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
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
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.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
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
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
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