So Garland and GH are on the court now as are HP and Lakes. Can't wait to see the results.
Looks like Oak Creek Branch is rolling along posting a sweep over T Bar paying them back for a regular season loss.
Correction the 3.0 result from yesterday it was actually Canyon Creek that won that tourney.
Results are in at 3.5 and 4.0.
ReplyDeleteGarland wins a close win at 3.5. They blew out GH singles players as expected, with Oberto winning 2 and 0 over newly rated 4.0 Jason Fraser. Doubles were very close with tiebreaks in 2 of the three matches.
Interestingly enough only two players on the court are now rated 4.0 (Corcoran and Oberto)
HP Somabut rolled in the final over the Lakes. Runda got the only win for the Lakes. HP won this match without Pickett or Smith in the lineup (impressive!)
Anyone who was actually there feel free to add some thoughts.
Congrats to both teams.
There were some very exciting 3.5 & 4.0 tennis matches this past weekend!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations Garland (3.5) and High Point (4.0)!
Congradulations to Garland at 3.5. They beat us 3 to 2. I want to thank all of our opponents for fun matches. They were all nice guys and everyone seemed to be enjoying the tennis. I even enjoyed playing against Kevin & Ruben when they kicked my butt on Friday night. The did it with a laugh and a smile. We all enjoy winning, but we also enjoy playing, laughing, hitting a good shot and the competition. Good luck to everyone in the spring season, the seniors and the super seniors.
ReplyDeleteI played Jeromi yesterday in singles and thought he was a really nice guy and player. The 1 and 0 score was not indicative of the match. Good luck in the Spring everyone. Go HP Somabut!!
ReplyDeletePickett
Congratulations to everybody that made it through the playoffs, especially John Sisk who spends more hours on the phone with his players than anybody I know. I have played with John and Bob Somabut and it is easy to see why they have championship teams.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I would not quite call it a blowout, it was certainly a sound beating. The score was actually 2 and 3 today. Oberto is a very good player. He will be very successful at 4.0. I'm not as sure about myself and my odds next year (at least not at singles). There was great competition out there today. The difference makers were their two singles guys (both very good). All of the doubles players performed well.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion the best 3.5 singles player this year was Jeromi; followed by Oberto. Jeromi would definitely win that matchup though; I believe soundly.
Pickett must have played out of his mind today. Good work and congratulations Pick. I still want to come play this winter up at Lifetime with you.
I wish I could keep playing on the Greenhill 3.5 team next year. That was a lot of fun guys. See you all next year.
Jason
Bazan,
ReplyDeleteNow that many of the best players got a chance to go head to head this weekend:
Who would you rate the top 5 in 3.5 singles and 3.5 doubles?
jfraser gave interesting perspective on some of the singles.
Congratulations to all that played this weekend. It is an impressive showings of tennis talent and I'm honored to play with Pickett. Somabut is the Man! Great management and insight by Somabut makes it an honor to play for him. Let's roll in the Spring HP.
ReplyDeleteJason F. and Joel,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the nice things you guys said. I hope to see both of you in the spring. If you guys want to hit sometime let me know.
Congrats to everyone that played over the weekend. I love the tournament environment and I am hoping that next Spring, I get to throw my hat in that ring as well.
ReplyDeleteI've talked to Jeromi and Jason, and we're working out some time to get on the court; but if anybody else wants to try some singles this month as we prepare for 2008, give me a hit. I'm a member at Lifetime and if you are not, we can still hit there for free. I'm allowed two free guest passes a month.
As it relates to 3.5 players being rated. I can only talk about those that I have played. Since Jeromi won our first match. I'll put it this way:
#1 Jeromi K.
#2 Jacques Delira
#3 John Carlisle
In 4.0, the best player that I played was Don Buford in singles. Big serve plus he runs down everything. No matter how big I hit it, he runs it down, and no matter how hard I hit it (and I can hit it with lots of pace), he returns it. I just hope I get another chance at him in the Cotton Bowl later this month.
Top singles:
ReplyDeleteIt is kind of hard to rank since as you mentioned many did not go head to head and Trae got injured. He was looking ahead to playing Oberto but it never happened. Delira probably had the best three matches and a good effort by Prather gave him one loss on the weekend.
I agree with Fraser I think Jeromi would take Oberto because he has big enough strokes to finish points early.
I didn't see Molina play but did see Bert he has one of those drive you crazy type games but he will have problems with big hitters unless he develops some different tactics but will do very well at 3.5 again next season.
anyone have thoughts on top singles at 4.0?
ReplyDeletetop 3.5 doubles
ReplyDeleteDidn't see any great teams out there probably the best was Kayser/Hall. I was disappointed to see Yauch/Rivera split up I can see how they would have been good together. Yauch is a great doubles player. Key/Corcoran are great and I know from on court experience with those two. Ridgley/Leopard I played a a couple of years ago and they still play the same way and are effective in their style.
I would say after viewing Fri/Sat I know why the NTRP ratings list descriptions on your doubles play as part of your level. I believe the difference between 3.5 and 4.0 is net play. I saw sooo much one up one back play this weekend at 3.5 it made me nautious. For those of you who want to win at 3.5at the higher levels my advice is get to the net at all costs if you are playing doubles from the baseline who might as well put on a skirt.
Don't take it the wrong way just a word of advice and it comes from frustration of not being able play this weekend and just watch endless floaters at the net go unsmashed. My line 1 group from last season went undefeated at doubles and that was the main reason, if you had a chance to see the 4.0 HP play, Kirby, Hai, Doug and Joel are good examples of real doubles play.
JONATHAN,
ReplyDeleteIf you want to try to get together all of the top 3.5 or former 3.5 singles players,
For a no holds barred, Battle Royal - throw down I'm Game.
definitely any suggestions for a good format for play are more than welcome. I think round robin doubles and singles would be good so more people could play one another.
ReplyDeleteI like that idea. If I can fit it in my schedule I would do that.
ReplyDeleteFrom match experience and what I saw Friday I would put Jonathan at the top, and then Sunny and Mark would go either way.
ReplyDeleteAs I'm sure it is to no surprise, the reason that myself and Larry Rivera were split up was to counter the strategy that most (not all) teams employ of not playing their top doubles team on the number 1 line.
ReplyDeleteBrazen, Thanks for the comment of me being a great doubles player but for the record, Larry is a much better all around player then I am.
I would also dare to say that had he been 100% this past weekend (he was nursing a pulled groin and has not played for 7 weeks due to his injury) he and James would have won their match against a very good Garland team given that the match score was 7-5, 7-6.
Injuries are part of the game and therefore my congradulation goes out to Garland as they were clearly the best team top to botton this past weekend.
Both Larry and I will be moving to 4.0 in the spring and hope to see some of you on the court.
Anyone wanting to play in the meantine, let me know.
Dang it...Cary, very sorry for butchering your last name in my last post. Guess you can call that a foot-fault, I mean brain_fault. Second Serve...
ReplyDelete"Oberto winning 2 and 0 over newly rated 4.0 Jason Fraser."
ReplyDeleteDid Oberto win 6-2, 6-0
or
6-2, 6-3 as state on tennislink?
Water under the bridge, The matches are over,
But I'm still for the life of me trying to figure out how this DQ thing if not totally inconsistent,
I'm thinking maybe playing on a 4.0 team actually might benefit your 3.5 rating somehow instead of hurting it.
I think probably from this blog,
ReplyDeletethe level of awareness on the DQ issue has been raised to Such a point that Capts. next year will keep their ringers an a short leash.
Dropping three bagels in the playoffs seems like thumbing your nose at the system a little,
If I was a Capt I would tell my guy to drop at least 2 games
I'm in. Just let me know when and where. It should be fun, my biggest weakness in match play is practice, motivation and practice time. If I'm warmed up and motivated, I usually do pretty well.
ReplyDeleteBut if there is one guy out there that I really would love to see how I do is Joel alias the icepick.
Jonathan,
ReplyDeleteYou may want to get in line on that one because I want a rematch against him. :) I think that you would do well against him because you have pretty flat strokes and I think that your slice backhand may give him a little trouble. If you manage to get that match set up let me know because I would really like to watch it. Looking forward to the CB. Time to start practicing.
good for you two but the only time I would like to see Joel on the court is as a doubles partner
ReplyDeleteMe and Jonathan VS you and Joel.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't have a problem with that match.
So with all the 4.0 talent remaing at 3.5, why to put a Dallas super team together and see how far you can get?
ReplyDeletewho would be on this super team? any thoughts: All the ringers are gone at singles so you need to get some of those first.
ReplyDelete"Jeromi said...
ReplyDeleteMe and Jonathan VS you and Joel.
I wouldn't have a problem with that match."
Do I need to institute a rule that only "real" challenges should be posted on this blog. :)
Cary,
ReplyDeleteOne Challege at a time,
You and Jeromi need to take care of Prather first!
Cary,
ReplyDeleteJust one comment about "real" challenges.
Those that "can" Play; Those that "can't" captain. :)
The best 4.0 players in the dallas area that didn't get bumped are Chad Carlquist, Hai Nguyen, Paul Wildberger, and Randy Valtierra. Watch out for those guys in the Spring.
ReplyDeleteI like playing the big hitters in 3.5 In fact I do better against them because they have a hard time with my slice, fade, cut, whatever you want to call it. Check out Highpoint Summer II (A-1) on Wed nite. I went through the comp without a loss. I am not trying to brag. Just thought I would add some fuel to the fire.
ReplyDeleteRe: Singles Battle Royal
ReplyDeleteI'm willing to put something together
A couple rules
You have had to Played 3.5 Single in the Fall.
You have had to win at least Half of your matches.
Be willing to bring your Money!
Any body who is interested go to this Blog site,
http://oc-bl.blogspot.com
Vote for what days work for your,
(you can vote for multiple days)
And let me know your name and Email.
I think Jeromi needs to try to play against Ben Oberto. Seems to me that a guy as sick as he was last weekend is not recieving enough credit for toughing out his matches. My personal opinion is that Oberto will win too much experience for the youngster.
ReplyDeletesam,
ReplyDeletecan you view past seasons on the HP site? I did see your tourney results from last year, pretty solid although David and John seem to handle you easier than most. Hope to see you on the court sometime.
gh rek,
ReplyDeleteCongrats on a great weekend for your team. Excellent result against High Point and almost took Garland.
Kevin and I really enjoyed our match with you and Kerry. Looks like you guys had a strong weekend.
See you in the Spring.
Bazan,
ReplyDeleteI guess that you are right.
Me and Jonathan VS You and Joel
It just wouldn't be enough of a match to warrant opening a new can of balls. We would blow you guys out of the water. :)
won't even justify that one with a reponse.
ReplyDeletePrather is looking to play though Jeromi send me an email or post to let me know what times are good 4 u. I'm playing tonight but can play the rest of the week.
why does everyone want to play a skinny guy who had a kidney transplant and never played high school or college tennis? BUT if you want that doubles match I will do it. Bazan, you still have my e-mail address?
ReplyDeletePickett
yep still got it along with Jeromi and Jonathan's. As soon as I finish challenge #1 we will put it together, maybe I can play lefty and make it more competitive. Wonder if HP would give us a deal on the court since we will only need it for a few minutes.
ReplyDeleteRE: 3.5 Battle Royal
ReplyDeleteHere is a list of my most wanted players,
If you know any of them refer them to http://oc-bl.blogspot.com
(these are in no particular order and apologies to any one I left out, I hastily grabbed these names from tennis link)
Aamer Ravji
Jacques Delira
Benjamin Stephen Oberto
Stephen L. Levine
Patrick Daniel Taillat
Brian Fitzpatrick
Jason Dallas Fraser
Furqan Sunny Azhar
John Sims
Samuel Bert
Bazan,
ReplyDeleteYou can go the Highpoint web site and put in Tennis, then Summer II, and then put in Wed Mens A-1 singles. You do not have to go through all that trouble. I was 7-0
I was just throwing in a comment regarding my playing big hitters.
You mentioned Dave and John. I assume you mean Prather and Kramer.
Prather does not have a hard serve but has a lot of kick on his serve. The ball bounces real high and that gave me a problem.
As far as John, he just whipped me good in the Village tourney.
I think you should put together a little tourney and I will play. Maybe at Highpoint since we seem to have quite a few people that play there.
Bazan,
ReplyDeleteDoes this Fall league have any effect on who represents Dallas at Sectionals next summer (2008) or is it just the Spring league that determines the Dallas representative?
You guys seem to be having a good time on this blog....keep it up, it's fun to read : )
Oh yeah, I would not want to play Prather right now....he looked really good in Austin a couple weeks ago...
Cheers,
Freeman
Each division winner is guaranteed a spot at our Spring championships which is usually 4 to 5 teams so these teams have a pretty good shot at Sectionals since there are two reps from Dallas at each division. And of course the ability to "hide" some players because as long as they show up for their matches they are guranteed the Spring champ spot.
ReplyDeleteYikes sorry to hear about Prather, we are playing tomorrow night and my partner is still TBD. I saw him play and I think I match up well I have been working on some things since you and Michael gave me a beating.
I'm not sure about Dallas having two representatives at Sectionals. I know they did last season but I think that is something they rotate around the different areas each year. If you don't win in the spring, I wouldn't count on going to Sectionals.
ReplyDeleteCorey,
ReplyDeleteThe WC are rotated each year although we never seem to know how many teams Sectionals will take, some years only 12 teams other years 16 teams, depends on which districts have teams (Houston, Valley, Midland, etc...) some years are better than others.
Watch out for Oak Creek Branch in the Spring as Rusty got himself backdown to 4.5, plus add perenial 5.0 bill Bibb now down to 4.5 and I am sure they will pick-up a young player or 2 to complement the team.
ReplyDeleteThey may dump some matches in regular season but come Playoffs you probably will not see Wesley and Rusty lose a match, unless they ate playing a legit 5.0 or .5.5 player at Sectionals.
I'm not worried. I will have four new players that are probably better than anyone on my team right now. I know we will at least be competitive with them.
ReplyDelete