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
We hope you do a better job with the 4.5 teams than you did with The Borg's dominate performance in 4.0. Either way thanks for making this blog something new and fun. This blog let's me know who to watch out on the courts. Keep up the great work.
ReplyDeleteI concur with Curious George (who by the way has now added an additional"u" to his name; previously in the 4.0 playoff write ups he was known as "Curios" George. But I digress). Lob Master thanks for making watching the 4.0 playoffs fun. Regardless of the outcome of the 4.0 playoffs, I thought you did an excellent job breaking down each of the teams. Although I don't know much about the 4.5s, it seems you have once again done a very thorough job.
DeleteThank you c. George for reading the blog. Fair oaks was the team to beat. The Borg just got hot on that weekend. You can believe that right? Anytime you have anything to add to the blog don't hesitate. A lot of people are reading and I hope more will start posting.
DeleteHere is a informative video clip from bloggers around the state. Enjoy!!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.xtranormal.com/watch/13437940/the-usta-rating-system
That was funny.
DeleteI think I was one of those drunk opponents he played. I was playing up in rating, but probably doing so because I was drunk when I registered for the league.