maybe a team to keep an eye on.
* Cotton Creek has some notable 3.5 bump up names such as Gil Flores, Ty Sewell, And Sergio Ballesteros. Might be an interesting team to keep an eye on.
* RTC Tims won the 4.0 and under Tri-Level Texas Sectional. They should be able to build off of that.


4.5
Ft Worth 4.5 is having a highly unstable 3 match "Pre-season".
Pre-season matches count towards player play-off qualification and NTRP, but not the standings.
Real 4.5 matches begin 04/10/2010.
Maybe we can get Paulie Trevino to give us a FT Worth 4.5 Preview?

3.5
?!?!?!?!?!

Monday, March 8, 2010

Brookhaven Tourney

I will leave the rest of the draws to you other analysts, but the 4.5 draw is one of the most intriguing I've seen in a long time. Here are my thoughts since I know almost every player in the draw:

1st round:

Griggs v. Kazuo--No contest. Griggs is way too consistent to lose here. Kazuo is a good player but doesn't have the weapons to overpower Phillip.

Sharad v. Crouch--Two great guys that should have a fun match. Sharad is one of my new teammates and I can't see him losing here (unless he is hungover which is always a possibility :) Dane used to be mr. endurance and consistency but I think that has dropped over the past few years.

Kiron v. Chad--I don't know Chad but based on his record Paul is going to be delivering the beatdown in short order. The Brookhaven win streak continues.

Flores v. Musil--Both doubles players as far as I can tell but Oscar has much more game. Jim plays more singles in age division but I don't think he is ready for this level. I give the edge to Flores with my limited knowledge of them as singles players.

Stollenwerck v. Lin--Jeff Lin is actually a guy that just moved to Dallas who has been coming to Fair Oaks for my drills. I thought he played 4.0 but maybe he wants to try his hand at 4.5 here. I think he will give Sam a tough match but I don't think he has been playing enough to beat Sam. Jeff has great groundstrokes though so anything can happen.

Nguyen v. Slezak--Slezak makes his return to the singles court and I expect it to be an easy win. I would be surprised if Chris loses more than a couple of games. One of my ZAT players beat Steven so 4.5 should be a huge step up.

Feuille v. Park--Another great first-round match. Gene doesn't play many tournaments but I watched him play a team tennis match last year and he is a strong player. Forrest has more endurance and a little more consistency though so I expect him to take this in a close match.

Smithheisler and Myers--Two 4.0 bumpups will lead to another competitive match. Smithheisler has a very unorthodox game that makes it tough to play against him. Brandon has shown tremendous success against this type of player though so I expect him to win in two close sets.

Yaremenko v. Rossouw--Two more 4.0 bumpups that I have seen play very little. I will give the slight edge to Yaremenko based on more singles play but I think this could definitely go either way. Marc, enlighten me.

Phelps v. Carter--Chris Phelps is one of my great friends and practice partners and I know he will put up a great fight here but I think this is his first real singles match since his injury so I can't pick him to win. Mark seems like a deserving bumpup so I would assume he will be up to the task.

George v. Layfield--Don't know either player but Layfield beat 4 good players in the Cotton Bowl and lost a close match to Griggs earlier in the year so I think he will pick up an easy win. George has not won a game in main draw tournament play in the last year so it's hard to pick him.

Huffman v. Jenkins--Sorry Mark but Huffman is too good. He's been around a while but I've actually never seen him play. I've heard enough to know that he is one of a handful of players that can win this event.

Benjamin v. Roberts--It will be interesting to see if Jay Benjamin can continue his winning ways at Brookhaven. I am picking Roberts in a mild upset because I think he's too consistent. Benjamin is a streaky player I believe but consistency usually wins out in those battles and Roberts definitely can do that.

Nasser v. Trevino--Nasser's topspin will be too much. He will run Paul to death. Speed, stamina, and consistency are a necessity to beat Anthony and I don't think Paul has enough of those attributes.

Gallegos v. James--Don't know Gallegos but Brent is an amazing player with power and consistency that has an easy path to the semis. This will be the first step.

Trinh v. Bay--Bay will use his power game to beat Trinh. Forehand and serves are too much. I think it could be close though because Trinh has pulled upsets before.

Second Round:

Griggs v. Rao--I really want to pick my guy but morning matches are not his forte. If Sharad can sweat out all the toxins before the match is over, he has a great shot to win, but I have to go with Griggs the ironman.

Kiron v. Flores--Too much power on serves and depth and consistency on groundstrokes will make this a fairly routine win for Paul I think. A win for Oscar here would lead to some singles play during the season I would think though.

Stollenwerck v. Slezak--Assuming Chris has been playing any singles I would expect another easy win. Chris has the talent to be one of the top 4.5 singles players around and I expect that to show this weekend. Sam is a quality player but doesn't have the weapons to compete here.

Feuille v. Myers--I think this will be a very close match for the Lifetime rivals. I'm actually going to pick the upset in the battle of the backhands. I will take Myers in a long three-setter.

Yaremenko v. Carter--Probably the weakest match in this quarter. Not familiar enough with either player so I will give the edge to the seed Carter. Somebody enlighten me because with all the tournament play I bet they've played before.

Layfield v. Huffman--Huffman should chalk up another win here but Layfield should give him some trouble. Justin is too good though and will win a close two-setter.

Roberts v. Nasser--I will give the edge to Anthony here because of his ability to control the points with the forehand. I haven't seen Billy play much but he will have a hard time covering the necessary court to win here I would think.

James v. Bay--Easy win for Brent. Sean does not have the consistency or mobility to compete with Brent. James will be able to control the points early and keep Sean from setting up the forehand.

Quarterfinals:

Griggs v. Kiron--I actually think Kiron will win this fairly routinely. Not a good style matchup for Phillip because Paul will be able to use his versatility and depth to control the shots. Although if conditioning becomes a factor in fairly warm weather, I could easily see Phillip winning in three. Kiron in close two is official prediction though (4 and 4).

Slezak v. Myers--I expect Brandon to be dead after match with Forrest. Slezak will be fresh and overwhelm Brandon. Brandon is one of my guys but I don't like the way the draw worked out on Saturday. Anything can happen though.

Huffman v. Carter--Easy win for Justin Huffman. No comments necessary.

James v. Nasser--James should win this fairly easily with his ability to work the court angles and keep the ball deep. I like Anthony when he can control the points, not when he is on the defensive like he should be in most of this match.

Semifinals (All Branch semifinal at that):

Kiron v. Slezak--Doubles teammates battling each other here. Will be interesting to see how it goes. Both are primarily doubles players too. I will give the edge to Paul for his consistency and his more recent singles experience.

Huffman v. James--James should win. Justin may have lost a step or two over the last couple of years and Brent has the weapons to win.

Finals:

James d. Kiron--Close, fun match but Brent has too much game to lose here. The toll of 5 matches should wear on Paul much more than Brent and Brent has the ability to control every point from the baseline. I will take Brent in three.


Of course all of these predictions are dependent on how much everybody's been playing with all the bad weather we're having but this is one of the deepest fields I've seen in a non-major zone. Hopefully I will get to watch some.

Was this post long enough? You guys feel free to comment on other draws.

Onion Fest

Seems like there are many great tournaments this year includling Twlight tourneys. I was hoping to head out to Houston for that MZ but I will be in Houston next weekend so yet another trip down there won't work out. I am looking forward to Waco, doubles partner out there?

If you are just looking to get out and play some casual tennis in the midst of the Major Zones and ultra competitive league tennis season here is an option for you that looks like fun. It is part of the Princeton Onion Festival http://www.princetononionfestival.com/ which will be raising money for their town and for needy children in that area.

It is on a Saturday so us 4.0s have no tennis conflicts, hope to see you all there.

4th Annual Onion Fest
Tennis Round Robin
Time: 1:00pm – 4:00pm
Date: April 24, 2010
Place: Tennis Courts, next to Princeton High School
1000 E Princeton Drive
Princeton, Texas 75407

Limited, to the first 32 players (14years of age or older with parent consent) who sign up and pay the entry fee of $15.00. Those who sign up in advance will receive a T-shirt. All tennis levels are invited to participate! Deadline to sign up and pay entry fee to Brad Megert at Princeton High School on or before 4:00 pm Friday, April 23, 2010, or until the draw is full. If you need further information or have questions please contact Brad Megert, 469-952-5400 or email bmegert@princetonisd.net

Format
A random drawing will determine whom you play doubles with and what court you will start.
Arrive at 12:30 pm to meet and greet who you are starting out with and warm up.
Round robin will start at 1:00 pm.
Courts will be arranged 1 through 8 with the # 1 court being the top or winners court.
The team that wins on the top court will stay on that court and the team that loses on the bottom court will stay on that court.
Whether the team wins or loses that team will then play the next match against each other forming a new doubles team from the other court.
The first team to win 3 games out of 5 games will advance up to the next court while the losing team moves down.
A match may not last longer then 30 minutes. You may take quick break before your next match. If the whistle is blown and the game count is tied, the next point wins. If the score is 30/30 and the whistle is blown during the point whoever wins that point moves up. Always finish your point. If there are questions you can ask the tennis coordinator.
Awards will be given to the player or players with the most wins and the most losses.