Tennis Warehouse-Central Florida Chapter (Greater Orlando Area)

[mikeler]

Originally Posted by Power Player

Interesting...I wonder when this all goes down.

Doesn't sound like anytime soon. Dang lightning ran me off the courts tonight during a tight match. At least I got a set and a half in.

[Power Player]

Yeah the weather was brutal. Sounds like more of the same tonight unfortunately.

[mikeler]

Originally Posted by Power Player

Yeah the weather was brutal. Sounds like more of the same tonight unfortunately.

Only 40% chance of rain, but they are calling for the east and west coast sea breezes to collide over the middle of the state. Maybe it will hold off until a little bit later in the evening like last night.

I like this page for the detailed weather forecast:

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/mlb/

The impact weather graphicast up top is very descriptive. Also, there is a Hazardous Weather Outlook and sometimes Short Term Forecast after you enter your zip that is very descriptive.

[Power Player]

I use that wftv custom doppler. some days it has been dead on. Last night it did not see the massive death storm that came through though. I really want to hit tonight..real bad..I hope I can.

[mikeler]

Looking good up in Winter Park still.

[dgoran]

Hey guys had no idea about Central Florida thread. I am huuughe Tennis fan, anyhow I have no idea about my NTRP ratings but I would love to hit with you guys.

I am always struggling in finding players to hit with.

Anyhow when ever you guys are available just email me at gdraskovic_at_gmail.com I am pretty flexible so I should be able to play.

-Goran

[Power Player]

Yep..WP was good. I got in over 3 hours. One thing I notice is that I hit a lot better 1 on 1. Sometimes we do 1 hitting to 2 if it gets busy. If I am not the 1 guy feeding 2 people my game goes to crap because of no rthymn.

[mikeler]

Originally Posted by Power Player

Yep..WP was good. I got in over 3 hours. One thing I notice is that I hit a lot better 1 on 1. Sometimes we do 1 hitting to 2 if it gets busy. If I am not the 1 guy feeding 2 people my game goes to crap because of no rthymn.

I'm not a fan of just hitting, but I know what you mean. Sometimes playing doubles I love warming up by myself hitting with two guys on the other side.

[dgoran]

BTW I just moved to UCF area from Down town area and are there any courts close to this area that are open to public? Are we allowed to play in UCF for example?

[mikeler]

Originally Posted by dgoran

BTW I just moved to UCF area from Down town area and are there any courts close to this area that are open to public? Are we allowed to play in UCF for example?

Your best bet is probably Red Bug.

[Spinz]

Originally Posted by mikeler

Yeah, I asked him what was going on with OTC last week. He said it will be run by the City for a while. There was a rumor that in August it would be run by a private contractor. He bid against Etennis to run Azalea and apparently won. It appears those two will also compete to run OTC when the City is ready to turn it over. As long as MG Tennis stays out of the running, I think things will be fine. I just wish they could fix the courts that are flooded every morning from evening showers the night before.

I hope he has the $$$ to fix some of the courts at Azalea. They used to have some of the best green clay public courts but not anymore.

[mikeler]

Originally Posted by Spinz

I hope he has the $$$ to fix some of the courts at Azalea. They used to have some of the best green clay public courts but not anymore.

I'm not sure how that will work. My guess would be that the City covers that. The last time I played there the courts were in great shape. That place off of Lee Road used to have awesome clay courts, but they fell into disrepair.

[Power Player]

OK..the dirt on the whole thing.

It will happen soon. Like this year. The Azalea people want Etennis and not Frank to run it because they believe that he will not fix the courts as mentioned by spinz. There are only 2 hard courts at azalea that are any good (out of 8 ), so you pretty much have to want to play clay or deal with some weird bounces.

John from Etennis has expressed that he would invest into fixing the courts and improving the facility.

There was a townhall meeting about it on wednesday where some of the guys went and spoke their peace. Frank won the bid, but IMO he will have to go above and beyond the call of duty or a lot of the people at Azalea may leave and go to OTC.

[mikeler]

Originally Posted by Power Player

OK..the dirt on the whole thing.

It will happen soon. Like this year. The Azalea people want Etennis and not Frank to run it because they believe that he will not fix the courts as mentioned by spinz. There are only 2 hard courts at azalea that are any good (out of 8 ), so you pretty much have to want to play clay or deal with some weird bounces.

John from Etennis has expressed that he would invest into fixing the courts and improving the facility.

There was a townhall meeting about it on wednesday where some of the guys went and spoke their peace. Frank won the bid, but IMO he will have to go above and beyond the call of duty or a lot of the people at Azalea may leave and go to OTC.

Frank told me about everything a few weeks ago and then last time I saw him he told me to keep it quiet. Etennis is going to bid on OTC too. Apparently there were 7 or 8 bidders on Azalea including MG Tennis. Frank mentioned he had lunch with Marcelo who runs MG earlier in the week. I'm guessing they might be discussing partnering up for the OTC bid. Frank running Winter Park could hurt him with winning the OTC bid.

My bottom line is this. Raise my membership fee if you have to. I don't want to play on clumpy clay courts or even worse courts with no clay at all. If I'm forced onto a hard court, I don't want to see a million cracks on it and on any court, you have to have nice bright lines.

[Spinz]

I know I don't care who wins as long as the courts are improved. The clay courts used to be fantastic. They are still okay compared to say what Metro West used to be like (I havent been there in years but they used to be pretty bad), but getting bad with mold growing and some spots where you can trip. They really need to pull the lines up and redo that part at a minimum.

I would pay more too if they put money into the courts.

[Spinz]

Originally Posted by mikeler

That place off of Lee Road used to have awesome clay courts, but they fell into disrepair.

Is that facility closed? I haven't been over there in a long time.

[bad_call]

Originally Posted by Spinz

Is that facility closed? I haven't been over there in a long time.

same here. Spinz - u been playing a while? just curious what your rating is? (self or ntrp...no matter)

[Spinz]

Originally Posted by bad_call

same here. Spinz - u been playing a while? just curious what your rating is? (self or ntrp...no matter)

I've been playing since I was little, but not always constantly playing as I have taken some breaks. I'm a 4.5 player.

[Power Player]

Azaelea could be an amazing place. I also like the vibe of OTC a lot. Every time I go there to drop off sticks for frank everyone is super nice. They have some hot girls who play there, which is always a bonus, and the level of players can get pretty high. The only thing I notice about OTC is that it is not as easy to go up there in the evening nd hit until 10. They close earlier, and also everything seems more scheduled.

Azalea has a solid core of regulars that are really good players.I basically get free lessons sometimes from some of the guys I hit with, which is awesome because they have made me into a way better player in under 6 months.

There is something about Azalea where everyone shows up and plays and just all hits together that is cool. I know I can go at certain times and play for hours. What I am getting at is that I hope that does not go away, because it is not easy to find that type of setting.

[mikeler]

OTC has that same pickup game thing going for it. I was a 4.5+ before I started to play there. After getting schooled by the 5.0s up there at first, I now have a winning record against most of them.

I think that Lee Road place has been closed for a few years. The first time I played there, the clay courts were great. The last time I was there, the courts were almost unplayable.