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.