Tuesday, August 28, 2007
200 Ranking Points for sale...This Weekend Only!
Not exactly but we do have two 200 point tournaments this weekend. In Austin, look for strong competition in the 29 person 4.5 draw anchored by Alejandro Sanchez at #1 seed and Phillip Griggs at #2. Would not be surprised if these 2 guys make it through to the finals and if they do, I would lean towards Griggs to win it. At the other end of the spectrum, State #2 Greg Schmucker leads a field of 7 playing for 200 points in Beaumont. A few names I do not recognize playing, but I would think #2 seed Kallus might be able to reach the finals ( I say might because it is pretty windy in Beaumont, and boy does that guy bitch about the wind, its no one's fault but his own that he stubbornly stays with hitting the ball flat as humanly possible regardless of opponent or conditions). He lost to a guy I have never heard of at Northgate this weekend so I do not know what is up with Kallus these days. There is a guy in the draw that beat Schmucker in consolation at Waco but from what I know of him he is more of a doubles player and that was during Greg's "lost in the 4.5 wilderness" period that ended with his strong showing at Tyler. At 5.0, it should actually be an interesting round robin with all the guys being pretty equally matched. I anticipate a couple of heat-related "retired" or "defaults" in the results for that level (Reggie Black). Good luck to Pat Abshire who will also being playing doubles with Schmucker in round robin 4.5, for a total of 8 matches in 2 days. As usual, I did not bother to look at the 3.5, 4.0, or open draws at either event, so please feel free to post your comments/predictions.
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31 comments:
I don't know anything about the guys game that beat Greg up in the Waco consolation match but I know Greg wasn't exactly playing like he cared after losing the previous day in the 1st round to a guy that lost 6-0, 6-2 the next morning. For whatever reason, Greg did not play very inspired the 1st half of the year, probably because he could not commit to a specific level (4.5/5.0) and stick with it.
Schmucker will make the finals but him and Kallus have similar styles and it should be a close match, should kallus make it there. Kallus is such a flake though its hard to see him winning. It seems like he used to be much more of a factor at these tournaments. Is it that has insanity and paranoia on the court is finally catching up to him and ruining his game?
I know I let every little thing bother me when I am on the court but I assure you that I am sane...enough anyway. I think part of the problem is that I have played so much tennis over the past few years that unless I am really enjoying myself it is hard for me to stay focused and motivated any more. Maybe I play too many tournaments to the point that no individual tournament match seems all that important. If I don't like how it is going, no problem, I know I will be right back at it come the next tournament. Thus, I have adopted a Marat Safin-like willingness to tank matches instead of fighting. Success in doubles on the other hand is somewhat new to me and I have not had any problem getting motivated for those matches as I enjoy the adrenaline rush and pressure of not wanting to let down my partner. That being said, I'll try my best not to flake out this weekend.
Kallus, I like you. You don't seem to take any of this stuff too seriously and you are the first guy I have seen come out by name and be willing to be truthfully self-critical. That is a breath of fresh air compared to all the league guys I read about on the other blog that take recreational tennis so life and death serious. It would help you greatly if you could stop letting factors beyond your control bother you on the court. We all have to deal with the wind and shitty courts. I have seen you play great tennis and I have seen you implode and lose to guys you are much better than. I hope you do well this weekend and during the rest of the season. That being said, I look forward to beating you in Fall Men's League.
I bet Hunckler feels left out!!!! No one commented on the fact that he is just playing dubs at Beaumont. But I think the last poster is right on with Kallus. He is the only to come on here and be so critical of himself, and not throw jabs at anyone else. This blog is not like the league blog. It gets ugly over there!!!!
DK is a wack job, but a great guy, and a surprisingly good tennis player.
All of us have our bizarre quirks...it is the lifeblood of the sport and makes for great commentary.
Good luck Dan! Dont let Greg talk you out of it.
"Im sorry I mocked you, Kallus"
-The seagull from Galveston
Galveston seagull,
It's ok. I forgave you a long time ago.
Wack job, flake, not exactly the nicest comments, even though the posters tried to soften it by saying some nice things too. I have played Kallus a couple of times before in the HTA league and I did not notice anything strange or quirky about him besides the fact that he changed his shirt like 5 times over the course of two sets, but I'm not gonna call the guy a wack job because he would rather wear a fresh shirt than a sweaty one.
Regardless what happens in the Finals if Schmucker and Kallus play each because Schmucker will win easily.I don't see this match becoming close at all.. Easy 200 points for him from a 8 draw tournament. I guess the biggest question is if Schmucker shows up if not Kallus could actually win the tournament.
I bet Kallus is hoping Schmucker does not show up to this tournament
Kallus talks himself out of matches and psyches himself out. No one needs to do it for him. If you want to ruffle his feathers, just tell him the net is to low or high.
My guess is the last 2 posts came from Greg Anonymous.
Sincerely, Daniel Anonymous
Thats a pretty good bet.
-Seagull
Seagull,
looks like we will not be able to hit tonight thanks to the rain. Let me know if tomorrow works. If it by some miracle stops I'll let you know.
Dear seagull,
Nice shot! Look out for that crow on the fence and drainage ditch on the court.
signed,
anonymous anonymous
Besides schmucker, the Dibua's, and DK does anybody have anything else to say about the other 4.0/4.5/5.0 players?
Quirks/positives/negatives/general comments?
If you guys don't mind taking at least a brief break from Kallus' quirks, who do you think will end up the year #1 in Men's 4.5 in Texas? My guess in order is: #1 Reader, #2 Schmucker, #3 Moser, #4 Sanchez, #5 Dibua. That is based on a guess that Odion plays sectionals but not the master cup. If he were to play both, I would put him at #1 or #2. I think that only Reader would possibly beat him at either sectionals or master's cup.
We could talk about Moser's ball toss or how he is able to win so many matches with no second serve at all. We could talk about Reader's subsription to High Times magazine. We could talk about Trautman retiring injured in every match he is about to lose unless its against Reader. We could talk about Brian Goldberg crashing into a fence at least once per match. We could talk about Chris Pacciotti being the player most likely to be holding a chemistry book instead of a racquet but actually be an unbelievable tennis player. We could talk about how Joe Pallidino, captain of one of the Rice HTA teams is the only guy in fall or spring league that actually seems to care about winning as if he thought it was USTA summer league. Or we can just stick to what works: the mystery surrounding Schmucker's age and fitness, Kallus being a loon, or the Dibua's obsession with trophy hunting meaningless tournament titles against vastly inferior competition.
Straying outside of Texas tennis, is it just me or was Federer playing out of this world last night. Those backhands that he bends off the court at impossible angles blows me away everytime I see them. Everything he does looks completely effortless. Closer to home, I would have to say that Tim Green has the most Federer-like one-handed backhand when he chooses to hit it. You may not know the guy, but Ricardo Martinez is another local 4.5 player that can rip off an impressive one-hander.
Maybe someone can answer my question cause I'm not getting an answer on the other site...
That incident that happened involving the Mob Squad where someone hit the opposing player over the head with a tennis racket...
Was anyone banned?
I don't think anyone was banned. The guys name that hit the other guy was Tuan or something like that. So if you can look at the Mob Squad roster from 3 or 4 years back on tennis link you can see if was still playing after the incident. Since it was at the local combo event instead of at the state event, I don't know if it ever was reported to Austin. Also, since the guys on the two teams were to some degree friends/summer league teammates, I don't know if they just let it go as an isolated event. I know the guy who did it had a reputation as being a thug so it was not a total surprise to see him do something like that. The day it happened I had friends who were there call me on their cell phones to tell me about all the drama I was missing. But to anwer your question again, I am pretty sure that no one was banned.
Tuan Tran played for them so I guess that means he was never banned. That's just a disgrace, period. This just shows me that Houston coordinaters have no guts or doesn't really care. How can he not be banned from local competition?
Damn, if they were friends/team mates, I would hate to be his enemy!
I had to play doubles against the guy at citywide playoffs the following summer, and based on reputation I was scared to death that I might give him the wrong look, piss him off by celebrating, or just hit a good shot and he would come after either there on the court or take me out in the parking lot. I am sure it was a bad wrap and he's not a bad guy, but even on the court he seemed to carry himself like a thug.
You are right topspin, Federer looked brilliant.....truly an artist. Green's one hander?!? Good, but not quite Fed good.
-Seagull
By no means did I mean to imply it is Federer-good. Just that when he is on, it is probably the best one-handed back hand that I know of amongst local players. I am sure there are a ton of local open guys with even better backhands but they do not exist in the tennis world in which I actually play. The most "Federer-like" guy in Houston is that Nico Hidari guy that used to be a dead ringer for Roger when he had the longer hair pulled back in a ponytail, plus Nico probably does have an even better backhand than Tim though I have never faced it.
Is that why MOB didn't play this year oh wait wrong blog...
In case you are missing it, you really should check out the most recent comments over at the league blog site. Arrows flying left and right. Makes for fun reading. Why can't we have more hate like that over here on the tourney site?
You are right. This blog is really boring right now compared to the talk of racism and fights and Tim Green occuring over in league land. Surely there has to be some kinda tournament controversy that can rival the league drama. I know I have seen guys take swings at each other across the net at the end of tournament matches and stuff like that. I wonder if those individuals ended up getting band. There was an incident like that in 2006 at Corpus as I recall.
Dont forget the spitter....
It was Alain Tran - not Tuan in the beating over the head incident.
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