Well, Fort Worth is in the bag and it was a mixed showing for Houston area players.
4.0 - Congrats to Eddie Janek for reaching finals of another Major and to Greg Leiker for reaching semis. No Houston teams to speak of in doubles.
4.5 - Congrats to Greg Schmucker for winning 2nd major zone this year, and 2 of last 3 played. He is the 1st player to win two majors at 4.5 this year and probably shouldn't be playing 4.5, but still a run worth applauding. Jochen Moser lost in round of 16 but did not need anything from this tourney as he is in good shape for Masters Cup. Daniel Kallus got clocked in round of 16 and looks to be on outside now for making the top 8 after good showings from Alejandro Sanches, Roger Morales, and Greg Schmucker. On the doubles-side, Kallus and Moser may have proved some naysayers wrong by making it to the finals with a lopsided win over a strong Dallas area team in the semis and a though 3rd set tie-break loss to the winning team of Cherry and Rosenquist in the finals. The other Houston team of Peter Rothe and Justin Benoit showed up, played, and went home defeated on Friday, going down in their first match in 3 sets. Kallus/Moser now have a win, a finals, and 2 semis to show for their major zone efforts this year so it is fair to say that someone's comment that anyone can get ranked if they play every tourney and get lucky now and then is a bit off base in regards to these guys as their results as a team have been rather consistent with the exception of of Tyler. The same cannot be said for a lot of other top tourney doubles guys from Houston this year. Interesting to see if this team can manage any wins in a round robin format against the other top Texas teams as they have yet to defeat any of the other top-tier teams such as Dyer/Gold out of Austin.
In 5.0, Houston came up pretty weak. Joe Schornick won a round before going home, but the other Houston players, Herb Morton, Reggie Black, and Ronnie Johnson all lost in the first round. Herb did manage to take the consolation with a hard fought win over the always-dangerous(?) Ronnie Johnson along the way. On the almost as shocking as Greg showing up side of things, Reggie and Ronnie won the 5.0 doubles with an impressive straight sets win over Felipe Wescoupe and his partner along the way. Red Benzon did not make the trip and Herb Morton had to turn to Greg Schmucker as a stand in and they came up short in their match.
Unfortunately I cannot add a lot of color to any highlights of the various matches etc., so please jump on here and share anything you feel is worthy of note. After Fort Worth, August is usually slow on the tourney front though there look to be a couple of new local events prior to things heating up again around Labor Day.
Anyway, congrats again to everyone who played this weekend.
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32 comments:
I was up at Fort Worth and some of the tennis was really good to watch.
The Wescoup - Abshire men's 5.0 match was really awesome to watch. I think it was Wescoup 16 - 14 in the third set tiebreaker. Abshire had three match points in the tiebreaker, but failed to convert.
Schmucker - Sanchez men's 4.5 singles was another great match to watch. Sanchez loves to hit his big forehand especially inside out forehands. Both Schmucker and Sanchez were crushing the ball back and forth. Sanchez ran out of gas and cramped up in the third.
Eddie Janek - Kern men's 4.0 singles. Eddie came up short. Thought he had this match for the Major Zone, but Kern played really well and deserved the title. Looks like the heat came into play.
Biggest shockers was Jochen Moser losing to Cherry in the second round. I really thought Moser would run away with this one, but moser I believe goes for too much too early in the rallies. Too many errors.
Kallus losing to Torch in the second round I thought was another shocker. I really thought Kallus would take out Torch, but never happened. Looked very lackluster out there on the court. Kallus is much better in shape so not for sure what happened.
Good job to Reggie Black and Ronnis Johnson for winning the Men's 5.0 doubles and great showing for moser and kallus to reach the finals of the men's 4.5 doubles.
Ronnie is becoming a dangerous player indeed at 5.0. Three sets against Herb in singles and then winning the 5.0 doubles with Black is not bad at all.
Whats up with Benzon not showing up? He is now the no-show leader. Poor Morton who couldn't find a doubles player on short notice.
I guess I need to eat some crow about Moser/Kallus. I posted that I didn't think they would make it out of the first round but I have to give them credit. They still haven't gotten over the hump and beaten an elite 4.5 doubles team but they certainly deserve to be going to the Masters.
I'm fairly shocked at the poor showings by Rothe/Benoit and Miller/Lenss, especially Miller/Lenss. I thought that the SA team might be one of the favorites at 4.5 Sectionals but if that is one of the better teams they can trot out they could be in trouble - especially since Schmucker appears to be in fine form and SA plays his Houston team on Friday afternoon. Miller will in all likelihood still qualify for the Masters but Rothe is sitting on the fence. He needs to have a good Sectionals tournament in September to get in.
I am not worried about Rothe qualifying. Qualifying for the Masters in doubles really only requires a Top 16 ranking assuming that everyone sticks to his usual partner. Also in doubles only 4 results count versus 5 results in singles, so it is easier to catch up in the rankings. Also, he has been a little unlucky with the draws so far this year, e.g. he and Hunckler reached the Tyler semis before it got rained out.
Jason Kern went 13-1 over the weekend, winning the 4.0 singles and doubles before completely running out of gas in the mixed final. Janek looked good all weekend.
14 matches in 1 weekend. Can anyone top that?
14 matches in a weekend is just nuts. Even when I was young enough and stupid enough to try that I never did.
I agree that Rothe has had some awful luck with draws and weather but the bottom line is that he only has one more legitimate chance to score points. I count 5 players/teams ahead of Rothe in the last year-to-date points, with he and Hunckler tied for 6 & 7. Colton and Flynn/Frankeny have legitimate chances to sneak into the top 8, possibly ahead of Rothe and/or Hunckler. Odion Dibua and McCallum having outside chances. Probably the best thing that Rothe could do to ensure a top 8 placement is to play with Hunckler again to make sure Chris does not get more points
I wonder if most of the top 8 doubles guys will stick with the guys they played with during the year or bring in a doubles ringer from their league teams to raise their chances in the round-robin Masters format since it is pretty much the same thing as a doubles team would face at League Sectionals. I hope not. I would hope that teams that qualified together would try to prove their worth together at year end. The players I don't trust to do that would be basically the guys from San Antonio, though I think Reader and Regmund are not worried about needing to up their chances.
Is there anyone who is a lock to make the top 8 in singles or doubles that already knows he does not intend to play the year-end event in Austin?
Jason Kern lost a total of only 20 games in 6 matches to his singles title.
What's the point of playing with a ringer? What about the opposite instead? Challenge yourself and try to win with Rothe, Schmucker, or Lenss.
Kern has won 3 majors in singles and 4 majors in doubles this year, with a finals at the coke to go with it. There have been no repeat winners at 5.0 this year and only Greg Schmucker has won more than 1 in 4.5 and Reader/Regmund have won 2 doubles at 4.5. Kern is definitely the most dominate player within a specific level this year. What level should the guy be playing?
According to the rules for the Masters, you can not bring in a ringer partner at the last minute. You have to play with one of the partners that you earned qualifying points with. For example, if he qualifies Rothe has his choice of 4 different partners; Giordanelli can play with either his brother or Miller; Dyer and Gold have to play together since all of their points have come as a team. I think that the top teams want to prove themselves as a team, rather than as individual doubles players anyway.
I do not know Kern, I have not seen him play nor have I checked his results to see how easily he is winning matches but the dominance at the majors pointed out by a previous poster would seem to indicate that he is ready for a higher level of play. Any chance he will voluntarily move himself up next year even if he is not rated up?
Kern could probably do some damage in local tourneys at 4.5 but not in major zones. 4.0's usually get bumped up. For example, John Cox finished 1 last year in 4.0 and got bumnped. He realized that he would not be able to win many matches at 4.5 and stopped playing USTA.
Hey Guys,
I am organizing a little tourney at Lee LeClear starting Friday 5pm August 10th. There are also 2.5 levels, so you can have your friends who are tennis beginners sign up as well. USTA membership is not required as it is not a sanctioned tournament. Search for Tournament ID: 809669307 by going to http://tournaments.usta.com/. Silver Cache is sponsoring prizes for a few selected events.
Spread the word,
Jochen
Doubles? Who cares about doubles in tournaments. Basically for the guys that cannot play singles. Look at the ATP noboby watches doubles even on the pro level. The main action will always be singles anything else is trivial.
Sorry, but I had to put my two sense in for that.
Doubles is the skill game, whereas in singles you can get away with being fast or fit. Look at all those guys like Casas, Morales, Schmucker, Gound, Vu, Phoumarath. All they do is run and keep the ball in play. In singles they are quite successful but in doubles they are a joke.
I have seen Kern play a couple times this year and he has some of the best hands I've seen at any level. People that think guys like Kern and Ahmed can't compete in 4.5 Major Zones have not seen them play and/or are not being honest (don't be fooled by the rating attached to their name, there are plenty of highly respected 4 5-5.5 guys mentioned above that will testify to Ahmed's ability and none of which would want to see him in their side of a draw).
Kern could make a doubles line for any 4.5 team next weekend at Sectionals.However, playing 14 matches in one weekend is insane.
Singles is not a skills game? In singles you need to have a game and a weapon to beat your opponett. Doubles you can rely on a better partner to pull you thru a match. Match anyone up with Tim Green on their team and see what happens. Singles you have to have a strategy to win the match. If you have a bad singles game and in good shape your record in singles will not be good.
If I recall Danny Vu cramps in the heat so I don't think he is in good shape. Gound will also cramp up as well in the heat.
I am a singles player but I think the volley is the most important skill shot to have and obviously it comes into play in doubles much more than singles. Plus doubles requires much better reflex/reaction skills. I wish I was a good doubles player but I am not. Singles I get away with good fitness and a consistent game. I win all the time and I have no weapons. Jason Gound dominated 5.0 last year with no weapons. He just stands in one spot and loops topspin forehands and backhands all day long. I love singles for the exercise but I am in the camp that doubles does require more skill.
I have seen Kern play and he will do fine in 4.5. He may not be the dominate player in 4.5 singles zones, but he will survive and only get better. Put him on a doubles court with any of the 4.5 teams going to sectionals and he will hold his own.
Have not seen Kern play, but I hit with Sarosh and he will be very competitive at the 4.5 level. If he remains a 4.5 rated player next year, he is definitely a player that can win some zones, or have some really major upsets against players already established in the 4.5s.
Both doubles and singles requires skill, but i agree that the more fit player can come away with wins over some of the players with better shot making abilities.
If those guys like Kern could even win 4.5 major zones I wonder why they stick to 4.0.
Cause its fun to be the big dog and beat up on the little guys and/or he plays 4.0 league and does not want to risk gettting bumped for beating 4.5 rated players in tournaments. I can't argue with the fact that it is a lot more fun to win tournaments than to loss in the 2nd round week after week, even if you are getting better with each loss.
One thing about 4.0 tournaments the draws are huge. Sometimes a major zone will have 128 singles draw. That was the fun part of 4.0 the big draws.
Currently I play 4.5 tournaments which I enjoy. I wish I could make the final 8 for the year ending Masters Cup in Austin, but it seems like most of the top players are set to go. Funny thing some of those top players should not be playing 4.5 like Reader, Sanchez, Schmucker, and Troutmen. I think it ruins the fun for us real 4.5 players which on our best playing days could never beat one of the above players. Schmucker I believe was 12th on the ranking list and after winning Ft Worth will now be ranked 2nd right after Jochen Moser. I don't understand why players like the above either play Open, 5.0, or ages.
If the USTA does not stop this I will just stop playing tournaments. Not having fun anymore with ringers in the draw.
Schmucker is one dimensional and not a 5.0. He has no second serve and no backhand. He also never does very well in 4.5 league. What Schumucker does that allows him to win is keep unforced errors low. He does not have the weapons to compete at the true 5.0 level.
Dude are you on crack? I have played Schmucker and he has a very good backhand that he can take down the line or crosscourt. Funny how some people post on here and talk crap about Kallus, Moser, and Schmucker. I bet Schmucker has beaten you really bad and its your way of getting back by writing garbage on this blog.
For the people on here that talk BS about other players come out and let us know who you are instead of hiding behind anonymous. I love tennis and it saddens me to read all the negativity on this blog about other players.
I will also anonymously say that Schmucker's backhand is not a liability. Was his backhand not voted the best by someone over at the other league blog site? I don't agree on it being the best but it is consistent. If he is so one-dimensional and beatable please share the key to taking him down in case I run into him in at sectionals. On the other hand, I see no problem with us taken anonymous shots at eachother as long as they are not downright hurtful or mean, like some of the comments about Red owing everyone in Houston money, etc. Moser has no second serve and Kallus is a mental blow up waiting to happen everytime on the court, that is why they are easy to take shots at.
In tournaments especially Major zones its all about playing for yourself and being a competitor.The top guys in the Rankings Moser,Schmucker,Gound,Green are not the Top Guys at League Sectionals but are Great Tournament Players without a doubt. None of these Guys would be competitive at League Sectionals in 5.0. All the Ringers come out during League Play to show how flawed the computer rating system really is.When you see the Champions in 4.5 and 5.0 League Sectionals next week singles players that is you'll be clueless to who they are because they DON'T play Tournaments.
Kern can hang at the 4.5 Sectional level in doubles. If he lived in Houston I would put him on my 4.5 team in a heartbeat.
As for the comment about Vu and Phoummarath being jokes in doubles, I respectfully disagree. I've played and won tournaments with both of them and anyone who's seen me play knows that it certainly wasn't me who led us to victory. The return may be the most important part (certainly most unappreciated part) of doubles.
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