New Rule

I like this.  There has been some shadiness in the past, including at Nationals, which may have been the impetus behind this.  I certainly hope that the rule is in place at Sectionals, where it's easier to pass someone off as someone else.  

Hey Team Captains,

Please note:

Effective Immediately, June 3, 2009: Team captains may request a picture identification (drivers license) to verify opposing players identification.  The league committee may take any action they deem necessary for failure to provide this information upon request by the opposing team captain.

Thanks,

diana

Across the State

Austin Wild won the big battle with Old School for 4.5 supremacy in Austin, 3-2.  The decisive match between Juan DeKruyff and Chad Case was 6-7, 7-6, 10-7 to Case.  

San Antonio had its 4.0 playoffs this weekend.  Michael Spadoni's team featuring James Murray and crafty veteran Armando Abney prevailed after finishing the season undefeated.  Second place team Smash was upset in the semis, perhaps costing itself a berth at Sectionals.  

Remi Osho

Unfortunately the traffic on this blog is at its lowest on Sundays but I hope people will get a chance to see this.  Rest in Peace, Remi.

To all tennis players,

Remi Osho has passed. His family and friends are having a memorial/fundraiser for him this evening at Woodlake tennis center at 7pm. Address is 2200 Tanglewilde. Thanks to all for your thoughts and prayers.

Sienna

I just completed my 300 mile drive home from the remote outpost of Sienna Plantation and figured I'd share the results with y'all.  

In 4.5, the Deucebags had an interesting lineup.  Aadrian Hasker, James Bui and Miguel Morales were all missing for various reasons, (Hasker had a commitment to a friend and I was told that Bui and Morales didn't want to make the long drive, but that may not be true) but Alain Tran and Derrick Dugas were both there to cheer their teammates on.  Captain Tran decided to leave himself and Dugas out of the lineup.  

Without Hasker, the Deucebags were shorthanded in singles and Sienna took advantage, as Juan Trevino and Andre Costilla both won.  The Deucebags took the first two doubles lines and the match came down to Ward Jannuzzi and Ed Mouton against Ian Bird and Justin Smith.  Last year I played some 4.0 and 4.5...Bird kicked my ass in a 4.0 match and he was every bit as impressive as any of the 4.5 players I played.  Tonight he and Smitty came up big, winning the clincher for Sienna.  

Sugar Creek will benefit from the Deucebags loss, but also lost themselves tonight by a 4-1 count to the 4.5 Hurricanes.  Omon Dibua trounced Simon Jim and Odion squeaked past Antoine Ford in a third set breaker.  Phong Regent saw his first action for the Hurricanes and came through with a W.  

In 4.0 out at Sienna, the Hurricanes squeaked out a 3-2 win.  I'll be honest, I was expecting a more lopsided score.  The Hurricanes played many of their new players, but all of them were in dogfights with the tough Sienna players.  

Daniel Durand is not an impressive looking player.  I'm sure most spectators were thinking "I'd kill that guy", as he continually floated balls back at his opponent and hit first serves that may not have broken the speed limit.  But the guy is good at what he does, and has frustrated many an opponent.  He came through with another 3 set victory tonight over Hank Kravec.

Greg Dwyer pulled out a tough win at line 2 singles for the 'Canes over Doug Whitehead, a class act whose son will be attending UT next season on a tennis scholarship.  Bruce Inting continued his remarkable run...he's now 20-1 this year in all of his league matches (HTA, USTA, mixed, tri-level, etc.)  after having a similar record last season.  He teamed with rookie Tu Tran to pull out an 11-9 win in the third set breaker.  

Ronnie Kwan and Ed Metoyer pulled out a big win over Scott Foster and Sebastien Chambert, both of whom have had success at the 4.5 level this season.  Kwan and Metoyer played solid tennis and really frustrated their opponents with some well-placed lobs, winning in straight sets.

  

So, the two matches between the Hurricanes and Sienna 4.0 teams both went 3-2 and could have gone either way.   The division winner will probably come down to lines or even sets won.  

As noted, some other results are trickling in....Bear Creek pulled out a win in their showdown and NWO continued to roll.  Kingwood Crush also had an easy victory over the Hurricanes 2 team. Also, Lakeside won their battle with the Smokers 3-2, making it a three horse race in 4.0's most competitive division.

4.0 Takes Center Stage

It's already been touched upon in the previous thread, but there are at least 3 big matches in 4.0 this week.  

For my money, the Lakeside-Smokers battle is the biggest.  Many people "in the know" feel that Lakeside has the most dangerous team in the division, but has had its back against the wall since its week one loss to Chancellor's.  A Smokers win will make it almost a foregone conclusion that Chancellor's and the Smokers will be the division's city playoff representatives.  A win by Lakeside makes it a three horse race.

Sienna and the Hurricanes have their second battle of 2009 after round one went down to the wire. I expect that both teams will have radically different lineups this time.  The loser will still have a big leg up on JCC for the second playoff slot.  Look for the Hurricanes to exact some revenge in this one.  

Bear Creek and Copperfield both put their spotless records on the line in a match that is mainly for bragging rights.  With the way the playoffs have been set up in recent years, there really is no advantage to winning your regular season flight.  Both of these teams have fallen somewhat under the radar and will have a chance to earn some much-needed respect this week.  

There have been a few lineup additions to some 4.5 rosters again in recent weeks that I failed to mention.   Sam Holmes and league veteran Chris Lubrano (who introduced me to USTA league way back in 1997) have joined the Copperfield roster and the 4.5 Hurricanes have added former SuperChamp and Aggie Soong Hay Tam.  Holmes crushed Jochen Moser in his 2009 debut and will be a nice addition for the Lobsters.  

The Hurricane 4.5 team faces Sugar Creek this week...hopefully Sean Straley will be available for this one.  The Deucebags travel to Sienna in the other match in that Division.  Not too much else of interest in 4.5 this week. 

5.0 is a runaway at this point.  The battle is for second.  Willowfork has a chance to get in the conversation if they can beat Westside this week.  

Any Scores Rolling in yet?

Any early results from tonight?

I hope the Kingwood v. Westside (what was their name again?) smack talking was settled on the court.

I saw the that 4.5 Hurricane team was done quickly tonight and shared some remarks about having to play the weakest team in their division.

What else happened?

Last week

I forgot to mention something about last week's matches. Yes, he's out of practice. Yes, he's not in the shape he once was. But he's still dangerous. Steve Phan ran his career 4.5 singles record to 18-0 last week. In fact, it was the first time he's ever dropped a set.

He's got some work to do, but if his being in the lineup is an indication that he's "getting back into it", things could get interesting come playoff time in 4.5.