Fedace
Banned
I don't think so. those guys have more of a flat serves from what i have seen.
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I don't think so. those guys have more of a flat serves from what i have seen.
these schools are way overrated. It looks like you have so many guys who are better than our top players... USC won the NCAA title twice the last two years, and Stanford won the singles. Maybe your guys are underachievers?Jakes On A Plane
Semi-Pro
I think overrated and underachiever are the wrong words. I don't think a team that racks up 3 consecutive ITA Team Indoor titles and 2 consecutive NCAA Doubles titles (with different pairings) can fall into the definition of either those two words.
Some good action at Stanford during the week-end. Stanford won two tough teams, which played better than their rankings. SC showing some good things as well, despite losing their two matches, including a 4-3 loss to Vandy.
Stanford needs to find a solution to the Kandath and Clayton problems.... Great players but something's wrong with their tactics...
Stanford needs to find a solution to the Kandath and Clayton problems.... Great players but something's wrong with their tactics...
SuperJimmy
Rookie
I watched both Clayton's matches online. I think it's one part stubborn and one part overthinking the point.
I say stubborn because there were many situations where he should have hit a slice backhand when he was in a defensive position and instead chose to hit it flat and allowed his opponent to attack because it fell short in the middle of the court. Even when he was not on the defensive, he should have still changed up the pace a little so that his opponent doesnt get into a groove. There were other situations where his opponent was at the net, he was slighly on the run, and the best shot would have been a top spin cross court ball that would have given him more angle and either been a winner, or caused his opponent to dig down for the ball giving him plenty of time to recover. Instead, he hit flat with much less angle and ofcourse his opponent put it away.
There were also many occasions where he tried to be too tricky in his play. Instead of hitting it to the open court, he tried to hit it behind his opponent or wrong foot them, and they weren't fooled. A lot of these cases were when Alex was at the net or approaching the net, and not hitting it to the open court allowed his opponents to just stand there and hit passing shots or drill it at him for a weak volley.
I think something can be said for his fighting spirit though. He came back from being one set down in both matches. He won the second match and I think he probably could have won the first one if they played it out.
A little bit dissapointing to me since I was a big fan of his 2 years ago (especially his serve and forehand), but it seems like his level has been declining ever since.
Thanks for the analysis. I'm sure you're on the money with your observations. Maybe Feddie can get coach Whit to look at this.
Jimmy,
I agree with you on your analysis. Clayton was a much better player 2 years ago for sure. What a waste. I don't understand why the coach wouldn't try to bring him back to his former level. CLearly, it looks like Alex is not playing the right tactic, and that's something the coach should help him with. Alex should be able to compete for the 2nd and even 1st spot on the team. That would make the whole team so much stronger!
I agree with you on your analysis. Clayton was a much better player 2 years ago for sure. What a waste. I don't understand why the coach wouldn't try to bring him back to his former level. CLearly, it looks like Alex is not playing the right tactic, and that's something the coach should help him with. Alex should be able to compete for the 2nd and even 1st spot on the team. That would make the whole team so much stronger!
Fedace
Banned
UCLA seem to have done really well. 2 Freshmen they recruited are playing #1 and #4 spots right away and doing well. This kid at #1 Kasakawski is mowing down the competition. and the giant 6'6" Clay Thompson is doing well too. --- this kid could have easily gone to play football or basketball.
#6 UCLA 4, #27 Florida State 1
Jan 29, 2011 at Los Angeles, CA (Los Angeles Tennis Center)
Doubles
1. Inbar/Puget (UCLA) vs. Mirzadeh/Smith (FSU) 6-7, Susp.
2. Alex Brigham/Seguso (UCLA) def. Bowles/Davis (FSU) 8-6
3. Kosakowski/Thompson (UCLA) def. Bucaro/Reed (FSU) 8-6
UCLA Wins Doubles Point
Singles
1. Daniel Kosakowski (UCLA) def. #37 Clint Bowles (FSU) 6-4, 6-0
2. #86 Amit Inbar (UCLA) vs. #42 Vahid Mirzadeh (FSU) 4-6, 1-5, Susp.
3. Connor Smith (FSU) def. #64 Maxime Tabatruong (UCLA) 6-0, 6-2
4. Clay Thompson (UCLA) vs. Blake Davis (FSU) 0-6, 7-5, 1-2, Susp.
5. Adrien Puget (UCLA) def. Anderson Reed (FSU) 6-1, 7-6 (7-4)
6. Holden Seguso (UCLA) def. Andres Bucaro (FSU) 6-2, 6-2
Match Notes
Florida State 5-2; National ranking #27
UCLA 4-0; National ranking #6
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3); Singles (3,6,1,5)
#6 UCLA 4, #27 Florida State 1
Jan 29, 2011 at Los Angeles, CA (Los Angeles Tennis Center)
Doubles
1. Inbar/Puget (UCLA) vs. Mirzadeh/Smith (FSU) 6-7, Susp.
2. Alex Brigham/Seguso (UCLA) def. Bowles/Davis (FSU) 8-6
3. Kosakowski/Thompson (UCLA) def. Bucaro/Reed (FSU) 8-6
UCLA Wins Doubles Point
Singles
1. Daniel Kosakowski (UCLA) def. #37 Clint Bowles (FSU) 6-4, 6-0
2. #86 Amit Inbar (UCLA) vs. #42 Vahid Mirzadeh (FSU) 4-6, 1-5, Susp.
3. Connor Smith (FSU) def. #64 Maxime Tabatruong (UCLA) 6-0, 6-2
4. Clay Thompson (UCLA) vs. Blake Davis (FSU) 0-6, 7-5, 1-2, Susp.
5. Adrien Puget (UCLA) def. Anderson Reed (FSU) 6-1, 7-6 (7-4)
6. Holden Seguso (UCLA) def. Andres Bucaro (FSU) 6-2, 6-2
Match Notes
Florida State 5-2; National ranking #27
UCLA 4-0; National ranking #6
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3); Singles (3,6,1,5)
A big match is coming Stanford's way on Thursday.
Who should Whitlinger choose for the team and at which #? He has to seriously change something in the line-up to deal with the Kandath and Clayton problems. I'd like to see him try something new at least... as tennis players, we know that you don't keep doing the same thing if it doesn't work. So far Stanford hasn't lost a match this season, but they haven't played any strong team yet.
My picks:
#1 Klahn
#2 Thatcher
#3 Whit himself (can he play?)
#4 Clayton
#5 Hirshman
#6 Lin
Come on Whit, you know it, this is a winning team! (maybe not at #3 though... :???.
Who should Whitlinger choose for the team and at which #? He has to seriously change something in the line-up to deal with the Kandath and Clayton problems. I'd like to see him try something new at least... as tennis players, we know that you don't keep doing the same thing if it doesn't work. So far Stanford hasn't lost a match this season, but they haven't played any strong team yet.
My picks:
#1 Klahn
#2 Thatcher
#3 Whit himself (can he play?)
#4 Clayton
#5 Hirshman
#6 Lin
Come on Whit, you know it, this is a winning team! (maybe not at #3 though... :???
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I'll post my opinion after the national indoors. Looks like 4 of 6 teams are playing. I should get to see at least one match; hopefully more.
Indoors probably isn't SC's strong suit but should be an interesting barometer none-the-less.
Would be interesting to see which StanDford shows up (will Feddie or Destiny show? - stay tuned!), though my intuition so far says SC is the strongest of the lot.
K_I
Indoors probably isn't SC's strong suit but should be an interesting barometer none-the-less.
Would be interesting to see which StanDford shows up (will Feddie or Destiny show? - stay tuned!), though my intuition so far says SC is the strongest of the lot.
K_I
What does "4 of 6 teams are playing" mean in this context?
4 Pac-10 conference teams are playing at National Indoors:
USC, UCLA, Stanford, and Washington
oops - math error - I guess there are now 7 conference teams - add Cal, Arizona, and Oregon to above. I should have originally written 4 of 7 PAC-10 teams...
My intention after nationals is to state my opinion of which of those PAC-10 teams seems the strongest (amongst themselves) this season.
K_I
USC, UCLA, Stanford, and Washington
oops - math error - I guess there are now 7 conference teams - add Cal, Arizona, and Oregon to above. I should have originally written 4 of 7 PAC-10 teams...
My intention after nationals is to state my opinion of which of those PAC-10 teams seems the strongest (amongst themselves) this season.
K_I
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Fedace
Banned
A big match is coming Stanford's way on Thursday.
Who should Whitlinger choose for the team and at which #? He has to seriously change something in the line-up to deal with the Kandath and Clayton problems. I'd like to see him try something new at least... as tennis players, we know that you don't keep doing the same thing if it doesn't work. So far Stanford hasn't lost a match this season, but they haven't played any strong team yet.
My picks:
#1 Klahn
#2 Thatcher
#3 Whit himself (can he play?)
#4 Clayton
#5 Hirshman
#6 Lin
Come on Whit, you know it, this is a winning team! (maybe not at #3 though... :???
We are going to try Fawaz Hourani from Madaba, Jordan (King's Academy) at #3 spot. He is Stanford's secret weapon and we have been waiting to spring him into action. He had been injured for last couple of months. Now he might be ready. Jordan has been known to produce some top players in the past so this is no surprise. I think even Federer liked this kid when he practiced with him while back.
Fedace
Banned
After seeing all the championships on the wall of Taube stadium, he will probably think he has no chance. and he is probably thinking he just wants to keep the score close against NCAA champion Bradley Klahn so he can say "I played him close at Stanford home courts".
He does have a similar game. Big lefty serve, good coverage at the net.
TourTenor
Professional
I guess Thacher is in line, behind Bruch and Clayton ... others that you predicted would have big grand slam wins.
but got an early break in the 2nd, carvalho is an idiot...missed a put away at 30-30 and compounded his mistake w/ a code violation bouncing his racquet to give away the game...good ole fiery south american stupidity
that stretch from 5-6 down to cruise through a break and the tiebreak was pretty impressive, dunno if escobar can shake that out of his head, we'll see
impressive playing, they finished out most of the matches they could in straight sets (lin excluded), and the guys who got down hung in there (thacher, kandath)...regardless of the final score, 4-1 is a nice safe tourney style win
also TT really needs to be smarter about racquet abuse...lost the second set at #2 b/c of it, and the guy who just lost to hirshman smashed his at the end of the match, looked like the ref was going over to another court to assess the penalty there as is customary for a penalty once that player's match is over
not helpful to his teammates in 3rd sets
also TT really needs to be smarter about racquet abuse...lost the second set at #2 b/c of it, and the guy who just lost to hirshman smashed his at the end of the match, looked like the ref was going over to another court to assess the penalty there as is customary for a penalty once that player's match is over
not helpful to his teammates in 3rd sets
Jakes On A Plane
Semi-Pro
Looked like Stanford played well. Escobar/Carvalho is definitely a decent 1/2 combo. Hirshman and Lin have got some serious grind to his game, but Coach Whit should definitely consider a new #6 for awhile. Not really seeing 4-6 being able to contend with the higher ranked schools. Nice win for Klahn. Fluke for Clayton?
Fedace
Banned
HOT and Fore-telling from the Press room:
No. 8 Stanford notched a 5-2 win over No. 15 Texas Tech on Thursday afternoon at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium, improving to 4-0 on the season.
Feb. 3, 2011
STANFORD, Calif.- No. 8 Stanford notched a 5-2 win over No. 15 Texas Tech on Thursday afternoon at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium, improving to 4-0 on the season.
Playing its fourth home match over a 10-day stretch, Stanford captured the doubles point and collected four singles wins to polish off the non-conference victory.
After an early split on courts two and three, Stanford's top duo of Bradley Klahn and Ryan Thacher pulled out an 8-6 victory over Texas Tech's Raony Carvalho and Rafael Garcia in a battle of No. 1's.
Alex Clayton's quick 6-3, 6-2 win at the No. 3 position gave the Cardinal a 2-0 lead, only to see Texas Tech's Carvalho edge out Ryan Thacher in three sets at No. 2.
Bradley Klahn clipped Gonzalo Escobar 7-6, 7-5 at the top spot to give Stanford a 3-1 advantage before Greg Hirshman improved to 4-0 in duals with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Gabriel Wanderley at the No. 5 spot to clinch the match.
Stanford is back in action on Feb. 8 against Utah at 1:30 p.m.
No. 8 Stanford 5, No. 15 Texas Tech 2
DOUBLES
1) No. 16 Klahn/Thacher (STAN) d. Carvalho/Garcia (TTECH) 8-6
2) Escobar/Manzini (TTECH) d. Clayton/Ted Kelly (STAN) 8-3
3) Kandath/Lin (STAN) d. Gonzalez/Pfister (TTECH) 8-2
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1
SINGLES
1) No. 15 Bradley Klahn (STAN) d. No. 20 Gonzalo Escobar (TTECH) 7-6, 7-5
2) Raony Carvalho (TTECH) d. No. 41 Ryan Thacher (STAN) 6-4, 2-6, 6-2
3) No. 61 Alex Clayton (STAN) d. No. 59 Rafael Garcia (TTECH) 6-3, 6-2
4) Denis Lin (STAN) d. Vitor Manzini (TTECH) 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (4)
5) Greg Hirshman (STAN) d. Gabriel Wanderley (TTECH) 6-4, 6-2
6) Raphael Pfister (TTECH) d. Matt Kandath (STAN) 6-2, 6-7, 6-2
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1, 5, 6, 4
No. 8 Stanford notched a 5-2 win over No. 15 Texas Tech on Thursday afternoon at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium, improving to 4-0 on the season.
Feb. 3, 2011
STANFORD, Calif.- No. 8 Stanford notched a 5-2 win over No. 15 Texas Tech on Thursday afternoon at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium, improving to 4-0 on the season.
Playing its fourth home match over a 10-day stretch, Stanford captured the doubles point and collected four singles wins to polish off the non-conference victory.
After an early split on courts two and three, Stanford's top duo of Bradley Klahn and Ryan Thacher pulled out an 8-6 victory over Texas Tech's Raony Carvalho and Rafael Garcia in a battle of No. 1's.
Alex Clayton's quick 6-3, 6-2 win at the No. 3 position gave the Cardinal a 2-0 lead, only to see Texas Tech's Carvalho edge out Ryan Thacher in three sets at No. 2.
Bradley Klahn clipped Gonzalo Escobar 7-6, 7-5 at the top spot to give Stanford a 3-1 advantage before Greg Hirshman improved to 4-0 in duals with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Gabriel Wanderley at the No. 5 spot to clinch the match.
Stanford is back in action on Feb. 8 against Utah at 1:30 p.m.
No. 8 Stanford 5, No. 15 Texas Tech 2
DOUBLES
1) No. 16 Klahn/Thacher (STAN) d. Carvalho/Garcia (TTECH) 8-6
2) Escobar/Manzini (TTECH) d. Clayton/Ted Kelly (STAN) 8-3
3) Kandath/Lin (STAN) d. Gonzalez/Pfister (TTECH) 8-2
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1
SINGLES
1) No. 15 Bradley Klahn (STAN) d. No. 20 Gonzalo Escobar (TTECH) 7-6, 7-5
2) Raony Carvalho (TTECH) d. No. 41 Ryan Thacher (STAN) 6-4, 2-6, 6-2
3) No. 61 Alex Clayton (STAN) d. No. 59 Rafael Garcia (TTECH) 6-3, 6-2
4) Denis Lin (STAN) d. Vitor Manzini (TTECH) 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (4)
5) Greg Hirshman (STAN) d. Gabriel Wanderley (TTECH) 6-4, 6-2
6) Raphael Pfister (TTECH) d. Matt Kandath (STAN) 6-2, 6-7, 6-2
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1, 5, 6, 4
Fedace
Banned
Possible Undefeated season in the making.
Kandath improving at #6. He will do better as season goes. and Clayton and Lin finally coming into form. Stanford by far the best team in NCAA at the moment. Lets go for the Undefeated season thru the championships in may.
Kandath improving at #6. He will do better as season goes. and Clayton and Lin finally coming into form. Stanford by far the best team in NCAA at the moment. Lets go for the Undefeated season thru the championships in may.
Fedace
Banned
Virginia will go Down 4-3. After seeing the domination of TT, i change my mind about Virginia winning the Indoors. Also the Time change will interfere with Virginia's ability to play their best..
How do you come to this conclusion, and to the magical #10?
Thatcher is not the strongest #2 in college tennis, but he's not going to go down easily. Kandath is the weak player on this team, and he'll probably be replaced in the next matches. Klahn is a top 5 player, maybe even top 3. Clayton is playing better, and his win yesterday will surely give him more confidence for the rest of the season. Hirschman has yet to lose a match (and a set) in his dual matches. He'll match any #5 in the nation. Lin is getting better and better, and he showed how tough he can be yesterday in a very good match against TT. Finally, Stanford doubles is second to none, and they'll surely win the doubles point against top teams. Stanford can certainly win 4 points against top 10 teams, which surely makes them a strong top 10 team.
Just looking at the teams that I think are better than Stanford in a dual match.
The big 3 (Virginia, USC, Tennessee) are definitely better.
The next 2 in my mind are Georgia and Ohio State.
I think Baylor is better, but they will not be at the team indoors.
Florida looks better, and Ole Miss will be better in a few weeks when Kalle Norberg is back to 100%.
There is a jumble of teams that look close together: Texas A&M, Stanford, maybe Texas (although I think Texas is overrated at #5 and could lose to Texas A&M today. Big match there.)
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