2008 4.5 Major Zone Winners and Finalists

Abiline - Winner: John Trautmann Runner Up: Adam Cherry
SAPTA - Winner: Alfonso Rodriguez Runner Up: Jacob Casas
Gallery - Winner: Alfonso Rodriguez Runner Up: Leonardo Solis
Corpus - Winner: Alfonso Rodriguez Runner Up: Alejandro Sanchez
Waco - Winner: Alfonso Rodriguez Runner Up: Alejandro Sanchez
Tyler - Winner: Ben Sticker Runner Up: Dustin Viktorin
Alamo - Winner: Brent Gruno Runner Up: Ben Hawkins
FW - Winner: Wesley Longacre Runner Up: Dustin Viktorin

Is it just me, or is it pretty obvious that Alfonso did not play Tyler, Alamo City, or Fort Worth. Ben Sticker? Wesley Longacre? Who the hell are these guys? I am sure they are great players, but not exactly fixtures in the Texas tournament scene. As far as Alfonso, he has not lost a match this year at 4.5 and beat Tim Green rather easily in 5.0 at Alamo City. I would have to put him right behind Brian Smith and Thomas Reader as third best LEVELS (not open) player in the state as I would go with him to have won the four 5.0 majors that Green won had Alfonso played those tournaments at 5.0. Again, just my opinion and not meant as a slight to Tim who is a really strong player. Alfonso is just better. Just imagine how it must feel for Federer to deal with the fact that Nadal is just better than him now.

2008 5.0 Major Zone Winners & Finalists

With only Sectionals and Master's Cup left to go, I thought I would provide a rundown of winners and finalists at the 5.0, 4.5, and 4.0 levels, starting with the 5.0's.

Abilene - Winner: Tim Green Runner Up: Jason Gound
SAPTA - Winner: Thomas Reader Runner Up: Reggie Black
Gallery - Winner: Brian Smith Runner Up: Thomas Reader
Corpus - Winner: Tim Green Runner Up: Joe Schornick
Waco - Winner: Thomas Reader Runner Up: Jason Gound
Tyler - Winner: Tim Green Runner Up: Jason Gound
Alamo - Winner: Brian Smith Runner Up: Thomas Reader
FW - Winner: Tim Green Runner Up: Reggie Black

Of interest, only Brian Smith has beaten Thomas Reader this year and Tim Green has not won any major zone in which either Reader or Smith has played, so though he has won 4 major zones, he would rightfully have to be place third behind Smith and Reader even though he has them on points. Just my opinion.

Yee-Hawhhhh! Round 'em up for Fort Worth.

You wanted a new thread, you got a new thread. Much like the Tyler draw, the Fort Worth 4.5 draw lacks alot of the star fire power. I would honestly have to say at this point I would think the winner will be an unseeded, unknown player. I can't see JD winning and I haven't seen enough of Yien to be convinced he can take a major either, though his backboard style can definitely wear an opponent down in the Fort Worth heat, if the Heat Index rule is not in effect. I hate that rule, and honestly it is the reason that I do not play Fort Worth anymore. If you can't play 3 regular sets in the heat, then stick to your cozy Thursday night league if you ask me. The only seed that I could actually see winning this thing would be Adam Cherry. He is a poor man's Jason Gound and can stay out there all day with his consistent round house shots and "gladiator" never say die attitude.

5.0 should be easy. If Tim Green does not win this one, then he probably is tanking. I hope he does win this, I know he has done well there in the past, though he is not much of a heat warrior. Doesn't really matter when you can count a draw size on your hands and have 2 fingers left over (long way of saying 8 man draw).

Further south, Conroe actually has one of the strongest 4.5 draws it has had in quite some time. Schmucker and Leach should both be at the top of the favorites list. Not sure why Chris picked this drive for 100 points instead of Fort Worth's 400, but to each his own. Good luck to both of those guys at Conroe and to everyone else playing this weekend. Remember to wear lots of sunscreen and try to enjoy the cramping.

I almost forgot, the 4.0 draws....nah, I didn't forget.

Ready to Sweat?

Alamo City just a few days away. A bit of a shift this time around as Master of 4.5 Alfonso Rodriguez steps up to take on the 5.0 crowd, followed by fellow 4.5 Yien Zheng. Zheng will probably make it to the 2nd round and then get a rude send off by Brian Smith. Rodriguez will get a chance to prove his 3 set victory over Tim in 2005 (?) was not a fluke. I think he takes it but I do not see him as a sure thing in that match. I hope he does win the match because a Reader/Rodriguez match up would be extremely compelling. That one I would have to call a push as I have no idea who would emerge as both are very strong players. If you look at how Rodriguez has dominated Trautman this year it is hard to believe that he will not be able to hang with Reader, but I do not mind being wrong as Reader is also a tremendous player. Dibua should face Smith in the other semi and I would definitely have to go with Smith unless he has a problem playing in hot conditions. He seems fit, so probably not. After taking that one, I would assume he then wins the tournament. I wonder how shocked everyone would be, if Alfonso would somehow emerge champion. I can't say that it cannot happen.

4.5s, no Alfonso means that Trautman will have no reason not to show up and play, especially since he lives in San Antonio. Either Juan Dekruyff or Ben Hawkins might be able to give him trouble in the top half, especially Juan, but I think there is just a great a chance that Juan doesn't even show up for the tournament. If he does, watch out for him, he is a very interesting player. I do not know this Gruno guy that is being highly touted. If he can beat Alejandro in the 1st round then he definitely has the potential to take the tournament. If Alejandro takes it, I would pick him to win the entire tournament. A 2nd round match up between Anthony Tatu and Kris Knutson would be an interesting one to witness, especially 2nd match of the day. Should be a war of attrition, though not likely an exhibition of strong fundamental tennis strokes.

As always, I have no opinion on either Open or 4.0. Please fill in the blanks in those draws if you would be so kind.

To all the players with a shot at winner their draws, please don't go crazy on the free beer...you know who you are.

Remember The Alamo!....City MZ Deadline.

Last string was getting really long (120+), so time to start fresh. Congrats to Tyler Champs, you know who you are, even if I haven't heard of some of you. To those participating in Al Edwards, have fun, but not much too talk about given the small draws. Reggie wins 5.0 and either Halm or Morales win 4.5. Done.

More importantly, deadline for Alamo City is Sunday, June 29, so remember to sign up. Please feel free to take the Dinker Challenge and sign up for the 5.0 draw. If you are a glutton for the punishment that 12 man singles and 3 team doubles draws represent (sarcastic), sign up for both events. More seriously and Dinker's comments aside, it would be great to see more guys playing 5.0, thus producing more interesting draws and the prospect of a true weekend's worth of tennis. Even better, if you do sign up for 5.0 and lose, why not actually stick around and play your consolation match for a change. That might also inspire some of the guys from 4.5 who are willing to give 5.0 a try, but know they may very well lose in the 1st round, the prospect of getting at least a couple of matches under their belt.

Finally, only 2nd round of Wimbledon and both Djokovic and Roddick are already gone. Time to pull for Safin. Maybe Alfonso will end up dropping a match here in Texas before the season is done....though I dont' see who could pull it off.

Stumped on Tyler.

Well, with the draws out, the only thing I feel confident on predicting is that it will likely rain at least once over the 3 days. Other than that, 4.5 is about as open of a field as I have seen this year with no Rodriguez, Sanchez, Trautman, etc. and Schmucker having already pre-announced the customary no-show default. Zheng is solid and can stand the heat. Leach has to be the hometown favorite and has won this event before. Griggs has won major zones in the past. Luedtke is a pomposs a** but he is a very crafty, solid player. Knuston can definitely annoy his way to the finals. JD Miles can go far if his game is on. Goldberg, never say never, he tries harder than anyone else on the court. All these guys are solid but I would have to think Jason Cooney actually has the best shot if he has been playing recently. Let's go with Cooney vs. Zheng in the finals, with Cooney winning. With Leach as honorable mention as the 2nd favorite from the bottom half. Kallus, sorry you did not draw Bye as your 1st round opponent this time. Hopefully Chris will go easy on you and good luck in consolation, it is your's to lose.

5.0 - Well, at least the draw made. You got your Jason Gound and you got your Tim Green, in opposite halves respectively. Lets go with Jason over Tim in a tough 3 setter. If it goes the other way, it will not be a shock either. Of course, there could definitely be a guest champion among the couple of unknown guys in the draw.

4.0 - ZZZZZZZZ. I'm sorry, I dozed off. What were we talking about?

Anyway, good luck to everyone and here's hoping you get your $80 in gas money's worth of tennis out of the weekend.

Time for Tyler Talk

I will wait for the draws to come out before making any of my worthless Tyler predictions. I can say that I am confident that Alfonso Rodriguez will not win 4.5 this time around. Remember back in early spring, when every other post was "Sarosh this" and "Sarosh that"? The guy is all but forgotten and Alfonso seems to have emerged as the new 4.5 focal point. Not much else to add right now, but it was time for a new discussion string anyway as the other one had gotten quite lenghtly and had way too much talk of Knutson vs. X. I am obviously to blame as well since I was the one who put up the polls. Someone asked for a Knutson vs. Reader poll but I won't even waste the time on that one cause a poll result of Knutson 1, Reader 39 just seems mean.