And Finally, Mixed Nationals

I’ve mentioned this before but I really don’t like mixed.  Most of the drama and complaining begins in mixed in one way or another.  Unless you up in the 9.0/10.0 range its bad tennis.  And the men and the women have to really change their doubles games to have success.  Tried it, don’t like it.

That being said, all we have left at this point in the 2016 season is mixed nationals.  This weekend has two sites in action: Tucson has the 18 and over 7.0 and 9.0 while Surprise has 40 and over 6.0 and 8.0.

The 18/7.0 team is out of Dallas.  A quick check of their results were interesting.  Didn’t drop a line in during the season and then lost to the second place team at cities.  Got to sectionals as a wild card and won it with a very short bench.  Don’t see them winning it all but with a favorable flight they might make Sunday.  The 18/9.0 team is out of Fort Worth.  A couple of Dallas regulars on this squad but not one of those Dallas West teams.

The 40/6.0 team is also out of Dallas.  I hate to even speculate what 6.0 mixed tennis looks like but they have what looks to be a rough flight so enjoy the scenery in the Phoenix suburbs.  The 40/8.0 team is out of Fort Worth but has a distinctly Dallas look to it.  Not sure how this team does.  They have Kelly so they likely start up 1-0 in a 40s division but they look thin after that.  I don’t see any high end talent at any level.   Someone’s gonna have to really show up for this team to go far.

Good luck to the DFW mixed participants this weekend.

 

More Fall, Try Not To Fall Asleep

What kind of progress have we made?


In 4.5 Flight A we have an interesting three way tie in the one loss column between Lakes/Way, Canyon Creek/McHugh and Greenhill/Rossouw.  Only one line loss separates these teams.  Everyone else is long gone.  Way and McHugh still play each other so one of them will be on the outside looking in.  Rossouw has the easiest remaining schedule of the three.


Flight B has TBar/McColpin as the only undefeated team.  Samuell Grand/Hanna and JCC/Reiman are alone at one loss and Brookhaven/Harllee now sits at two losses.  Much to still be decided here as McColpin still has Reiman and Harllee left; Hanna has the easiest ride to the house; Reiman still has McColpin; and Harllee still has McColpin.  At this point SamGrand/Hanna has the best odds to advance even though TBar/McColpin is undefeated.


In 4.0 Flight A we have Garland/Sisk as the sole remaining undefeated team with three teams tied at one loss.  Looks like second place will come down to the Nov 11 match between Brookhaven/Bartlett and Greenhill/Ohl.


Flight B has Greenhill/Davalos and McKinney/Kanchi both undefeated and only McKinney/Jacobson in the one loss column.  Jacobsen still has to play Kanchi so it looks like Kanchi and Davalos go one – two here.


Flight C has Oak Creek/Iyer undefeated and only Hackberry Creek/Myers in the one loss column.  They still play each other so Hackberry could drop into a massive 2 loss tie in this flight.  Huffhines/Jayaram still has a shot of finishing second here.


Congrats to Team Sisk and Team Vince for finishing 1-2 respectively at 8.5 combo sectionals.

 

And a quick check on the fall

If only it were so.

Now that we’ve had a little time to let the fall season get started, let’s check in on the results to date.

5.0 – Lakes/Jannasch and Prestonwood/Perkison reamin undefeated.  Village/Valentin is the only one loss team but they have yet to play the two flight leaders so they will have a tough road to catch up.

4.5 Flight A – same song, second verse.  Greenhill/Rossouw leading and undefeated.  Lakes/Way looking to take second.

4.5 Flight B – SamGrand/Hanna remains undefeated as does T Bar/McColpin.  Brookhaven/Harlee and JCC/Reiman both sit with one loss.  No fluke here, SamGrand has already beaten BH and JCC.  T Bar, however, hasn’t played anyone yet.  JCC v BH winner to take second.

4.0 Flight A – three teams remain undefeated: Garland/Sisk, Greenhill/Ohl and Canyon Creek/Nolan.  Garland and Greenhill to square off this weekend.  I’ll take Garland and Greenhill to advance.

4.0 Flight B – McKinney/Davalos and McKinney/Kanchi are the two remaining undefeated teams.  McKinney/Kanchi takes this flight.  I’m not a big believer in McKinney/Davalos but they are set up well at the moment to finish second.

4.0 Flight C – Oak Creek/Iyer is undefeated.  Hackberry Creek/Myers is also undefeated but only 1-0.  Guess all those threatening emails from the DTA about getting double defaulted if you don’t make up matches quickly is a thing of the past.  Huffhines/Jayaram to finish second.

Also, at 18s mixed sectionals yesterday, Fort Worth took home the 9.0 crown beating Houston in the final, the Valley took home the 8.0 crown beating Houston in the final, and Dallas Wild took home the 7.0 crown beating San Antonio in the final.

18s Mixed Sectionals Hits Tyler this Weekend

I don't cover 6.0 mixed but I like this pair's chances.

Nothing seems to get more comments from our loyal readers than a post about mixed.  I find it discouraging and fascinating at the same time.  One more reason I don’t play mixed.  I try to stay away from it on this blog but like so many things in life – particularly college life – I know it’s bad for me but every so often I just can’t help coming back to it.  This weekend is 18s mixed in glamorous Tyler.  I actually like Tyler, at least it’s not Beaumont.  I’d hate to have to play with a surgical mask on.  And why do they send the old people to Beaumont?  That air combined with a little physical exertion and someone could keel over.  Anyway, Dallas is sending some strong contingencies to Tyler this weekend.  I expect Houston to challenge at every level but as is often the case, I like our chances.  Assuming everyone can attend I expect us to come back with some hardware.  And by hardware I mean more towels.

For starters, don’t count out the 9.0 team from Dallas this year.  A core group of this roster went to 18s 9.0 mixed in 2014 and also won 40s 9.0 mixed the same year.  Houston and its mini-me SETX have also had a lot of success at this level.  Dallas is in a flight with Fort Worth (which has several Dallas players on it), NETX and Lubbock.  I like Dallas’ chances to advance to the finals.  The other flight has Houston, Austin, SETX and Valley.  Gonna go with Houston here.  Still like Dallas to advance to Nationals but this one could go either way.

At 8.0, with a Rossouw sized roster, comes the High Point team that went 28-2 for the season.  I mean seriously, 23 people on a mixed roster?  You only play three lines a match.  At some point “I just want to be on the best team” has got to get a little old when you don’t actually play.  I want to be on the best team too but I want to be on it because I’m actually in the playoff rotation.  Ooops, that may answer the question of why I don’t actually get on the best teams.  (Pause for a moment of self reflection)

Dallas 8.0 is in a flight with NETX, San Angelo and Valley, all of which looks pretty manageable.  I tend to worry a little about small market teams that didn’t play many matches.  They’re usually pretty bad, but jump up every so often and are really good and you don’t see it coming.  I like Dallas to advance to the semis – let’s go ahead and get it over with – and to advance to Nationals.

And a nod to Dallas 7.0 which is sending two teams.  Don’t know a lot of these people but I’ve been led to believe that Houston is the favorite at this level.  Interestingly, if both Dallas teams win their flight it looks like they could square off in the semis before one of them would meet Houston in the finals.  It will depend on which flight the lucky loser comes out of.

And in the 'who knew' category, they actually have a 6.0 level playing with three teams.  There are none from Dallas but - wow - so many 2.5 ratings.  Is that really a thing?

Good luck to all.