Mercedes $$$ Tournament in Phoenix

[TennisCoachFLA]

Originally Posted by BSPE84

Did SB ever play Herr or OB?

I think he made it to the finals at the Herr before and he has played the Orange Bowl. I believe he made it to the quarters or semis in an Orange Bowl.

[10isDad]

Originally Posted by TennisCoachFLA

I think he made it to the finals at the Herr before and he has played the Orange Bowl. I believe he made it to the quarters or semis in an Orange Bowl.

QF in 2009 Orange Bowl
SF in 2009 Eddie Herr

2007 - lost in finals of Herr (16s)

[Number1Coach]

Originally Posted by Rob_C

It would make things easier to actually 'drop the name', if you're gonna name drop. That way u save people the trouble of having to look stuff up and determine if what they found is what you're referring to.

Anyway, I'm guessing you're referring to his match against Sarmiento in La Habra. If so, decent result, 6-3, 6-4. Wouldn't say tight based on the score, but I wasn't there. Seems like a break each set, comfortable win to me, but I could be wrong.

Edit: I forgot to add, Sarmiento is ranked in the 1400s, Bangoura in the 800s, so they're about 600 places apart. I'd say they're close in ability cause I dont think that there's much difference between 8-900 & 1300-1400, just who can stay out longer playing Futures.

All you say here is good but never bring up rankings those have no purpose here in these discussion , just a heads up .

[JLyon]

sorry for dumb question but is their a link to the tournament? draw, etc...

[10isDad]

Originally Posted by JLyon

sorry for dumb question but is their a link to the tournament? draw, etc...

http://tennislink.usta.com/TOURNAMEN....aspx?T=117828

[NLBwell]

Was there a qualifying draw for the men's open, or did anyone who pay the money to enter get in?

[10isDad]

No qualie.

Watched several matches tonight. Not too many competitive matches but tomorrow should be good. First time seeing DB play. Hits one of the cleanest balls I've seen. Tomorrow he plays my son's former coach who said "He's gonna kick my butt" after seeing a few games. I think it will be entertaining as Mackay (the opponent) is a net rusher w/ great hands. Nice contrast of styles.

Another of my son's former coaches, Andrei Pavel, looked a bit rusty at first, but once he got the timing down he was nearly impeccable. He had several blazing backhand return winners - that one-hander is stunning. Pavel takes on Montoya, a junior who beat Deiton in the backdraw of Kalamazoo (2-6, 6-1, 12-10...a couple people I know who watched that match indicated Deiton should not have lost but played a bit "raw" and started overhitting when Montoya, a grinder extraordinaire, just put ball after ball in play).

I was able to watch a few games of TonLars as he put the hurt on a decent young junior. Nice game. Today he plays Alex Weiland, a scrappy former community college player at Scottsdale Community College.

Matches are earlier today, so hopefully I can get some pictures. Yesterday started too late in the day to get many pics.

[TennisCoachFLA]

Originally Posted by 10isDad

No qualie.

Watched several matches tonight. Not too many competitive matches but tomorrow should be good. First time seeing DB play. Hits one of the cleanest balls I've seen. Tomorrow he plays my son's former coach who said "He's gonna kick my butt" after seeing a few games. I think it will be entertaining as Mackay (the opponent) is a net rusher w/ great hands. Nice contrast of styles.

Another of my son's former coaches, Andrei Pavel, looked a bit rusty at first, but once he got the timing down he was nearly impeccable. He had several blazing backhand return winners - that one-hander is stunning. Pavel takes on Montoya, a junior who beat Deiton in the backdraw of Kalamazoo (2-6, 6-1, 12-10...a couple people I know who watched that match indicated Deiton should not have lost but played a bit "raw" and started overhitting when Montoya, a grinder extraordinaire, just put ball after ball in play).

I was able to watch a few games of TonLars as he put the hurt on a decent young junior. Nice game. Today he plays Alex Weiland, a scrappy former community college player at Scottsdale Community College.

Matches are earlier today, so hopefully I can get some pictures. Yesterday started too late in the day to get many pics.

Thanks for the information, look forward to more reports. But if I had a dollar for every time someone said "should not have lost", I would be retired. Tennis is not played like Madden 2012....lots of 'the cleanest hitters' and 'playground slam dunk champions' sit and watch the top ATP guys and NBA players.

Tennis is about winning, how tall and clean hitting and good a guy looks is meaningless. It may be the skinny guy, the hard hitter, the grinder, the 5'7" Ferrer. Saying 'he should have won' is quite silly. Montoya is the better tennis player at this moment in time.

[10isDad]

I'm just rehashing what folks said. I know from experience that for many Montoya can be an awkward matchup, and it's all about matchups. Even the best have their nemesis who, for reasons not always obvious, tend to either simply win or bring out the worst in the seemingly favored player.

[TennisCoachFLA]

Yes, hiding behind 'he is a pusher, I hit better than he does' brings comfort to many in tennis. Bottom line, the best players beat grinders, grinders are in every level of tennis is some capacity. If a grinder beats you....he is a better tennis player than you are. Simple as that.

Montoya is 1-7 vs blue chips. Strange how they found a way to beat him. Oh yeah, they actually WERE better players.

[10isDad]

Well, assuming Deiton gets by today's opponent, he has a relatively easy round of 16 match, due to some walkovers/no-shows. That would put him into the quarter-finals against one of the following:

Clint Letcher - former #1 for Arizona State about 6 years ago
Jason Jung - former #2 for Michigan
Andrei Pavel - former #13 on the ATP tour

While common sense might say Pavel, he isn't necessarily in tournament condition, but keeping my fingers crossed.

BTW - I can't say enough about Pavel. He is such a nice guy and so fair on court. Truly an ambassador for the sport.

[tball2day]

.............................

[TennisCoachFLA]

The last two posts show why these things are not for top juniors with pro aspirations. Playing the Herr 16s-18s against hungry boys who are fully trained and engaged, under pressure.....or playing vs some guy that used to be a big deal in college 6 years ago but now is up all night with a new baby, and maybe gets to hit once a week.

Come on BB, get back to real life and start playing the top 16s-18s!

[slice bh compliment]

Originally Posted by 10isDad

...
BTW - I can't say enough about Pavel. He is such a nice guy and so fair on court. Truly an ambassador for the sport.

One of the coolest guys in tennis. Not a lot of folks have ever heard of him...and he really acts that way.

I've met him through a player I had coached yrs ago. Met him again yrs later in Europe at Roland Garros. HE acted like he actually remembered me. Totally humble, cool, engaging, funny. Remarkable backhand, too.

I totally get TCF's point about playing the big jr events, but there is something special about being in the presence of a guy like Pavel...getting to hit with him, maybe play him in a match...have lunch with him and see him hang with his wife and kid(s). Of course, he's probably out of shape, ripe to lose to some hungry young players.

Wonder if he still uses that sweet Fischer. Or maybe the boys at Pacific have him on the new cossies.

ANyway, have a great time in Phoenix! Great time of year there for some tennis.

[TennisCoachFLA]

Originally Posted by slice bh compliment

One of the coolest guys in tennis. Not a lot of folks have ever heard of him...and he really acts that way.

I've met him through a player I had coached yrs ago. Met him again yrs later in Europe at Roland Garros. HE acted like he actually remembered me. Totally humble, cool, engaging, funny. Remarkable backhand, too.

I totally get TCF's point about playing the big jr events, but there is something special about being in the presence of a guy like Pavel...getting to hit with him, maybe play him in a match...have lunch with him and see him hang with his wife and kid(s). Of course, he's probably out of shape, ripe to lose to some hungry young players.

Wonder if he still uses that sweet Fischer. Or maybe the boys at Pacific have him on the new cossies.

ANyway, have a great time in Phoenix! Great time of year there for some tennis.

Yeah, meeting Pavel would be neat. But Pavel at age 15-16 was playing top junior tournaments, not events like this one.

Thats my consistent theme here. Hitting with Isner? Taylor Dent? In place of high level junior tournaments? Well that is not what those guys were doing at his age....they were playing high level juniors month after month.

Can not skip the steps that led the pros to be pros by hanging, driving, hitting, singing, living, scuba diving, going into space with them. Tennis is not the flu, he ain't gonna catch greatness by having lunch with it!

[JLyon]

Originally Posted by 10isDad

http://tennislink.usta.com/TOURNAMEN....aspx?T=117828

thanks for the link, for some reason could not find the tournament myself.

[10isDad]

Originally Posted by slice bh compliment

One of the coolest guys in tennis. Not a lot of folks have ever heard of him...and he really acts that way.

I've met him through a player I had coached yrs ago. Met him again yrs later in Europe at Roland Garros. HE acted like he actually remembered me. Totally humble, cool, engaging, funny. Remarkable backhand, too.

I totally get TCF's point about playing the big jr events, but there is something special about being in the presence of a guy like Pavel...getting to hit with him, maybe play him in a match...have lunch with him and see him hang with his wife and kid(s). Of course, he's probably out of shape, ripe to lose to some hungry young players.

Wonder if he still uses that sweet Fischer. Or maybe the boys at Pacific have him on the new cossies.

ANyway, have a great time in Phoenix! Great time of year there for some tennis.

Andrei hits with the Wilson BLX Blade. Not sure if he still is, but with his old blades, he was still getting them w/ custom molded grips and all weighted/balanced to his spec.

[tacoben]

Originally Posted by TennisCoachFLA

Yeah, meeting Pavel would be neat. But Pavel at age 15-16 was playing top junior tournaments, not events like this one.

Thats my consistent theme here. Hitting with Isner? Taylor Dent? In place of high level junior tournaments? Well that is not what those guys were doing at his age....they were playing high level juniors month after month.

Can not skip the steps that led the pros to be pros by hanging, driving, hitting, singing, living, scuba diving, going into space with them. Tennis is not the flu, he ain't gonna catch greatness by having lunch with it!

Hey TCF...I really like your commentary...you're like the Skip Bayless of this forum...anyway, just had to say that.

[NLBwell]

Originally Posted by tball2day

Every section has these, just a men's open with some money behind it. No qualie, no points, this isn't even sanctioned so it is not giving sectional men open points either. Unpredictable cause there are juniors and old guys and everything in between, so there can be some real lopsided matches or good ones. Generally a couple guys that still got game and a lot of middle road almost middle age guys that still love to compete.

Just wondering. The Colorado Open has qualifying that weeds out the non-top players but I didn't see any qualifying draw in this one. Thanks.

[Number1Coach]

Originally Posted by TennisCoachFLA

The last two posts show why these things are not for top juniors with pro aspirations. Playing the Herr 16s-18s against hungry boys who are fully trained and engaged, under pressure.....or playing vs some guy that used to be a big deal in college 6 years ago but now is up all night with a new baby, and maybe gets to hit once a week.

Come on BB, get back to real life and start playing the top 16s-18s!

Could you please define the word "competition and competitive" according to the Websters dictionary , then by that definition explain how this tournament and the players in it are different then a top junior tourny ?

Please use the Webster definition when explaining , need to see you do this without insulting the tennis world.

Yes the level of tennis here will differ a bit more but explain how competition is different oaccording to Webster .