Damn, I feel hurt in the apparent lack of interest in either this site or tournament tennis in general. Go out of country for 3 weeks and no one posts a single message on the site. Well, I am back and maybe we can see some discussion again.
This weekend....Austin....Master's Cup.
Some interesting groupings in the round robins, especially 4.5.
Here is my personal thoughts on each of 4.0, 4.5, and 5.0.
I assume Kern will not have any problem handling his group and then beating Janek in the finals of 4.0
The real finals of 4.5 will occur in round robin action as Reader and Dibua are in the same group. The winner of that one should win the tournament but as we have already seen, Reader cannot be counted on to show up for matches (even ones that would have been incredibly lop-sided in his favor...no offence Scott). So for that reason, I hope Dibua wins though I really see that match as a toss-up as both of those guys are incredibly talented though they have completely different games and Dibua has about 50X fitness advantage over Thomas Reefer. The other group is somewhat interesting as Greg has beaten Jochen but lost to Trautman and hasn't played Casas. Jochen has beaten both Casas (2X) and Trautman but has lost to Greg. Casas...don't see it happening. Problem for either Greg or Jochen is that Trautman is unlikely to show up for his other matches if he loses his first one. For sake of needing a body, I will plug Greg into the finals and then predict he will get rolled by either Dibua or Reader.
Finally, 5.0.... I think it will be close between Wescoupe and Hunckler from one group and Hilderbrand and Gound in the other. For the finals, I will go with the winner of the Hunckler/Wescoupe over Gound in the finals.
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33 comments:
There haven't been any tournaments to talk about.
I agree with you about 4.5. It should be Greg vs. Odion with Odion the victor.
I don't think that Reader's conditioning will be a factor at all for the weekend. The weather is beautiful and matches are 2 sets and a super tiebreaker. I like Reader to win his group and beat whoever comes out of the other group.
In the 4.5 doubles I think that the finalists could well be decided on Friday as Gold/Dyer face off with Giordanelli/Giordanelli and Reader/Regmund face off with Dibua/Dibua. I think both matches are toss-ups but just for the rarity lets go with both brother teams to come through to setup an all brothers final.
How come you guys never talk about the Open division or age groups?
As for Reader, he defaulted at Sectionals because his body couldn't handle playing another match, regardless of who his opponent was going to be. I was there and tried to convince him to play Scott because it would be an easy match for him (no offence to Scott), but his condition was so bad that his wife wouldn't let him continue the tournament. He didn't just not show up for no reason, as you seem to keep implying.
Anyway... I'm picking Odion to beat Reader and win the finals easily. Odion should be able to handle all the topspin, junk, and dropshots Reader will throw at him. The doubles might be a different story though, as Reader & Regmund will face the Dibua bros in their grouping. I'm picking the lefties to come out on top in that one.
In the 5.0 singles I wouldn't count out Henry Manalo since he has wins over much of the field. Chris Hunckler is my pick to win it though, defeating Gound in the finals.
Odion will win 4.5 singles. He and his brother will win 4.5 doubles. He won't lose a set in the doubles or singles.
Both Reader and Dibua are great players, but i think Dibua will outlast Reader on fitness alone.
Gound/Manalo in 5.0 finals
So I guess now everyone can have some well deserved respect for John Trautmann and stop saying all this stuff about him being a quitter and him not showing up in the big occasions. He pretty much killed everyone he faced at the masters, including Thomas Reader.
I would not exactly call him killing everyone, he got a default with injury from Dibua.
Reader got the default from Dibua, not Trautmann. Trautmann played and won all three of his round robin matches and then defeated Reader in the finals, all without dropping a set - or even playing a close set for that matter. Makes all those prior defaults all the more puzzling.
As long as we are talking about Trautmann, his dad is an absolute embarrassment. I heard that he and Reader got into it after the match and the cops were called. Reader probably started the whole thing but come on, your son is a grown man - he should be able to take care of himself by now.
Reader fighting with Trautman's dad does not surprise me at all. He told me over the weekend that he welcomed Trautman's dad to take it out to the parking lot when Trautman quit against him back at Alamo City and JT's dad had some words for Reader. I did not see any of JT's matches but those were some impressive scores. I really have a hard time buying into the ass kicking he gave Reader considering he has never beaten him, but I have heard nothing that would indicate it was not a legimate win.
Interesting matches throughout the Masters Cup in Austin. Some players believe that Reader threw the match so he will not get bumped up, but I think Reader's USTA league record will get him bumped up.
Trautmann will be playing 4.5 next year and who knows could be the favorite to become #1 next year. It is weird that Trautmann travels to the tournaments with his father.
Not for sure which 4.5 players will play in 5.0 next year. I know there are some that are thinking of moving up to 5.0. Kris Knutson said he would protest if he is bumped up to 4.5 and I believe Kern will move up to 4.5 as well.
Guess it will be an interesting off season now till Feb comes around. Does anyone know if Dibua, Schmucker, Reader, JD Miles, and Casas will be playing 5.0 next year?
I doubt Casas will move up, he has trouble winning at 4.5. And he really needs to take some line call classes, i have a feeling itts going to get him in trouble down the road.
Schmucker will spend the rest of the year and start of next talking about playing 5.0 or Open but when push comes to shove, expect to see him at 4.5 next year. Not an insult, as he should be playing 5.0 but he finished 2006 at #3 in 5.0 and that was not enough to keep him there in 2007. Trautman will likely still be at 4.5 and there is no reason for JD Miles to move up. Put me in the camp of people who think Reader must have lost on purpose.
I actually saw some of the Reader/Trautmann match and I don't believe that Reader lost on purpose. There has been some bad blood between the two of them and losing was likely a bitter pill for him to swallow. Trautmann just played fantastic. He served huge and played a very consistent, aggressive game off his groundstrokes. He absolutely deserved to win that match.
I like that in the poll no one picked Warren to win or Trautmann for that matter.
Casas made it to the semis on the way he beat Schmucker and Moser who are supposed to be top players. Casas is the fittest guy in 4.5 and will drive people crazy with his consistent play and fitness level. Nobody in the 4.5 has legs like Casas. This blog is crazy and stupid. We all know this is Mosers doing go back to FRANCE where you belong you cheater.Casas should be respected and has won an adult major.
While i agree with your comments about Casas's fitness and consistent play, you do not get respect when CHEAT. Casas has a reputation for bad line calls and his poor sportsmanship on the court is probably worse than anyone I have seen.
Casa is probably one of those player who would try anything to turn the match around if he's losing. There are a lot of players like that, but they are all playing in the juniors. Unfortnately, he is not alone. Wolf, Heiland, and Ahmed, should take some line calling classes with him. Win or lose, learn how to play with dignity.
Casas fitness is pretty good, but he was breathing quite hard when he was playing Schmucker in the Masters. Casas later said he was indeed having breathing problems. Schmucker was running Casas all over the court and really should of won that match.
I asked Greg if he thought Casas cheated him during the match and he told me no and that he thought Casas was a nice guy. So not for sure if Casas is really a cheater or not.
Casas is a very good player with an awsome backhand. His backhand is one of the best backhands I have ever seen. It looks like he has also been working on that forehand when he arrived at the masters. There are so many haters in the 4.5's Casas is one of the youngest players in 4.5 and he should be respected. As you can tell he works alot on his fitness level. His legs are really muscular which im sure helps him. Casas finished last year #3 and I honestly think he will finish this year #3 as well. If Casas were to work on his upper body he would be a better play im sure. Casas is young and still has room for improvement. Good luck Casas next
Awesome legs, still so young, just needs to work on his upper body? Dude, why don't you stop beating around the bush and just ask Casas to go out with you already. Casas is a very good player but from experience (I have played against him 3 times and seen him play several other times) he does cheat and he can be a very poor sport on the court. Ask Jeff Matlock about Casas' behaviour at the Coke. Casas plays one match against Schmucker without cheating and all of a sudden he's the greatest thing to happen to 4.5? Trautman destroying everyone at the Master's Cup is the thing that people should be talking about.
Hello everyone I must say I have enjoyed this blog. I have moved here from Florida and I was wondering if someone on this site could pass along Schmucker's and Moser's email address if possible. I am a 5.0 + player and I am looking to hit since things have settled down now. I believe Moser and Schmucker reside in the Houston area.
My email address is patrickchaselux@hotmail.com
Thanks
Patrick
i hate cheaters. do they really feel good knowing the only way to beat someone is to cheat?
To the person who feels that you are so needed to run this blog, you must not have anything better to do, but cut people down and promote gossip. If you live out of gossip, how much are you worth?
why are you posting if you don't like this blog? a blog is a means of conversation and gossip. duh....
I don't know if the posting two posts prior was directed at me specfically, but if so, WTF? I have plenty of better things to do. I spend more time on the toilet than I do working on this website. That being said, I do think it is fun to hear what everyone has to say about each other and that was SPECIFICALLY the point of the site: To Provide a forum for talking about local tennis with a focus on tournaments instead of league. Honestly, there has been very little gossip/trash talking on this site. And what little there has been in my opinion has been just. If you cheat, then you should expect to be called a cheater. Maybe if enough people call it out, you won't be able to continue to cheat.
Anyone know why Moser is completely removed from the 4.5 singles rankings? I understand he has moved to another Country, but so did Curtis Simms and his points remained on the list until time removed them.
Moser joined the pro-circuit in France and lost all his points.
Moser is suppose to play James Blake first round in this upcoming pro tournament
I'll take Blake 7-6, 7-6.
Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jochen might be back in houston for the houston clay court tournament at river oaks;) for those of you who want learn something by watching him you can call him up just before the tournament for free tickets...
breaking news...Nike and Moser signs biggest endorsement deal in history, which makes Moser the highest paying athlete.
Any comments, or predictions, about the Tri Level tournament this weekend?
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