Thursday, April 2, 2009

Now you can start talking...

Until we get the actual draws, here is some fodder for discussion. This is my early list of guys to watch in 4.5 at the Gallery, in alphabetical order:

Pat Abshire - drops down after a few year run at 5.0's, mini-Agassi, no particular weapons but one hell of a grinder.

Sarosh Ahmed - good strokes, way too cocky, and armed with the deadliest line-calling in Houston.

Omon Dibua - tennis monster, can't get any ball past this guy when he is at the net, nasty serve too.

Jose Garcia - have heard good things about this guy from the San Antonio MZ in February, probably another strong former junior knocking off the dust.

Tim "Henman" Green - best serve and volleyer in Houston, along with Benson, also the best at working the system...probably has already declared himself the winner.

Wayne Morgan - Already won one MZ this year, strong in 2008 but went down meekly to Moser at Lost Forest in October

Jochen Moser - The Terminator, massive topspin forehand, and will take your head off if you drop your guard at the net. Can he handle so many matches in one weekend?

Alejandro Sanchez - Already won a MZ this year...at 5.0...beating Reader...without much trouble. Keep an eye on this one.

Also good to see that most of the cast of regulars are turning out as well, resulting in a rather decent draw size. Lots of names I don't recognize so please feel free to point out the sandbaggers, ringers, and dark horses that others need to be aware of.

Back later with some 5.0 talk. All 10 words of it.

Journeyman

197 comments:

dinker said...

Should be fun

Anonymous said...

JM where is typical bashing of Kallus and Schmucker? Surprised you didn't even mention them. Kallus has a good chance to go deep in the draw I believe and Schmucker has beaten Abshire, Sanchez, and Moser. I really think it comes down if the draw works out in favor for someone. Hopefully the HTA does a good job of seeding this year.

JM said...

No need to bash them. They are included in the "usual cast" that I am glad to see playing. However, I do not believe either has ever been a serious factor at the Coke in the past. At 4.5 that is. I know they have both had success at the Coke at lower levels, but even that was in the distant past. If I am wrong, please point out any strong showings that I am not aware of. Weird, when I bash them you get mad and now when I don't, you get mad.

Anonymous said...

If I have the awesome chance to play Sarosh first round and he starts making bad line calls then guess what anything that lands near the baseline will be out. That is how you stop a cheater from winning.

Anonymous said...

only two guys from out of state that i can see....one dude from wisconsin, i'm sure a transplant. i didn't know they had tennis up there...

Anonymous said...

I would think the guy who has already won a major zone in 5.0 would be the favorite to win the 4.5 in Houston, no? I'm not even going to ask why he is playing 4.5 if he has already won a 5.0 major zone.

Anonymous said...

Alejandro Sanchez is rated as 4.5 player. If he won a MZ at 5.0 that should tell you something about how weak that division is with exception to Thomas Reader. No doubt 4.5 draw has a lot of ringers that should have played up as we will see next weekend. I won’t be surprise if someone that we have never heard of come out as a winner and then disappear for the rest of the year. I still have my money on Sanchez to win it all.

Anonymous said...

If Sanchez had to play Moser or Schmucker I think Sanchez will lose. Sanchez does not match up well with either player.

Of all the 4.5's in the draw who would you say is the biggest pusher?

Anonymous said...

One thing is for sure with a draw this strong. Guys like Casas and Solis will not reach the finals this year.

Anonymous said...

Who would win between Casas and Sarosh?

Anonymous said...

Casas. Has a better game.

Anonymous said...

a new set of seeds has just been released around 11:30 today. not all of them are there just yet though.

Anonymous said...

sarosh would win, cuz he's a better cheater

Anonymous said...

Red alert, Red alert, Shields up. If you are playing that cockroach Sa-roach get yourself a referee quick.

Anonymous said...

I have played Casas before. His cheating skills are superb. Are you sure Sarosh can top that?

Anonymous said...

I repeat, Red alert, Red alert, Shields up.

Anonymous said...

Ok,
lets cut some fat out of the meat. in alphabetically order, these guys below have a real chance of winning it all.

Bui, Quack
Dibua, Omon
Green, Timothy
Morales, Miguel
Moser, Jochen
Sanchez, Alejandro

Anonymous said...

Chance of winning -

Bui, Quack -10%
Dibua, Omon 15%
Green, Timothy 20% (sorry Tim)
Morales, Miguel -5%
Moser, Jochen 50%
Sanchez, Alejandro 100%

Anonymous said...

Miguel Morales can't beat Kallus. How the hell is he going to win the coke. Nice of you to throw your friends into the mix to make them feel better. I agree that Sanchez is the favorite but I would put the odds at 2 to 3. You got Tim right. I would also put him at 5 to 1 odds. If there are 74 guys in the draw I would put Morales' odds at 74 to 1.

Anonymous said...

haha, it's good to see you guys are so intimately familiar with all 78 players' games that you can narrow it down to only a handful that have a chance.

All the above have a chance but there are a lot of unknown players so we'll have to see.

Anonymous said...

moser get's 50%??? that's pretty generous

Anonymous said...

In order to win the 4.5 Coke a couple of givens have to happen.

** Get a great draw....

** Win at least one match by getting a first round bye and/or have someone retire early or mid-way through a match.

Apart from talent, a big part of winning the 4.5 Coke is the endurance factor.

Who are the top 3 potential winners that exceed in the endurance category?

Anonymous said...

Dibua wins on endurance. Don't know enough about Wayne Morgan. Moser, no. Sanchez, maybe. Green, no. Abshire, yes.

Unfortunately the guys in the draw with the best endurance aren't on par tennis skill-wise with the guys that are the favorites.

If it was based only on endurance someone like Kallus would win a lot of matches, like he did when he was a 4.0 scrub and just outlasted his opponents. At 4.5, you need a lot more than endurance to win tournaments.

I agree that at the Coke, you need not only skill but also a bit of luck along the way because of the grueling task of pontentially winning 7 matches in 4 days.

Anonymous said...

I see a couple of guys nobody has ever heard of seeded #1 in 4.0 doubles. I guess they give the seeds based on who lives in Houston. The tourney director sucks!!!!

Anonymous said...

4.5 singles seed not posted yet. too many in the talent pool.

kallus and schmucker are non-factors. don't know why anyone would bring them up

Anonymous said...

how exactly are the seeds picked? is it supposed to be based on the 12 month rolling rankings, or is it to the tournament director's discretion?

Anonymous said...

A little bit of both, but mostly it based on 12 months rolling.

Anonymous said...

IMO, Tim Green should be seeded #1. He is ranked 2nd in 5.0 afterall

Anonymous said...

Endurance I would say the most fittest players in 4.5 are:

Casas (not in draw)
Schmucker
Abshire
Kallus
Zheng (not in draw)
Corey Noel

All the above players can grind all day on the court if need be. Those would be my picks.

Not for sure what happen to Zheng. After he lost to Sevin in the Masters Cup in Austin he fell off the tennis scene. Does anyone know what happened to him?

Anonymous said...

You will find him in Mens 30s....possible first round match up against Brian Smith

Anonymous said...

or not... just relaized there are 5 there and Smith will get first round bye

Anonymous said...

Thu
Apr 9
Isolated T-Storms
81°
60°

Fri
Apr 10
Scattered T-Storms
82°
62°

Sat
Apr 11
Scattered T-Storms
83°
65°

what a great 10 day forecast....hopefully they are as wrong as they usually are!!!

Anonymous said...

WTF, who came up with a 10 days forecast...I want him to give me tomorrow night's lottery numbers...

Anonymous said...

"M4.5 S&D and MX4.5D not seeded at this time-we will post soon"

Looks like they are seeding David Hall number 1 in doubles again.

Anonymous said...

How the hell did it take the San Antonio major zone less than 12 hours to post the draws including all seedings and match times when it takes the HTA already days to come up with useless seedings?

Anonymous said...

I will file a protest if Hall gets seeded #1. Is it submitted to his wife?

Anonymous said...

Open level seedings are a joke.

Putterman but not Brown?

Sweetnam but not Femi?

Boone number 12 but Marco Valdez number 6?

Anonymous said...

They should stick to the rankings for the seedings. Then it is at least a transparent process and it gives the weaker guys a chance for a run if some of the sand baggers end up in the same quarter.

Anonymous said...

Cheryl researches this site for the 4.5 seeding

Anonymous said...

If that's true, then she will move Kallus to the 4.0 draw.

Anonymous said...

I just heard the 4.5 seedings will be posted on Wednesday

Anonymous said...

The 4.5 doubles draw is the best I have seen in years. There are 10-15 teams in there that could win it all.

Anonymous said...

Based on past results I would consider these names as dangerous floaters for sure:

Ben Hawkins
Chris Leach (if it's a cool day)
Charlie Rivera
David Luedtke (can drive you crazy with all his antics)
Mike Salinas
Herb Morton (when he's on)

leach said...

Thanks for the nod, but I can cramp in cool weather too.

Anonymous said...

the open seed is a complete joke. the worst is the 4.5 seed.

Anonymous said...

It looks like a quarter of 4.0 draw is sandbagging 4.5s from Houston area. We'll have a repeat of last year in a 4.0 draw.

Anonymous said...

I'm looking at the 4.0 draw and I don't see anyone from Houston that I would consider a sandbagger. The 4.0 is probably the weakest its been in years. Who would you consider a sandbagger?

Anonymous said...

NTRP Men's 4.5 Singles Seeds
1. Sanchez, Alejandro
2. Sevin, Scott
3. Hawkins, Ben
4. Moser, Jochen
5. Miles, J.D.
6. Leach, Chris
7. Morgan, Wayne
8. Green, Timothy
9. Martin Del Campo, Guillermo
10. Kallus, Daniel
11. Noel, Corey
12. Schmucker, Greg
13. Luedtke, David
14. Jenkins, Mark
15. Goldberg, Brian
16. Griffin, John

Valley View said...

Nobody has mentioned Scott Sevin's name in the 4.5's. He'll go deep, but he's not in the kind of shape he needs to be in to win the whole tourney. He will not be outhit by anyone though. Don't try to overpower him. With so many players in the draw it's really a fitness contest. So no to Sanchez or Del Campo. Both of them will get stinking drunk one of the nights and stay out at a titty bar til 4. I'd have to go with Abshire or Moser as the eventual champ. Sleeper in the 4.5 draw is Daniel Rockey from Austin, great hands at the net and a difficult serve to read.

Anonymous said...

Scott Sevin is not that good. I know a lot of players in the 4.5 draw that can out hit Scott. Moser and Sanchez would blow Scott off the court.

Surprised some people would actually pick Abshire to win the tournament. I disagree Pat has no weapons to hurt anyone. Also Pat took last year off from tennis as well.

My picks are:

Jochen Moser
Jochen has a huge forehand and has greatly improved his game. Has a good slice backhand and a tough first serve. Only concern for Jochen is how hot it may get during the tournament.

Tim Green
Green has the serve and awesome hands at the net. Can turn the match around by changing his strategy if he is losing. Awesome kick serve as well.

Greg Schmucker
Schmucker has very good groundstrokes from the baseline and if need be can turn the match into a grindfest. Probably fittest player in the draw.

Sanchez
Another player with very good groundstrokes from the baseline. Good slice backhand as well. Only concern if drinking the night before his match.

Darkhorse Pick

Herb Morton
Morton has a solid all around game. Players always pick on his backhand which I think is a mistake because Herb has the best slice backhand in the 4.5 draw.

Anonymous said...

I totally agree with your picks of Green and Moser. They certainly have to be seen as favorites.

Schmucker? I don't think he will go past his seeding.

Morton as a darkhorse? Maybe. He played well at Lost Forest. If he plays that well at the Coke, he could do damage.

People are picking Abshire? He has a chance but a power player like Moser could potentially wipe him off the court.

I give it a 50/50 chance the winner comes from Houston.

Anonymous said...

Green seeded. Dibua not. What a joke.

Anonymous said...

Saying who's gonna win/is the favorite etc is at best pure speculation till the draw comes out. There are plenty of solid players in the 4.5 draw & I think there's about 4 or 5 that can beat anyone on any given day but the draw often paves the way more than anything, as well as things like recovery from match to match/day to day. Going 6-7 rounds takes the best combination of ability, endurance & luck of the draw. Matchups are key factors too. Some people's games just don't match up well against other's games no matter what they are seeded/projected to do etc. Should be a great war.

Anonymous said...

Let the wars begin at all divisions.

Anonymous said...

Sarosh would win the 4.5s, cuz he will cheat all of you.

Anonymous said...

I don't see why people are commenting on Dibua not being seeded in 4.5 singles. Omon has entered 4.5 singles not Odion. Omon hasn't played a sanctioned Singles match in the last rolling 12 mos. I wouldn't mind seeing Odion having a good 5.0 run....he's due

Anonymous said...

On paper (only), here's some projections for 4.5

THE CREAM OF THE CROP
At least 1 of these players should be still standing in the semis or final. (If not something really crazy happened)(in no particular order)

- Sanchez (Gotta be the favorite until someone proves otherwise)

- Green (Just too darn solid not to go deep)

- Moser (When he's on he's a freakin beast, & he's been more on the past few months than off looks like)

- Morgan (You fon't win a MZ & not get respect, that's just a fact)

THE SECOND TIER
Very solid players that can take down anyone on any given day but will, like most, need a good draw/matchup etc to go deep.
- Sevin (Has had too good a past year, looks like, to be discounted)

- Schumucker (Too much history of good results, when he actually does show up & is serious)

- Hawkins (You don't get seeded #3 without some consistent ability/results etc)

- Dibua (The guy's just a load to handle because of his size, & it will take a strong player to break him down)

- Miles (You don't have as high a ranking as he has had & not be pretty good)

- Rivera (too solid to be discounted based on past results)

- Luedtke (former Baylor coach who is tough to play as well)

DARK HORSES
These guys are solid & can do damage but will really need the draw to open up for them to have a real chance in my opinion.

- Leach
- Abshire
- Kallus
- Rockey
- Noel
- Salinas
- Del Campo
- One of the unknown Houston, Valley or San Antonio guys (there's always one that comes out of the woodwork that you'll never see again) Anybody know any of the unknowns?

Anonymous said...

As somebody mentioned the 4.5 doubs draw is of a high quality. I don't see the number one seed winning it.

Anonymous said...

Just a heads up. You better watch out for Ted Bradley and Sean Lacy in singles and doubles.

Anonymous said...

so no one thinks miguel morales, james bui, quack bui has a chance?

Anonymous said...

no.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the heads up but who are Ted Bradley and Sean Lacey and why should we watch out?

Anonymous said...

I guess Omon Dibua is the most underestimated player in the draw.

He is the better of the two Dibua twins (in both singles and doubles) and his serve and volley style will keep him fresh for 7 matches.

Green is actually the better player but Omon is a bad match up for him due to Green's "relatively" weak backhand return.

Dibua over Green in the finals. Let's hope it will be on Sunday.

Anonymous said...

Guaranteed, Ted Bradley and/or Sean Lacy will beat many of the seeded guys in the tournament.

Anonymous said...

everybody put their thoughts together and chant "please no rain, please no short sets..."

Anonymous said...

Narajos is a contender.

Anonymous said...

WTF....Ted Bradley plays and wins at 5.5 and has signed up for 4.5. Hopefuly the Draw Lottery Gods will line up Sean Lacy and Ted Bradley in the first round

Anonymous said...

Put up some open draw polls. That would be interesting. THere are some good players in open--put up a poll JM.

Anonymous said...

Sorry about leaving out Miguel Morales, Rene Ramirez, Quack Bui, & Herb Morton as darkhorses in 4.5 on one of the previous posts. These guys have plenty of game as well & could do damage given the right draw/matchup. Don't really know much about anyone not named on any of these posts. I have heard on previous threads that Nino & Perreras may have some game as well but have never seen them so someone else will have to give the lowdown on them.

Anonymous said...

OK guys, who was it that emailed Cheryl to get Omon seeded at the last minute?

Anonymous said...

why so much talk about 4.5? open is where the real tennis is.

Anonymous said...

The whole HTA seeding thing is a bunch of bull!!! Why can't they just use ranking as it is? Why so many people (surprisingly from Houston areas) in various draws are seeded when they have no or little ranking??? Let them prove themselves first!
Dallas tennis player.

Anonymous said...

Dallas sucks harder than that blow hard Reader!

Anonymous said...

That's because 4.5-5.0 is where the real diehards live. Open is for flaky, ego driven former super champ/college prodigies who actually think they still have a chance to go Pro when in reality they'd already be pros by now if they were that good. There's very few diehards in Open with the exception of The Valdez's & a few others who are legit warriors

Anonymous said...

>Anonymous said...
>
> Dallas sucks harder than that >blow hard Reader!
>
> April 4, 2009 12:37 PM


Well, then why don't you--houston wannabes--show it on a court instead of getting freebie seedings from your bullshit association?

Anonymous said...

To the post above about die-hards not in Open---are you serious? You're one pathetic 3.5-4.5. Valdez is as much a diehard as snapper head Reader

Anonymous said...

Dude, open players dont visit this blog much because they dont need the artificial ego boost that 4.0-5.0 players need to feel "wanted" in the tennis community. in reality, open players are "idols" for these wannabe's. Good open players, not wannabe open players like those who should be playing 4.5 but play open so they can say they play open (hence, the whole "idol" thing). Just let us 4.5's enjoy ourselves. If anyone has strong interest in open, then feel free to shoot off your comments/predictions.

Anonymous said...

Who won the "Coke?"

Anonymous said...

I won the 'Coke', OK...

Anonymous said...

Hey us mortals in the levels give props to the legit Open players like Valdez etc but there's way too many posers in there that distort the draws way too much. Some of the 4.5-5.0 guys can hang in open with many of the guys there (and have before) but what's the point of getting crushed first round virtually every time for that rare win. Not worth it in most of our minds. We're not getting paid to play so you might as well play where you have at least a 50/50 chance of winning. Once again, I give major props to any player who can compete at that level on a regular basis, but all you posers who make a mockery of Open, you oughta stop wasting guys like Adrian's time (and your's). Stop kidding yourself. You get more respect being a legit levels player than an Open wanna be.

Anonymous said...

Hey, yea what's the deal with changing the seedings to let Dibua in?

Anonymous said...

On the opposite end of the spectrum, all you 1 tournament wonder, levels sandbaggers who just want "practice" & who never travel, you guys need to get over yourself. The levels are for legit players, not fragile egos. That also goes for all of you pansies who feel the need to hook people all the time.

Anonymous said...

Hey, yea what's the deal with changing the seedings to let Dibua in?

Anonymous said...

Because someone whined to the HTA about Dibua not being seeded thus is a ringer in the draw. Just more BS with the HTA.

I am from Houston as well, but I agree with the guy from Dallas its all BS. Just seed by rankings and be done with it. Who cares if you win first round or lose first round. There is always consolation right?

Anonymous said...

who is playing open who should not be? why dont you get your lips off adrian's cock you stupid dego. he got beat by peter markes last year a guy who plays 50's. that says a lot about markes and little about valdez.

Anonymous said...

Roberto Narajos has dropped out!

That is the problem with all these former college/satellite players, they just can't accept the fact that they might not be as good as they think, and they can’t understand that someone with limited talent but lots of drive can actually compete with them and possibly win,,,,,,,, so they always find an excuse not to play serious players or always playing down to beat up on players that have lesser abilities.

For all you sand baggers, HAVE SOME SELF RESPECT AND PLAY YOUR FUCKING LEVEL!!!

Anonymous said...

AMEN BROTHER!!

Anonymous said...

As much as I would hate to play a "ringer" like Dibua early if I was seeded & he wasn't, I have to agree with one of the previous posts about seeding by ranking. These players who bust their tails traveling all over the state actually EARNING a ranking should be rewarded (being seeded) for getting out there and putting it on the line consistently. You shouldn't be allowed to just sit on your ass & all of a sudden decide to play & get a seed just because you may potentially upset a seed early. Good luck to all of the LEGITIMATE players in every division.

Anonymous said...

Seedings have nothing to do with "rewarding" someone for stupid shit like "traveling" or "putting it on the line". Name 1 person who was not seeded that deserved a seed apart from their "traveling" and other bullshit. I got an idea, how about win a fucking match from time to time as part of your travels.

Anonymous said...

Interesting, it first said that Herb Morton beat this Narajo guy buy walkover. Now Sam Stollenwerk takes the win. Smells like draw shifting to me. Maybe they didn't want Herb to get the walkover in singles and doubles.

Anonymous said...

Hey blowhard, you don't get & stay ranked in the top 10 without winning matches, lots of them.

Anonymous said...

Tim Green and Omon Dibua shouldn't be seeded. Those sandbagger should have to play 7 matches if they want to win the tournament. HTA is corrupt.

Anonymous said...

Tim Green (bye 1st round) will face Daniel Rockey in 2nd round if Rockey gets past Flad Patterson in 1st round.

Anonymous said...

That should be a great match between Daniel Rockey & Tim Green. Does anyone know when the draws will be posted? I ain't got time to keep lookin for names & numbers to match who plays who.

Anonymous said...

What top 10 person is not seeded?

Anonymous said...

I think someone said Sean Lacy and Ted Bradley were sandbaggers...should they be seeded?

Anonymous said...

So who do the other seeds in 4.5 have to play?

Anonymous said...

How are you finding out who is playing who in the first round if the draws have not been posted yet? I'd like to find out so I figure out when my match is to know if I can drive down Friday or if I need to leave on Thursday.

Anonymous said...

My Picks:

Champion:Raul Nino (playing at 5.5 level now)

Contenders:Alejandro Sanchez

Pretenders:Dibua

Cheaters:Cockrosh

Should-Be-Playing 4.0:Tim Green

Anonymous said...

For the previous poster, see what number you are (let say #3). Then you will be play #4, and #5 will be playing #6 and so on. Your first match time & place is posted on the Gallery Tourney link. Good luck.

Anonymous said...

El Nino all the way!

Anonymous said...

Thank you "April 6, 2009 12:05 PM"
I get it now.

Anonymous said...

Nino will get distract everytime a female passes by.

Anonymous said...

Females are the reasons why Nino travels to Houston. He couldn't care less about the tennis.

Anonymous said...

Where he is playing at there are only guys, no women. The ladies are at Lee LeClear TC.

Anonymous said...

Who will get beaten by Omon Dibua in the first round?

Anonymous said...

I don't think he really cares about the women at Lee LeClear.

Anonymous said...

Shit, isn't Kallus seeded? I think the committee could do a better job of seeding by ignoring the rankings completely if they had someone knowledgable to do the seedings. Omon is clearly one of the best 16 players in the field.

Anonymous said...

Why Kallus? Why not Goldberg? Why not Corey Noel? Omon is better than every seeded player in the draw with the exception of Sanchez. So why always single Kallus out on this blog? I wish he had more of a "Reader" mentality and went ballistic every time he got badmouthed on this blog. You hear that Kallus? Start giving it back to all of us anonymous assholes.

Anonymous said...

kallus won his first round with a bye.

Anonymous said...

Mr. Bye must have been injured or tired to loss to Kallus in the first round. Did anyone see the match?

Anonymous said...

Draw is posted!

Anonymous said...

is anyone else out there wondering why the draws haven't come out yet?

Anonymous said...

oops, guess i spoke too soon.

kern said...

4.5 singles semifinals
Sanchez vs. Winner of Moser/Omon (I'll take Omon)
Winner of Green/Brandt (I'll pick Green) vs. Winner of Lacy/Sevin (I'll pick Sevin)
Green over Omon in the final

4.5 doubles
The exciting matches start in the second round with Leija/Miles vs. Omon/Ricardo, Vernon/Mills vs. Green/Morton, Regent/Li vs. Ludtke/Rivera, Brandt/Rockey vs. Bradley/Lacy (if the hype is correct), Bui/Hasker vs. Pham/Nguyen. A lot of those matchups would have been good finals last year.
I'll go Vernon/Mills (revenging their Tri-Level loss to Green) vs. Brandt/Rockey in one semi and Foster/Merhi (upset special) vs. Omon/Ricardo in the other.
Brandt/Rockey over Omon/Ricardo in the final.
Good luck. I'm sure these will turn out as poorly as my tournament bracket.

Anonymous said...

Semi-Final Picks

Sanchez vs Dibua
Green vs Garcia

Final Picks

Dibua vs Green

Winner: Dibua

Now we can all go home.

Anonymous said...

Most interesting First Round

Sarosh vs Tervino

Bring your cameras for instant replay.

HtownHacker said...

kern, it seems like u've got a lot of respect for brandt's game. haven't seen him play in years, but he sure must've improved.

Anonymous said...

I am thinking he didnt mean Brandt since david is not in Timmy's quarter

Anonymous said...

4.5 Semifinals picks

Sanchez vs Dibua

Green vs Schmucker

Anonymous said...

Sarosh will not go far. Either Griffin or Hawkins will take him out. Sarosh I really know you wanted to play 4.0. Perhaps next year.

Anonymous said...

Best 4.5 draw.
Greg Scmucker (by far is in the weakest quarter)has the best draw of all the seeds. However, he will still lose his quarter to a bad player.

Herb Morton has one of the worst draws.

Omon wiil beat Dinker in the finals.

Anonymous said...

Schmucker will lose his first round match to Schlensker.

Anonymous said...

i'm interested in the bottom quarter of the draw as that's where i am. can anyone break down lacy and sevin's games for me? who do you all think will win that matchup?

CoreDawg said...

Can anybody tell me anything about William Leach? Chris's twin?

Anonymous said...

Sorry, never heard of Sean Lacy or William Leach & I've been playing statewide tournaments over 10 yrs. While we're at it, who is Schlensker? Man this draw is going to be tough to get through.

leach said...

No clue. Strange last name though.

Anonymous said...

Your right Schmucker has an easy draw. Schlensker is a 4.0 rated player I believe. I can see Schmucker making it to the semi finals.

Anonymous said...

I'm not sure if Schlensker is still 4.0, but I do think he will beat Schmucker. Lacy is a serve and volley player with a nice game but poor fitness level.

Anonymous said...

what about Sevin? #2 seed but nobody is talking about him as a contender?

Anonymous said...

Noone is talking about Sevin because he will most likely lose in 1st round to Lacey who is one of the top 4.5 league players in Houston (translation - he will kill a top tournament player).

Schlensker is a 4.5 now but made it to the finals of 4.0 last year taking a set off of Narajos (I think the only person to do that all year) and Narajos would easily beat most people in this draw including Schmucker.

Anonymous said...

'Narajos would easily beat most people in this draw including Schmucker.'

And this SOB Sa-Roach wants to be played 4.0 last year and won the tournament. I wish USTA could police these ringers better, rather than wait a whole fucking year before bumping them up to their actual rating.

kern said...

Htown,
Sorry I meant Daniel Rockey, Brandt's doubles partner, who Dinker would meet in the second round. If it's the guy I'm thinking of he got bumped down from 5.0 to 4.5 last year and lost in the quarters at Abilene to Trautman in 3 on the court next to me. I was impressed at how he played, he could have easily won that match. He looks like he grew up watching Courier play.
If that's not the guy then I'm a fool and ignore everything I said, very possible. Wish I was going to be there to watch, should be a lot of great tennis.

Anonymous said...

Never heard of William Leach.

Anonymous said...

"Who won the "Coke?"
April 4, 2009 5:31 PM"

Omon Dibua. nuff said.

Anonymous said...

kern, why are you not playing?

Anonymous said...

"Who won the "Coke?"
April 4, 2009 5:31 PM"

Sarosh won the "Coke" by hooking & cheating everybody.

Anonymous said...

kern is a better cheer dudette that's why....a smooching master.

Anonymous said...

Sandbagger alert

Watch out for Mohit Milekani in 3.5
He has only played in one tournament this year, Courtyard Classic in Austin. Did not drop a set and did not lose more than two games in any set and left players like Gilberto Flores and Scott Cannan in a crumpled heap.

Anonymous said...

Lacy is very tough and fitness might be a problem, but only in the later rounds

Anonymous said...

sa-roach has easy first 3 rounds

Anonymous said...

So why do you think Sevin will lose to Lacy and Schmucker to Schlensker in the bottom half of the draw?

Anonymous said...

I'm on to you butterfly.

Mohit Milekani, the 3.5 sandbagger is actually Sarosh trying to sleaze his way back to another Coke victory anyway he can.

Anonymous said...

Hey has anyone gotten a medical report from Moser. Is he going to be able to play after he pulled that testical muscle?????

Anonymous said...

Mohit is more than a sandbagger, he is a cheat. Canann retired against him because not only was he out of level but he would call any ball on the line out. I saw some of his other matches, he definitely will hook you and he annoyingly cheers after every point. Him and his doubles partner in the Courtyard tournament were dq'd in the semifinal along with the team they were playing because Mohit's partner threatened to beat up the other team after Mohit and him cheated, resulting in the other team to call them pathetic. I doubt he will win the tournament, but he will go far.

Anonymous said...

How would Mohit do in 4.0?

Anonymous said...

I predict Foad will win the 4.0 singles.

Anonymous said...

No way in hell Foad wins 4.0 singles.

Anonymous said...

2009 Gallery Furniture Picks,

Men's Open - Evghenii Corduneanu
Men's 5.0 - Odion Dibua
Men's 4.5 - Alejandro Sanchez
Men's 4.0 - Tuyen Nguyen

Nuff said.

Anonymous said...

Kern,

Rockey is the guy that you are thinking of. He does hit similar to Courier in terms of style and has his red hair as well. Solid player. He and his partner(Brandt) were seeded 3rd last year at the Coke and lost first round.

Anonymous said...

Bottom half of 4.5 dubs is loaded, but I do not see Brandt and Rockey as the team to emerge from that side. There are several damn good teams down there including Brandt and Rockey.

Anonymous said...

Does anyone know who won the Coke?

Dugas said...

We will win.

Anonymous said...

We wished we were as good as Dugas Bros. Can we have you autographs please?

Anonymous said...

2009 Gallery Furniture Picks

Men's Open - Evgheni Cordunanu
Men's 5.0 - Henry Manolo
Men's 4.5 - Tim Green
Men's 4.0 - Roger Osario
Men's 3.5 - who cares?

Anonymous said...

You forgot to say 'Nuff said'.

Anonymous said...

What for when you can get an easy trophy out of it, right Sarosh (winner of 3.5 & 4.0).

Anonymous said...

sarosh likes to feel that he is a winner. that's why he played 3.5 and 4.0. now that he's finally playing his level, he won't be able to compete.

the top and bottom portion of 4.5s is weak. the middle portion of the draw is where all the action is.

Anonymous said...

looks like kallus will lose his first playing match, between the winner salinas and janek

Anonymous said...

Kern,

Rocky is an excellent player. I believe he won the 4.5 Coke or was a finalist 6-8 years ago.

Anonymous said...

On April 10 wars will be fought in all fronts and all divisions. May the best players win this tourney.

Anonymous said...

There will definitely be several people in need of a bailout LOL

Anonymous said...

2009 Gallery Furniture Picks,

Men's Open - Adrian Valdez
Men's 5.0 - Odion Dibua
Men's 4.5 - Alejandro Sanches
Men's 4.0 - Tom le
Men's 3.5 - Anyone

Anonymous said...

Any thoughts on what's the most potentially intriguing matchup(s)?

Anonymous said...

To 12:08: I don't think Mohit would go far in the 4.0 draw, but he definitely should be playing that level. From what I could tell from watching a few games he played he was a scrapper, got a lot of balls back, but didn't hit that hard. Not a strong 4.0, but probably belongs there.

Anonymous said...

Possible good 1st round matchup in Mens Open.
Ned Boone vs. Tobias Schneider. Boone is a current college player at St. Edwards in Austin, but was recruited by Baylor and ended up transfering(not sure why). I think he won 2 major zones last year. I saw Schneider playing in a tourney a year and a half ago and he looked like he has a lot of game. I think he was training at Newks. Boone should win in straight sets, but I bet it will be good tennis to watch

Anonymous said...

Valdez is not a good pick to win the mens open this year. he is way outclassed. nuff said.

Anonymous said...

All the men's open players are going to get schooling from Evghenii Corduneanu come this weekend at West Side tennis & fitness club. I wonder if he will ask them to join West Side afterwards in order to teach them a private one-on-one lesson after they got their ass handed to them at the tourney!

Anonymous said...

Corduneanu will certainly win the tourney in open (without being challenged) but they are playing all open div. matches as Lee Le Crap. No tourney matches at Westside this year.

Anonymous said...

No one here cares about the prima donnas in Open, remember, except maybe ......the prima donnas LOL

Anonymous said...

Lee Le Crap. Now that's funny. LOL

Anonymous said...

I think you guys overestimate Evghenii Corduneanu. He is a favorite, but in a draw this big anything can happen.

Anonymous said...

Evghenii Corduneanu rules Men's Open. Nuff said

Anonymous said...

Evghenii Corduneanu playing Men's Open is like asking Adrian Valdez to play Men's 4.5s...Get the picture.

Anonymous said...

Is Journey Man playing in the Coke?

Anonymous said...

Would Valdez even win the 4.5 draw this year?

Anonymous said...

If evginii whatever his name is so good why isn't he out on the tour. Playing the "Gallery Furniture Houston Open" (what we know as THE COKE!!) should be proof that he's actually NOT that awesome based on even comparisons of players at that level

Anonymous said...

he beat wooten last year in finals and wooten is out playing Futures (what you call the tour). It costs money to travel to play in Futures tournaments which pay small amounts to the winner. You simply have to have a $$ backer to play in futures with hopes of moving up to Challenger level tourneys and then maybe you'll be able to support yourself....but even then...you're not keeping any $$. Maybe everyone is lucky enough to have a backer.

Anonymous said...

meant to say...ISN'T lucky enough to have a backer

Anonymous said...

wow... the poll shows that sarosh has the same amount of votes as sanchez. sanchez is a top 4.5 player and sa-roach is just a mid-level player. he'll be lucky if he gets pass his first round against trevino.

Anonymous said...

it's not called "lucky" it's called cheating.

Anonymous said...

Is JR Pogue dominating 4.5 this year?

Anonymous said...

Man the silence is deafening. Where's all the matchups talk?

Anonymous said...

I'll let my racket do the talking on the court as for me, I like to fly below the radar!

Anonymous said...

Who are the teams to watch out for in 4.5 Mixed?

Anonymous said...

JR Poque switched to golf.

Anonymous said...

What is 4.5 mixed?

Anonymous said...

Who are the best looking women in 4.5 mixed?

Anonymous said...

Daryl Hall

Anonymous said...

'wow... the poll shows that sarosh has the same amount of votes as sanchez.'

Looks like Sa-roach ran out of PCs to vote for himself. My vote went for A. Sanchez.

Anonymous said...

Out of the top 4 seeds in 4.0 & 4.5, who's most likely to lose in the first two rounds?

Anonymous said...

james murray will loose his first round.

Anonymous said...

Sean Lacy is gonna make an 'Eight' out of 'Sevin' tomorrow. Lacy is hitting the ball real good.

Anonymous said...

Who will make the semi's and the final's in 4.0.

Anonymous said...

The winner of Men's 4.0 - Tuyen Nguyen. All the way baby, go Tuyen go.

Anonymous said...

i agree, lacy will tear up sevin. the bottom draw is weak, so mostlikely make it to the semis and have a good possibility to make it to the finals.

Anonymous said...

Somebody is writing checks that Lacy's ass better be able to cash