Sonterra Select has strong Fall

Last weekend the Sonterra select 4.0 40+ team fought through a tough sectional draw to win the sectional championships. I don't have a lot of info but I know clutch play from Bingham, Arellano and Rojas really helped the team win it all. The Select tri-level team will also represent San Antonio at sections in Feb ( I think). Congratulation to these teams and good luck in the spring. Next year it looks like nationals will be on the line. 

USTA league restructuring vs. NTRP

The USTA continues to restructure their leagues into a more "age friendly" format. How do you feel this impacts the importance of the NTRP rating system? After all, NTRP was designed to level the playing field regardless of age. The USTA seems to be catering to junior and senior members which is likely where the majority of funds are flowing in from.  Whats next, 40+ tournaments?

SATA Board of Directors Voting (now - Nov. 27)

Voting for the SATA Board of Directors will begin on Monday, November 12 and continue through noon on Tuesday, November 27.   

A list of the candidates (including bios) and  can be viewed on the SATA website at the following link: http://www.satennis.com/2012_sata_board_election/

Click on the following link for the 2012 ballot and voting instructions:  http://www.satennis.com/2012_sata_board_election/ballot/

Please take the time to consider who will best serve our association and vote.

If anyone wants to add any information you are free to do so by clicking on comments below. 

USTA Pro Circuit comes to Newks

Don't miss your chance to see some great tennis this weekend. This is the closest pro tournament we have to the San Antonio area . Just a short drive to the John Newcombe country club in New Braunfels. Several top 100 hundred players are still in the main draw. Watch from just a few feet away as rising stars face grand slam veterans. I believe Fridays quarterfinals are free to the public while the remaining days there will be a small charge. If you get a chance please come out and support these ladies. We want them come back next year. Below is a link where you can find more information. Match schedules and times are also posted on the USTA Pro Circuit website and updated daily. 

P.S.  Sorry for the delay in posting topics this fall. I have been busy working and traveling. I expect to increase activity on the blog as the Spring season approaches. 

http://ka9188.wix.com/newkschallenger#!home/mainPage

The fall of the fall season...two generations deprived of competition

Time for a change of pace. A little birdie told me this is to be our last 18 & over fall season. From now on the 40 & over league will dominate the fall. Anyone want to throw any early predictions out on any of the fall leagues.  As usual 4.0 is full and will likely be devided into three flights. The 4.5 looks like the usual suspects with a few bump-ups from mid year ratings. Probably should include the 3.0 and 3.5 guys since the league disorganizations merged into one organization. I know am looking forward to playing in the cooler temperatures this fall after having a busy summer. Any comments regarding the future of the fall leagues are welcome.

Funny video from Dallas tennis

Who's favored at sectionals?

Okay the flights for sectionals in Dallas are set for Aug. 3, 4, and 5.

4.0 Playoffs
Flight 1- Dallas, SETX, Lubbock, San Antonio, Wild 1
Flight 2- Ft Worth, Amarillo, Wild 5, Waco, Wild 2
Flight 3- NETX, San Angelo, NOHO, Valley, Wild 3
Flight 4- Houston, Midland, Austin, Corpus Cristi, Wild 4

4.5 Playoffs
Flight 1- SETX, Valley, Austin, Wild 3
Flight 2- Dallas, NETX, NOHO, Wild 1
Flight 3- Corpus Christi, Ft Worth, San Angelo, San Antonio
Flight 4- Houston, Waco, Amarillo, Wild 2

Who do feel has the toughest flight? Who would you say are the favorites to win their flight in 4.0 and 4.5?

**The teams that recieve a wild could change predictions
depending on which flight they draw.

4.0 Wild - Houston, Dallas, Austin, San Antono, ??
4.5 Wild - ??

Bub Walthall Tournament Experience:…………eh!

I had an opportunity to play in the Bub Walthall tournament this past weekend (July 6-8). While I typically don’t play tournaments as much I play league tennis, I did play doubles in this tournament.  Overall I had a good experience although there are some things I didn’t like about playing in the tournament.  Here is a recap of my experience:

First of all on a good note, I did win my first round, however, on a sour note; the match was scheduled for Friday, at 6:00pm at the McFarlin Tennis Center but we did not get on the court until 7:00pm. On Friday, my doubles partner and I both arrived around 5:00 or 5:15 just to avoid the risk of defaults or game penalties for being late. We went to the tournament office and checked in at 5:30 to let them know we were present (our opponents had not checked in).  At 5:50pm I went back to the tournament office and asked if our opponents checked in, I was told that they had not checked in.  We began pre-match preparations, stretching, loosening up, mental prep, more hydration, etc since 6pm was approaching.  At 6:00pm (start time for our match) since we still hadn’t been called and we were starting to get a little antsy, so I went back to the tournament office.  The official behind the desk was a bit busy with other players, but I was able to see the check in list and our opponents had still not checked in; I didn’t speak to anyone, but went back to report to my doubles partner. At 6:10pm we still hadn’t been called so once again I went back to the tournament office. I asked how long we were going to wait on our opponents to check in since the match was already 10 minutes behind schedule.  It was at that time that I was told that one of my opponents was playing a singles match and that he had just got done. The official informed me that the opponent was over at the AnneMarie Tennis Center and had just left and that we were going to delay the start our match in order to give him time to arrive. I asked how much time we were going to give them to arrive, he stated “until he gets here and checks in”.  While I understand our opponents have the right to play singles and doubles or any other specialty category; that right however, should not inconvenience others that are waiting to play.  If you are a player that likes to have pre-match rituals, those can be thrown off if you don’t know what time your match is going to start. I felt like someone should have informed us a lot sooner that there was a time conflict with our first match. Regardless, we won the match 6-1, 6-2, but were done an hour later than when I had informed my family I would be done. Don't know if these things are typical of tournament play; however, they were still annoying.

Secondly, on Saturday, we were scheduled to play our second round match at 2pm in the afternoon at the AnneMarie Tennis Center. At this point I don’t know what was worse, having to play at 2pm in the afternoon in Texas July heat or playing at the AnneMarie Tennis Center; oh wait, I had to do both! For those of you who have never played at the AnneMarie Tennis Center, you are not missing much. In fact, if I lived in the Northside ISD, I would be completely embarrassed with the conditions at the tennis center and would want to question how my tax dollars are being spent. Not only are the court surfaces in horrible condition; cracks all over the court as well as right along the baseline, the space between courts is unfathomably close; I got pulled slightly wide to hit a forehand return of serve on the deuce side and was already in the alley of the court next to me.  I can’t even count how many times our balls rolled onto the court next to us or vice-versa due to the close proximity of the courts.  Another complaint I have with the AnneMarie Tennis Center is that there is absolutely no shade available except for the covered area right by the tennis office. They have bleachers situated around the complex, but no awnings or shelter of any kind to shade viewers (at least McFarlin has trees and Blossom Tennis Center has covers on their bleachers). And lastly with AnneMarie Tennis Center, I think the fact that it is so close to the expressway (Loop 410 North) and there are not any trees within the vicinity it makes for constant windy court conditions.  Needless to say, we lost our second round match, but not due to the conditions at AnneMarie, we just didn’t play well.

I guess that when it comes to league play, it now makes sense to me why some teams that don't have a tennis club such as Green Tree, Sonterra, Windcrest, Fair Oaks, Shadow Cliff, etc. to call home make McFarlin their “home” court and why some teams make Blossom or Alamo Heights Tennis Centers their “home” court, but no one ever makes AnneMarie their “home” court.  Northside ISD taxpayers demand they fix your “home” courts!  There is no reason why the tennis courts at one of the largest school districts in the state of Texas should be in that condition. 

Other than those two issues (start time for first match and conditions at AnneMarie), I had a decent experience playing in a tournament. Still like league play a little more; but everyone has their own preferences.  Special congratulations go out to SA ACE (Blog Master for this Blog) on his success at the Bub Walthall tournament this weekend; great job SA ACE!!!

Mixed Doubles Dilemma

After playing men's doubles exclusively for the last ten years, I have recently started playing some mixed doubles again.  I played competitive mixed doubles in high school and a couple of times on a USTA league long ago. Now that I am older, I am struggling with playing against a female opponent. I feel guilty hitting some of my heavier shots in the direction of the lady. I even find myself slowing down my serve against the lady if I see she is struggling with the return. I have always been instructed to go through my opponent in doubles which means you must hit right at the women. I have been reluctant to do so. In fact I feel guilty, even when my mixed partner tells me to do it. Apparently, it is the strategy to pick on the women. I have heard players say that mixed is fun but what is fun about picking on a lady on a tennis court? I feel that the levels are not equal in ability but that is how the USTA has structured the league. From what I can tell a 3.5 lady has about the same ability as a 3.0 man, and so on. Maybe if the format were different, then the ladies would not always be the weaker players.

 I should mention that one of my last mixed USTA matches long ago, ended with the lady retiring from the match.  A hard shot hit her racquet and deflected to hit her in the face. The ball was just hit with pace and she reached for it. Her contact lens ended up cutting her eye. She also busted a blood vessel in her eye. Her eye was actually bleeding and she went to the hospital that night to make sure it was OK. Here eye was hurting her pretty bad and she was crying tears and blood when she left. After this, you can see why I struggle with mixed. She simply misjudged the pace and spin on the ball. She was simply trying to play above her level.

Please comment with your thoughts. I am competitive and I just have a hard time motivating myself to go out a pick on a lady every Sunday. Ladies, I have heard you say ,"this is what we signed up for."  I find that hard to believe.  I just feel like a jerk hitting aces and hard shots at the girls. Hitting a ball and then feeling guilty deep down is not fun. Hopefully, some mixed doubles players can comment.

Stringly Speaking

I am constantly being teased by members of my team on how often (or actually how infrequent) I string my rackets. I have three identical tennis rackets and I strung them all at the exact same tension, with the exact same type of string. Two of the rackets were strung on the same day, the other one was strung at a different time because of when it was purchased.  

Whenever I play, I switch rackets after every set regardless of how close the match is, how well or how poorly I am playing.  I have told myself that I don’t want to become psychologically dependent on either racket. They are identical in almost every way possible including the grip on them.  I have played with/against people who say, “I serve better with racket A, but my ground strokes (or volleys) are better with racket B”. I even played doubles against a guy once who returned serve with one racket, then would switch rackets when his partner was returning serve because he volleyed better with the other racket then went back to the first racket when he returned serve again; that was crazy! 

I don’t know much about types of strings or how to string a racket; I often hear guys talking about the types of strings they use; how they use one type going one way and another type going the other way. I’ve heard terms such as gauge, nylon, polyester, multifilament, hybrids, main strings, and cross strings. I also don’t know if my switching of rackets every set is also extending the life of my strings, because they don’t break as frequently as some of my teammates’ racket strings break. So, how long have I had the strings on my racket? The stringing info stickers on the two rackets I strung at the same time say 01-03-2011 the other says 02-02-2012 (my wife says I’m just cheap). I haven’t noticed any deterioration in their performance and I did pretty well in the league this season, so I guess it doesn’t affect my play. I often joke that my strings are just now breaking in! 

So, let’s get some feedback on your racket strings. Do you guys change them regularly whether you think they need changing or not? How long do your strings “last” before you notice deterioration in their performance? Do you only change them when they break? Are you particular about the types of strings you use? Do you use one type going one way and another type going the other way? Let’s hear from you guys.

4.5 Mens Playoff Predictions

     Playoffs are here for the 4.5 league. I really enjoy watching tennis at this level because you get to see a variety of skills. Is it better to hit hard or use spins or finesse? The answer is....any or all of them as long as you get a win. I remember watching one of our singles players warm up and clearly thinking, "This guy is going to blow him off the court within an hour." Wrong, credit to Mr De Hoyos for grinding it out and making it a great match to watch. Now let's breakdown some of the key players you would expect to see out on the courts during the playoffs.

    Dominion Aguilas (12-2) are on top of the standings for a reason. Talk about having a cup half full. Their singles options will be Alejandro Sanchez, Francisco Garcia, Hector Munoz, Tony Sifuentes and Luis Hernandez. Doubles are a little harder to figure but expect to see Luis Moreno/Jorge Vasquez, Daniel Cambon/Tony Sifuentes and George Brother/Carlos Uribe. This line up should win during the playoffs. Expect this team to continue to dominate. 


    Blossom Force (11-3) also have some impressive players to pick from. Singles player are Stephan Poole, Tyler Crawford, Bradford Anderson, Scott Schendel, Jason Michaud and Thomas Reader. Doubles should consist of Sundy Muniz/Baumgartner ,Thomas Cline/Scott Wilbur and Stephan Poole/Bradford Anderson to even have a chance against Dominion. They might not have the deepest team but they only need 3 lines to get a win. Anyone see Thomas Reader play lately?? Damm good!!


    JCC SA 4.5 (9-5) will this team do more than watch the final from the sideline? Singles Henri Akono, Victor Torres, Brandon Delnano, Patric Castillo, Thomas Wild, Jason Martinez and Tejinder Somal. Doubles should look like Mike Vogal/Scott Meyers, Mike Miller/Matt Colton and Randy Tawil/Joshua Villarreal. The doubles look solid but unfortunately their singles are not at the same level as the teams ranked above them. Looks like their best chance at singles did not qualify to play the post season, Mr Del Campo!! :-(


     Sonttera Smash (6-6) Will this team win more than a participation ribbon for their playoff efforts? Singles should be Scott Fonger, Ferny Avila, Chris Shaw, Enrique Medina, Christian Beyer and Francisco Santos. Doubles should include Robert Wood/Fernando Avila, Davis Lesch/Kevin Mullins. Robert Wood did a great job of getting this team to the playoffs but I don't expect them to put much of a fight going forward. Just not enough quality depth on this team for the elite 4.5 level.


   This is a quick run down of the 4.5  playoff teams and who to look for in match ups. Lets hope all teams have their best players available when they are needed. Time to send a tough team to sectionals. 


   Good luck to the teams that advanced to the playoffs.  Please let me know your opinion or thoughts on these teams or if I am way off on my assessment. Who do you think will take it all or is any team not showing their full potential??


Lob Master

Shout out to all leagues and players

If you would like to share information regarding your league on the blog then do not hesitate to contact me using the email address on the side bar. Partipants can suggest topics for discussion and surveys that can inhance their experience playing tennis in San Antonio. Right now the 4.0 men's league has been the only league discussed on the blog. Both men's and women's leagues, 2.5-5.0 are welcome to participate. It is your sport and this can be a extension of your racquet.

Playoff Update

Playoff picture is set for this weekend 5-19/20-2012. The seeding is out and so are the draws. Let's do a little breakdown of the first round matches and beyond.




Round #1, Boerne 4.0 vs Sontera Rojo winner to play Fair Oaks Raiders



Boerne has options in singles with Ron Tope, Derek Clow, Larry Gromley and Dennis DeCreny. The question is which of these 4 player with play against Rojo. The line you would expect to see on Saturday would likely be Larry and Dennis singles, Jack Clow/Tope,  Shoemaker/Olmstead, and  Mahler/D. Clow. Why? This line up that crushed Sontera Select in their only loss of the season. This may come down to how the captains play their lineup. Both sides need to be creative to win.


Sontera Rojo's singles players are David Trang, Buddy Lomax, Stephen Ison and Michael Latimer. What line up should you expect to see are Trang and Ison in singles, Doubles combo Scott/Tilley, Seale/Ross and Restrepo/Fields. Rojo made it to the finals in the fall, can they get there again??



Winner - 3-2 Rojo. No, maybe Boerne. It is going to be a fun match to watch but whoever wins will NOT have the depth or fire power to compete against the Fair Oaks Raiders!! Again, this is for fun right??




Fair Oak Raider's potential singles Greg Mabrito, Jason Granato, Orlando Pares, Eric Davis, and Jared Thomas. Potential line up are Mabrito and Davis. Doubles Thomas/Stone, Thompson/C Lowry and Coker/Clarkson. The truth is they could use any combination that we might not have seen before. Again, this team has a deep roster.


Fair Oaks Raiders win in semi-finals 5-0.





Round #1, Sontera Select Vs Oak Hills Clubbers winner will play Blossom Borg. Sorry, THE BORG.



Sontera Select's singles player are deep with Christian Beyer, Jorge Cosio, Jose Lopez amd Christopher Bingham. Potential Line up are Beyer and Lopez at singles. Doubles would be Bingham/Arellano, Ableman/Gayler and Gallaspy/Connolly. This team is singles heavy and will depend on them to get through to the next round. Wild card is Cosio because he plays both singles and doubles.



Oak Hill's Clubber's singles guys are Clayton Swann, Scott Kablesh, Ariel Navarro, Ricky Nunez, Raunaq Niekani and one more with Omar Gonzales. My money on seeing this weekend are Kablesh and Nunez to even compete against Sontera in singles. Doubles line up for this weekend you should expect to see Gonzales Brothers, Weintein/Bullard and Padua/Studevos. Now the opposite is true for this team that will lean of doubles to get them past their first round.



Winner - Potential #1 seed goes down. Sontera Select goes down 3-2 due to unfavorable doubles matchups and they will likely split the singles.  




The Borg - Blossom's singles players are Ronnie Valle, Luis Ortega, Brady Harrison, Kris Workman and Adrian Santillan. Favorable singles line ups are Kris and Luis. Doubles are Beltran/Montante, Leatherman/Bradshaw, and Maxey/Cuellar. This team must rely on their doubles as they have multiple players who have outclassed competitors state wide in the recent major zone tournaments. Their singles guys are good but I would not expect them to be able to compete with the 4.5 bump downs that are on other teams. Since the singles guys do not play many tournaments,  it is hard to gauge their ability to win when the pressure is on.

The Borg wins semi-finals 3-2 sweeping the doubles. Will be lucky to win a set in singles.

Now let's see how close I was to my predictions this weekend. Do you see anything playing out differently??

Lob Master

Mens 4.0 Predictions as playoffs approach

FLIGHT A

Sonterra Select (8-1) seem to be the team to beat in this flight. They appear to have found an automatic win in the singles line up with Christian Beyer, a 4.5 bump down. He has dominated the 4.0 and has only 1 loss in 4.5. Shawn Connolly's team has dominated this flight and only loss of the season was to.....Boerne 4.0.. Playoff Bound - 100%

Boerne 4.0 (8-2) also seems to be in the drivers seat for a playoff spot. They control their own destiny with 2 winnable matches left on their schedule. This team continues to impress with only 10 players on their roster and I'm thinking none of them under 40 years of age. They do NOT have one guaranteed win like Sontera Select but they will find a way to win. This is a real team effort. Hats off to Captain Derek Clow for moving players around to maximize their strengths. Playoff Bound - 95% 

FLIGHT B

Fair Oak Raiders (10-1) have put a 4.5 team at 4.0 level. You ask how could this be, please explain?? Okay, this team has at least 8 players that were bumped down from 4.5 at some point. They have been able to flex their muscle when needed also by adding high quality 4.0 players to compliment their already heavy line up. Gregory Mabrito has dominated all opponents at the #1 singles spot. This team is the favorite due to their depth and experience. Playoff Bound - 100%

Oak Hill Clubbers (6-4) control their playoff birth with 2 matches remaining. On paper, this team has all the players to dominate but unfortunately, your best player are not always available. Scot Kablesh, Ricky Nunez and the Gonzalez brothers will need to be available for the next 2 matches in order for this team to advance. Playoff Bound - 60%

Alamo Heights Diaballicals (6-5) have a slim chance to make it into the playoffs. Their last match of the season will be against Oak Hill Clubbers this weekend 5/5/2012. David Mellot has done a great job getting to this point without any super stars. Let's see if the Court Warrior can motivate his team this weekend for an upset and bring up their % to make the playoffs. Playoff Bound - 30%

Shavano Park Worrich (5-5) could sneak up and still find a playoff spot if all the stars aligned right. Another team with a lot of talent but unable to field them all at the same time. Scott Worrich and Ken Flores are some of the top singles players in the league. They also have the talent to put together some strong doubles teams as well. What needs to happen for this team to make the playoffs?? Help from the other teams plus dominate the last 2 matches 10-0. Playoff Bound 20% 

FLIGHT C

The Borg (10-0) seem to have put together a pretty solid roster this season. What do you expect when Captain Vic Quintanilla is involved.? This team has dominated this flight but the question is,  who are their top players?? A quick look at the tournament rankings may answer this question.  Every week the line ups change and the players you would expect to play are not available. This team may be undefeated simply by chance. Their strength is in doubles as they do not have a dominant singles stand out player. Playoff Bound - 100%

Sontera Rojo (7-3) plays Greentree this weekend for what could be the last playoff spot. Walter Leeman always seems to find the right combination to win matches. David Trang and Stephen Ison have  come through in singles when a win was needed. Not a lot of stars on this team but it's filled with quality players up and down the roster. Playoff Bound - 70%

Greentree (6-4) can NOT afford to lose any more matches if they want to make the playoffs. Can the winner this Fall bring it's best players this weekend??  Greentree has the talent to play against any team but again they are not always available. The surprise for the team so far has been Carey Calvert with a winning record against some top singles players in the league. Playoff Bound - 30%

I hope I was able to do every team justice in my evaluations. The recurring theme this season seemed to be really good players couldn't always be available. If your best players were always available, would the playoff teams still look the same?? Please let me know if I missed anything. 

I will try to handicap the playoffs once the draws are out for the 19th and 20th for further discussion and opinions. 

Prepared by Lob Master

Doubles players left out in the rain at Hooters Adult Tournament :(

Last weekend, showers prevented the Hooters Tournament at Fair Oaks from starting until late Sunday morning. At this point, it was announced that all doubles events were cancelled while singles was allowed to play using a shortened format. The tournament homepage on Tennislink states that we are due no refund for weather related cancellations. Many players still believe we are due a refund since doubles was never even started. Many players are also questioning the decision to choose to play singles events over doubles. It is my understanding that doubles events had more participants entered. This amounts to more money being spent on doubles without any product in return (except a t-shirt which was also given to singles players). Know one I have talked to has heard anything from the tournament director. No explanation, no apology or even a thank you, for the donation has been received. Several have suggested that doubles players should get a credit for doubles at next years Hooters tournament. I think that next year, the director could have consolation in all events to make-up for the cancellations this year. Several have discussed calling their credit card and protesting the charge since the tournament cancelled doubles without making an official written statement. The fact that single was played also makes the argument interesting. Please comment and give your opinions on the matter. Don't just say I will never play that tournament again. Try to come up with a real solution so that everyone feels better about what happened. I will see to it that comments are passed on to the tournament director.

Local San Antonio tennis player makes tournament directory cover

Can anyone guess who this player is? He went to sectionals last year and is also participating in the HEB Major Zone this weekend.