The beauty of this era of information sharing is the ease of getting your story out there for the entire world to see. I’m not suggesting that more than a handful of people read our humble blog, but it’s still technically out there, you know what I mean?
Anyway, I mention this because our chief rival, Easy Killer’s Russell Chamberlin, recently posted a story about our last match from a couple of weeks ago. Before I begin, let me say this – finding Russell’s blog last year provided the inspiration to get this blog started. Actually, it inspired me to suggest to our team captain to start a blog. But he put the responsibility back on me, and frankly I’ve enjoyed it this year. And, after seeing a couple of his “posts”, I’m glad that it’s me doing most of the posting. But that’s another story…
So I just wanted to write an open letter to Russell to address a couple of the…interesting comments that he makes in his final entry for the 2009 season. A link to Russell’s blog is on the right-hand side of the page, under “Relevant Links”, if you’d like to read his post first…
Dear Russell,
Many thanks for your fantastic blog about all things tennis. It has been instrumental in encouraging me to provide a forum to our team, and actually helped me out when I was trying to pick out a new racquet before this season started! That said, I have a few issues with your most recent post titles “EK topples Great Valley 3-2”.
By the way, congrats on that win. You guys played great, and deserved the victory. Let me get right to my first issue with your write-up.
After your description of the first singles match, you write “Why Great Valley filed a grievance after the match against Cam is beyond me. He’s a three year computer rated player. “ Let’s look at the facts of this case:
FACT: It was the final week of the season, and Cameron O’Donnell had not played a single match for Easy Killer all season.
FACT: Cameron has been playing for a 4.5 team during the Spring season, in addition to his play with a 4.0 team in the EPD.
FACT: Cameron is a 19-year old varsity player on the Kutztown U. tennis team.
FACT: Cameron didn’t just beat, but toyed with Dave Umbach, who was undefeated in limited match play coming into the match.
FACT: You told our captain Mike Gionta before the match (with a hint of smugness) that Cameron handles Cahn Ho easily in practice.
FACT: The last guy to handle Cahn Ho easily (Jimmy Riggs of Kinetix) caused the USTA computers to convulse to the point that Jimmy was instantly bumped to the 4.5 level.
And most importantly, the final fact: WE DIDN’T FILE A GRIEVANCE!!! We didn’t know who the kid was, we saw him dismantle a pretty solid 4.0 player, so we (okay, Capt. Mike) sent an e-mail to Sally Baird asking her what the story was.
I mean, look – good for Cameron. The USTA ratings system is suspect at best, and college players who get computer rated while in high school are classic overachievers when it comes to the rating system. Kids are maturing physically while playing more high-level tennis than they’ve ever played – of course the system isn’t going to be able to keep up. But to suggest that we’re out of line to inquire about Cameron’s status? I don’t know – seems a little disingenuous to me. If we rolled out a guy for a critical match against you guys that you had never seen nor heard of, and Mike told you before the match that he smokes Brett Seigfried in practice, you wouldn’t be a little suspicious?
Moving on. In your backhanded compliment to our team, you say “They have a cohesive group of solid players and the requisite ringers to make waves in the post season. Go get ‘em.” Well, we appreciate your positive wishes. I know how hard it is to root for the Cowboys after the Eagles get elimnated from the playoffs. At the same time, I have a pretty serious problem with your use of the word “ringers” here. Maybe where you’re from, you call a guy a ringer and he winks at you, you raise a glass, and everything’s cool. But I’m not gonna lie – I hear “ringer” and the hair on the back of my neck stands up.
There are a bunch of definitions for the word ringer on dictionary.com. I’m assuming that you are not referring to some of us as “highly skilled sheep shearers”, so I’m going to guess that the appropriate definition here is “any person or thing that is fraudulent; fake or impostor”. Well, let me tell you something. The USTA rating system may be a little sketchy, but there is NOTHING about this team that is fraudulent. When you make it to Sectionals with your youngest player aged 34 year old, there ain’t no ringers here. Do we have guys who are at the top of this level? No doubt. Do we have some doubles partnerships that play better than the sum of their parts? You’d better believe it. In fact, you more than anyone should appreciate that, as you and Ron Rubenstein being out the best in each other, as do Tom Faith and Eric Markowitz. You can’t tell me that either of those partnerships would be better off playing singles, or matched with different partners.
That leads me to my final issue, which is your fascination with me. You know what you wrote, anyone else who is reading this can go to your blog and see what you said about Rich and myself knocking off Tom McAvoy and Hap in our #1 doubles match. Interestingly, you make the same points that I’m about to feature without knowing it in that paragraph, but I just want to make you aware…
First off, a little background on me. I’m not sure how much you know. I played high school tennis at Methacton, #2 singles as a senior behind a young man named Keith Anderton (currently a USTA 5.0 rated player), who was a perennial threat to go to states. Keith and I teamed up my senior year at district doubles, and came one game from states – we lost a 3rd set tiebreak in the quarters, when a win would have earned an invite to the state tournament. Anyway, I went to school at Boston U – I wasn’t nearly good enough to play tennis there. I took a year off and moved home – that’s when Gionta and Werkhiser got their claws into me. In ’95, we were all on a 4.5 team with some other talented individuals (including 2 that still play for this GV team, Jack Legorreta and and Guy Van Alstine) that made it to Sectionals. We went 0-5 at Sectionals, losing every match by the score of 3-2. What are the odds?
Went back to school – Penn State this time. Guess what? I didn’t play there either. Over the next 10 years, I played on and off, depending on where I was at the time. Won a 4.5 tourney in Connecticut in ’98, dropped off the grid, moved to NC, etc. Picked up many other sports like ice hockey, softball, golf, etc. Somehow, Kenny and Mike tracked me down when I moved back to the area 5 years ago, and here we all are.
What’s the point, you’re asking? Well, it’s taken me a while to round back into match shape. Go to the USTA website, and take a gander at my record in 2007, my first year back into competitive league tennis. Make sure you have a barf bag handy, because it’s ugly. Over the past couple of years, I’ve had the opportunity to play myself back into match condition, thanks to the Monday night league at Kinetix and the USTA league. Playing against guys like Simon Key, Jeremy Schroeder and Sean McElroy (among others) will get you sharper in a hurry. I still don’t play often enough, as I have other interests in addition to a 17-month old son, but my game has improved over the past two years.
Okay, we’re finally getting to the point. In propping up Tom McAvoy as a worthy opponent, you mention that he and Eric Markowitz took out Cooper/Ruhl of the Drunken Fools, your “gold standard” of 4.0 tennis in straight sets. Did you know that Rich Trach and I dropped a set to those guys before finally pulling out the match? You mention that Hap was 11-0 coming into the match. Were any of those wins with Tom McAvoy? No. You know better than anyone the value of playing with a consistent partner. This was Rich and my 6th match together. And you’re surprised that we had an advantage?
And finally, we get to your 30-minute convo with Sean McElroy. Now, this is the epitome of fact bending. Let’s start with Sean making the comment that I “regularly beat him in singles”. I talked with Sean tonight, and he doesn’t remember using those specific words to begin with. We’ve probably played ten times over the past 3 years. If it’s not 5-5, it’s no worse than 6-4 either way. Virtually every match goes 3 sets, and the 3rd set is almost always a tiebreak. It’s actually pretty remarkable. So there’s that.
And then there’s “For those of you who don’t know Sean, he won at the 2008 Men’s 5.0 National Championships.” True. Sean is 4.5 rated, and a fixture at the club. He is a tremendous player. But even he would admit that he is a far better doubles player than singles player. And his record at the 2008 Men’s 5.0 National Championships? 1 doubles win (in a 3rd set super-tiebreak) and 3 doubles losses. And his only singles match resulted in a 6-1, 6-1 defeat. So let’s move past the “Sean is a 5.0 player” thing, okay? Sean and I actually had a good laugh about the blog post at the club tonight, that he was being quoted as evidence that I am a lock to be bumped next year.
Look, Russell – I’m fully prepared to get moved up a level. But to say that it’s a certainty is just silly. I went 1-4 at sectionals last year. I’m a “benchmark” 4.0 rated player (I’m sure you know what that means far better than I do). But I do enjoy your fixation on me, and am glad to see that I have a fan club…
So there you have it. I’ve gone a little longer than planned, but that’s what a couple of beers will do. I just hope the grammar and spelling aren’t too egregious.
Yours truly,
Greg Heck
Great Valley HS Men’s 4.0 tennis team member
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Moving On!
Just a quick blurb about our flight-clinching win over the West Chester Aces last week…not really much to tell, really. We came, we saw, we…uh…took care of business. Straight set wins out of #2 singles (Michael Schmidt over Jakub Avramov), #1 doubles (Heck/Trach over the European duo of Lonsdale/Hebenton) and #2 doubles (Mackenthun and his 25th partner of the season, Umbach over Dharmaraj/Delucia). #3 doubles was a default, and Brett Siegfried “retired” from his match, as he wasn’t scheduled to resume until Friday, by which time the match was decided.
We toasted Michael Schmidt’s return to Deutschland at MacKenzie’s on Route 30. A good time was had by all, especially myself and Dave Umbach, who tried to uphold the team’s honor by bringing home the Music Trivia crown for this particular Wednesday night. We failed. But we did get the attention of a particularly lovely 20-something and her boyfriend, who threw in the towel once we identified Spandau Ballet’s classic hit “True”.
Anyway, Council Rock High School, here we come. The District playoff schedule was released, and we have matches on Saturday July 18th at 8:30 AM and 4:00 PM, followed by the grand finale on Sunday at 8:30 AM. Not the ideal schedule for yours truly, but several of our team members have Sunday afternoon commitments, so it works out well for them. I’m going to try to post previews of our three opponents over the next week or so…but I’m not making any guarantees. The previews will be purely based on the information available to me on the USTA website…so nothing like “Smith favors his forehand” or any of the crap that Capt. Mike likes to tell you three minutes before your match starts. What the hell, I guess he has to feel like he’s involved somehow, right? He sure as hell hasn’t been playing any tennis lately… :-)
We toasted Michael Schmidt’s return to Deutschland at MacKenzie’s on Route 30. A good time was had by all, especially myself and Dave Umbach, who tried to uphold the team’s honor by bringing home the Music Trivia crown for this particular Wednesday night. We failed. But we did get the attention of a particularly lovely 20-something and her boyfriend, who threw in the towel once we identified Spandau Ballet’s classic hit “True”.
Anyway, Council Rock High School, here we come. The District playoff schedule was released, and we have matches on Saturday July 18th at 8:30 AM and 4:00 PM, followed by the grand finale on Sunday at 8:30 AM. Not the ideal schedule for yours truly, but several of our team members have Sunday afternoon commitments, so it works out well for them. I’m going to try to post previews of our three opponents over the next week or so…but I’m not making any guarantees. The previews will be purely based on the information available to me on the USTA website…so nothing like “Smith favors his forehand” or any of the crap that Capt. Mike likes to tell you three minutes before your match starts. What the hell, I guess he has to feel like he’s involved somehow, right? He sure as hell hasn’t been playing any tennis lately… :-)
Monday, June 29, 2009
Destiny Interrupted
WEST CHESTER RUSTIN – Saturday June 27th – With the beautiful West Chester Rustin High School as a backdrop, GV faced Easy Killer on Saturday with a chance to wrap up the 4.0 Men Red Division and punch our second straight ticket to the PATD District Playoffs. We figured Russell Chamberlin would pull out all of the stops in an effort to close within one match and force us to make up our match with the West Chester Aces to earn our Division Championship…and we were right. Starring at 1st singles was a 19-year old player on the Kutztown University tennis team that hadn’t played a single match for Easy Killer all season. Sure. It’s only Week 10…
Apparently, Cameron O’Donnell beats Cahn Ho soundly at practice. Russell seemed pretty proud of himself telling Captain Mike that news before the match started. Hey, whatever floats your boat. Bottom line – Easy Killer was just too much for us on this day. Luckily, we had a little margin for error, and now we have to beat the West Chester Aces on Wednesday to finish the job and move on to the playoffs.
1st Singles – Dave Umbach (2-1 singles, 1-0 doubles) v. Cameron O’Donnell (4-1 singles), 2-6, 4-6. While this was O’Donnell’s first match with Easy Killer this season, he’s played plenty of USTA Summer Tennis. He’s 3-1 at 4.0 singles in the EPTD, with his only loss coming after losing a 2nd set tiebreak and the 3rd set super-tiebreak. He has also been playing 4.5 tennis in the Philly Region, with a 1-4 record (0-1 singles). So, it’s not like he appeared out of nowhere. But it sure was handy that he showed up for this crucial match. Dave Umbach pulled out all of his tricks to get the 19-year old off his game, but O’Donnell was just too crisp for our Warpainted warrior, and knocked Umbach off in straight sets.
2nd Singles – Brett Siegfried (8-0 singles) d. Cahn Ho (6-2 singles, 1-2 doubles), 6-3, 1-6, 7-6. As soon as I heard this matchup set up for Court 2, I wished I could just watch instead of being troubled with my own match. This was a true battle of 4.0 singles titans. Cahn has ripped through the PATD 4.0 singles scene again, losing only to Jimmy Riggs in Week 1 because of an injury suffered mid-match (plus, Riggs was DQ’ed and bumped to 4.5 soon thereafter). His only other singles loss came in a 3 setter in the Delaware District. Meanwhile, Brett’s success has been well-documented here – he has dropped only one set this year (to Tom McAvoy), though his matches have been far closer in score than Cahn’s. Brett got off to a nice start in this match, taking the attack to Cahn before dropping the second set in convincing fashion. As the third set unfolded, there was a chance that this court would decide the overall match and it was clearly nip-and-tuck. Before it was over, unfortunately, we dropped our third court and Brett’s amazing third set tiebreak win became anti-climactic. That said, it was an amazing, gutty performance by Brett on a hot day, and should serve him well in tough matches to come.
1st Doubles – Trach (9-0 doubles)/Heck (2-0 singles, 6-0 doubles) d. Phouthavongsa (11-1 doubles)/McAvoy (0-1 singles, 2-1 doubles), 6-2, 7-5. It seems that most members of Easy Killer play a lot of tennis in a lot of different districts. Hap Phouthavongsa had put up a perfect 11-0 doubles record this year in his play for Easy Killer, the Delaware District and the New Jersey District. Tom McAvoy is the huge-serving tower of power that took a set off of Brett Siegfried in singles action 5 weeks back. And Rich Trach and I flat out smoked them. This was the 5th time Rich and I joined forces this year, and frankly, we haven’t played any better than this. We made very few errors, took advantage of almost every offensive opportunity, and I even served well enough (though I was broken serving for the match at 5-4 in the second) to not embarrass myself. A well-rounded, fairly dominant win over a very good opponent. I would love to be able to continue playing with Rich through the playoffs, but I have a feeling that Mike Schmidt’s return to Germany may not allow that to happen.
2nd Doubles – Mackenthun (6-1 doubles)/Schmidt (3-1 singles, 1-1 doubles) v. Markowitz (6-0 doubles)/Faith (0-1 singles, 5-0 doubles), 6-7, 4-6. This turned out to be the pivotal match. The Germans had teamed up a few weeks ago to knock off the youngsters from the Drunken Fools, and we needed them to bring down the undefeated duo of Markowitz and Faith to pull out the match. Unfortunately, Markowitz and Faith’s record is far from a mirage – they are a very tough doubles team, and they used the momentum from the first set tiebreak win to jump out to a 4-1 second set lead before holding on for the 6-4 second set win. This was Holger’s first setback of the season – he’s having an amazing year.
3rd Doubles – Werkiser (2-1 doubles)/Van Alstine (0-3 doubles) v. Chamberlin (11-3 doubles)/Rubenstein (8-2 doubles), 2-6, 6-2, 4-6. It’s not often that you’re going to see two players who are eligible for Super Seniors play hang with one of the toughest doubles teams in the district. Russell and Ron play together in multiple districts, and they win a lot more than they lose. Rich Trach and I managed to hold them off in Week 5, but they are an awfully tough out. And here we were, on serve in the third set with Kenny and Guy having a chance to absolutely steal this court and with it, the match. Alas, it was not to be. Ron and Russell made a few too many shots down the stretch, and our boys couldn’t quite pull it out. A truly valiant effort though, and Kenny and Guy deserve huge props for an outstanding try.
So it all comes down to this. Russell is probably doing his best to stack the West Chester Aces’ roster as you read this. Brett’s court was the only one that was underway when this match was suspended, and he can’t play on Wednesday, so we may not even have resolution by Wednesday night. But, we can take care of that by winning all of the courts that we can get in after work on Wednesday, and make Brett’s court irrelevant.
I don’t think anyone wants to toast Mike Schmidt’s departure without the Division title in hand. So let’s take care of business on Wednesday and move on to Districts!
Apparently, Cameron O’Donnell beats Cahn Ho soundly at practice. Russell seemed pretty proud of himself telling Captain Mike that news before the match started. Hey, whatever floats your boat. Bottom line – Easy Killer was just too much for us on this day. Luckily, we had a little margin for error, and now we have to beat the West Chester Aces on Wednesday to finish the job and move on to the playoffs.
1st Singles – Dave Umbach (2-1 singles, 1-0 doubles) v. Cameron O’Donnell (4-1 singles), 2-6, 4-6. While this was O’Donnell’s first match with Easy Killer this season, he’s played plenty of USTA Summer Tennis. He’s 3-1 at 4.0 singles in the EPTD, with his only loss coming after losing a 2nd set tiebreak and the 3rd set super-tiebreak. He has also been playing 4.5 tennis in the Philly Region, with a 1-4 record (0-1 singles). So, it’s not like he appeared out of nowhere. But it sure was handy that he showed up for this crucial match. Dave Umbach pulled out all of his tricks to get the 19-year old off his game, but O’Donnell was just too crisp for our Warpainted warrior, and knocked Umbach off in straight sets.
2nd Singles – Brett Siegfried (8-0 singles) d. Cahn Ho (6-2 singles, 1-2 doubles), 6-3, 1-6, 7-6. As soon as I heard this matchup set up for Court 2, I wished I could just watch instead of being troubled with my own match. This was a true battle of 4.0 singles titans. Cahn has ripped through the PATD 4.0 singles scene again, losing only to Jimmy Riggs in Week 1 because of an injury suffered mid-match (plus, Riggs was DQ’ed and bumped to 4.5 soon thereafter). His only other singles loss came in a 3 setter in the Delaware District. Meanwhile, Brett’s success has been well-documented here – he has dropped only one set this year (to Tom McAvoy), though his matches have been far closer in score than Cahn’s. Brett got off to a nice start in this match, taking the attack to Cahn before dropping the second set in convincing fashion. As the third set unfolded, there was a chance that this court would decide the overall match and it was clearly nip-and-tuck. Before it was over, unfortunately, we dropped our third court and Brett’s amazing third set tiebreak win became anti-climactic. That said, it was an amazing, gutty performance by Brett on a hot day, and should serve him well in tough matches to come.
1st Doubles – Trach (9-0 doubles)/Heck (2-0 singles, 6-0 doubles) d. Phouthavongsa (11-1 doubles)/McAvoy (0-1 singles, 2-1 doubles), 6-2, 7-5. It seems that most members of Easy Killer play a lot of tennis in a lot of different districts. Hap Phouthavongsa had put up a perfect 11-0 doubles record this year in his play for Easy Killer, the Delaware District and the New Jersey District. Tom McAvoy is the huge-serving tower of power that took a set off of Brett Siegfried in singles action 5 weeks back. And Rich Trach and I flat out smoked them. This was the 5th time Rich and I joined forces this year, and frankly, we haven’t played any better than this. We made very few errors, took advantage of almost every offensive opportunity, and I even served well enough (though I was broken serving for the match at 5-4 in the second) to not embarrass myself. A well-rounded, fairly dominant win over a very good opponent. I would love to be able to continue playing with Rich through the playoffs, but I have a feeling that Mike Schmidt’s return to Germany may not allow that to happen.
2nd Doubles – Mackenthun (6-1 doubles)/Schmidt (3-1 singles, 1-1 doubles) v. Markowitz (6-0 doubles)/Faith (0-1 singles, 5-0 doubles), 6-7, 4-6. This turned out to be the pivotal match. The Germans had teamed up a few weeks ago to knock off the youngsters from the Drunken Fools, and we needed them to bring down the undefeated duo of Markowitz and Faith to pull out the match. Unfortunately, Markowitz and Faith’s record is far from a mirage – they are a very tough doubles team, and they used the momentum from the first set tiebreak win to jump out to a 4-1 second set lead before holding on for the 6-4 second set win. This was Holger’s first setback of the season – he’s having an amazing year.
3rd Doubles – Werkiser (2-1 doubles)/Van Alstine (0-3 doubles) v. Chamberlin (11-3 doubles)/Rubenstein (8-2 doubles), 2-6, 6-2, 4-6. It’s not often that you’re going to see two players who are eligible for Super Seniors play hang with one of the toughest doubles teams in the district. Russell and Ron play together in multiple districts, and they win a lot more than they lose. Rich Trach and I managed to hold them off in Week 5, but they are an awfully tough out. And here we were, on serve in the third set with Kenny and Guy having a chance to absolutely steal this court and with it, the match. Alas, it was not to be. Ron and Russell made a few too many shots down the stretch, and our boys couldn’t quite pull it out. A truly valiant effort though, and Kenny and Guy deserve huge props for an outstanding try.
So it all comes down to this. Russell is probably doing his best to stack the West Chester Aces’ roster as you read this. Brett’s court was the only one that was underway when this match was suspended, and he can’t play on Wednesday, so we may not even have resolution by Wednesday night. But, we can take care of that by winning all of the courts that we can get in after work on Wednesday, and make Brett’s court irrelevant.
I don’t think anyone wants to toast Mike Schmidt’s departure without the Division title in hand. So let’s take care of business on Wednesday and move on to Districts!
Cardiac Kids
(one week late!)
KINETIX SPORTS CLUB – Saturday June 20th – Great Valley needed to keep winning to keep their lead over Easy Killer at two games coming into their Week 9 matchup with Kinetix. Kinetix had dropped two out of their last three, with the lone win being a 4-1 romp over Healthplex. They did take 2 courts from Easy Killer in Week 6, and knocked off the West Chester Aces in Week 5, so they could not be overlooked. Let’s get to the match review.
Right off the bat, GV benefitted from a big break, as one of the courts was a forfeit win due to a late cancellation by a Kinetix player. All GV needed to do was pick up a split of the remaining 4 courts.
1st Singles – Michael Schmidt (3-1 singles, 1-0 doubles) d. Kali Woodward (0-1 singles), 6-2, 5-7, 6-1. This lively match took place on the far court at Kinetix, court #4. Watching Kali warm up, to say that he looked “casual” out there would be an understatement. And watching the match was no different…Woodward just kind of loped around the court, and then unleashed crackling groundstrokes into the corners of the court like they were nobody’s business. Mike Schmidt was clearly rattled in the early going, but regained his composure and outlasted the former teaching pro. Those of us in the peanut gallery were VERY concerned about this match, as it could’ve been the deciding tilt. No worries, though!
2nd Singles – Greg Heck (2-0 singles, 5-0 doubles) d. Jim Vesci Jr. (0-2 singles, 1-3 doubles), 6-1, 6-1. I had played Jim in doubles a few weeks back, and knew what he brought to the table – solid serves, erratic but powerful groundstrokes, decent net game. And, of course, a striking resemblance to Vince Vaughn with his hat on. During warm-ups, he was hitting the ball very well. Once the match started and he missed a few gimmes set up by his big serve, his strokes deserted him. He got very tentative and that led to a quick match. Jim told me during one of the changeovers that he is completely revamping his game through lessons – I give him a lot of credit. I can’t imagine rebuilding things at this point in my tennis career. But on this week, it didn’t help him much.
1st Doubles – Trach (8-0 doubles)/Mackenthun (6-0 doubles) d. Jamieson (3-4 doubles)/Flippen (2-3 doubles), 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Larry “Foot Fault” Jamieson and Tom Flippen gave our doubles specialists Trach and Mackenthun all they could handle on Court 1, but in the end our guys fought them off and managed to secure the victory. We watched Jamieson bombing serves from the peanut gallery, and let me tell you – serving is MUCH easier when you’re 6 foot plus and stepping 5 feet into the court before unleashing those rockets. If he ever makes it to Sectionals, I sure hope he doesn’t run into any 75-year old female referees with nothing better to do than spot foot faults from three courts away. But I digress…
2nd Doubles – Mead (3-1 doubles)/Dare (1-4 doubles) v. Keefrider (1-0 singles, 1-3 doubles)/Pillutla (3-3 doubles), 3-6, 3-6. Tom and Jimmy never really got in synch in this match on Court 2. Tom and Holger knocked off the same opponents in Week 4, but Keefrider and Pillutla had command of this one from the get-go. Jim Dare’s had a tough year – in watching this match, he would make several solid shots in a row, be in the right position, and then dump one into the net once our guys got the advantage. Seems like he’s just a small adjustment away from winning some big matches.
And that’s it. 3rd Doubles was a forfeit. We go into the big match against Easy Killer with a chance to put them away and not have to worry about a make-up match with the West Chester Aces. If we can’t close them out? Well, we still control our own destiny. But things get a little dicier…
KINETIX SPORTS CLUB – Saturday June 20th – Great Valley needed to keep winning to keep their lead over Easy Killer at two games coming into their Week 9 matchup with Kinetix. Kinetix had dropped two out of their last three, with the lone win being a 4-1 romp over Healthplex. They did take 2 courts from Easy Killer in Week 6, and knocked off the West Chester Aces in Week 5, so they could not be overlooked. Let’s get to the match review.
Right off the bat, GV benefitted from a big break, as one of the courts was a forfeit win due to a late cancellation by a Kinetix player. All GV needed to do was pick up a split of the remaining 4 courts.
1st Singles – Michael Schmidt (3-1 singles, 1-0 doubles) d. Kali Woodward (0-1 singles), 6-2, 5-7, 6-1. This lively match took place on the far court at Kinetix, court #4. Watching Kali warm up, to say that he looked “casual” out there would be an understatement. And watching the match was no different…Woodward just kind of loped around the court, and then unleashed crackling groundstrokes into the corners of the court like they were nobody’s business. Mike Schmidt was clearly rattled in the early going, but regained his composure and outlasted the former teaching pro. Those of us in the peanut gallery were VERY concerned about this match, as it could’ve been the deciding tilt. No worries, though!
2nd Singles – Greg Heck (2-0 singles, 5-0 doubles) d. Jim Vesci Jr. (0-2 singles, 1-3 doubles), 6-1, 6-1. I had played Jim in doubles a few weeks back, and knew what he brought to the table – solid serves, erratic but powerful groundstrokes, decent net game. And, of course, a striking resemblance to Vince Vaughn with his hat on. During warm-ups, he was hitting the ball very well. Once the match started and he missed a few gimmes set up by his big serve, his strokes deserted him. He got very tentative and that led to a quick match. Jim told me during one of the changeovers that he is completely revamping his game through lessons – I give him a lot of credit. I can’t imagine rebuilding things at this point in my tennis career. But on this week, it didn’t help him much.
1st Doubles – Trach (8-0 doubles)/Mackenthun (6-0 doubles) d. Jamieson (3-4 doubles)/Flippen (2-3 doubles), 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Larry “Foot Fault” Jamieson and Tom Flippen gave our doubles specialists Trach and Mackenthun all they could handle on Court 1, but in the end our guys fought them off and managed to secure the victory. We watched Jamieson bombing serves from the peanut gallery, and let me tell you – serving is MUCH easier when you’re 6 foot plus and stepping 5 feet into the court before unleashing those rockets. If he ever makes it to Sectionals, I sure hope he doesn’t run into any 75-year old female referees with nothing better to do than spot foot faults from three courts away. But I digress…
2nd Doubles – Mead (3-1 doubles)/Dare (1-4 doubles) v. Keefrider (1-0 singles, 1-3 doubles)/Pillutla (3-3 doubles), 3-6, 3-6. Tom and Jimmy never really got in synch in this match on Court 2. Tom and Holger knocked off the same opponents in Week 4, but Keefrider and Pillutla had command of this one from the get-go. Jim Dare’s had a tough year – in watching this match, he would make several solid shots in a row, be in the right position, and then dump one into the net once our guys got the advantage. Seems like he’s just a small adjustment away from winning some big matches.
And that’s it. 3rd Doubles was a forfeit. We go into the big match against Easy Killer with a chance to put them away and not have to worry about a make-up match with the West Chester Aces. If we can’t close them out? Well, we still control our own destiny. But things get a little dicier…
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Cruisin'
Wanted to post something about last week's match...even though I wasn't there, and we played league doormat Healthplex. First, I have a question that perhaps someone who was there could answer - if you are only going to have 6 guys show up AT A HOME MATCH, why would you default both singles matches and only play doubles? Wouldn't you default one doubles match and give yourselves a chance? Were none of their players fit to play singles? Ah well...
Anyway, GV prevailed this week 4-1 - both singles matches won by default, we went 2-1 in doubles. Rich Trach and Dave Umbach re-acquainted themselves on the tennis court with a straight set victory, while Jimmy Dare and Joe Virgulti made great smiles happen (TM) with a double bagel win. Jim Shinehouse (is it just me, or do we have a ton of guys named "Jim" on our team?) and Jack (not Jim) Legoretta fell in straight sets at first doubles.
And there you have it. That's all I know. I don't even know if it was sauna-like in the Healthplex. I don't know if Dave U. wore the warpaint indoors. I feel so out of the loop.
Our magic number for districts is 2, as apparently Easy Killer needed a 3rd set tiebreak win to pull out a 3-2 result over the West Chester Aces. We face Kinetix this weekend, needing a win to get one step closer to putting this thing away. So, let's take care of that, okay?
Anyway, GV prevailed this week 4-1 - both singles matches won by default, we went 2-1 in doubles. Rich Trach and Dave Umbach re-acquainted themselves on the tennis court with a straight set victory, while Jimmy Dare and Joe Virgulti made great smiles happen (TM) with a double bagel win. Jim Shinehouse (is it just me, or do we have a ton of guys named "Jim" on our team?) and Jack (not Jim) Legoretta fell in straight sets at first doubles.
And there you have it. That's all I know. I don't even know if it was sauna-like in the Healthplex. I don't know if Dave U. wore the warpaint indoors. I feel so out of the loop.
Our magic number for districts is 2, as apparently Easy Killer needed a 3rd set tiebreak win to pull out a 3-2 result over the West Chester Aces. We face Kinetix this weekend, needing a win to get one step closer to putting this thing away. So, let's take care of that, okay?
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Nerves of Steel
Apparently there was a video game called "Nerves of Steel" once. Who knew?
Dateline – Saturday June 6th, 10:30 AM. Rich Trach and I had just completed our demolition of our opponents at #2 doubles (okay, demolition is a little strong. Sound defeat, perhaps?). Guy Van Alstine and Dennis McKernan had fallen at #1 doubles to a strong team. On the two remaining West Chester East courts, GV was down one set to none at #2 singles and #3 doubles. And God only knows what was going on across town where Brett Siegfried was battling Jakub Avramov at #1 singles. As I left the courts with my wife and son to meet a friend for lunch, I couldn’t help thinking that we were in danger of letting Easy Killer back into this season if things didn’t turn around…
What a silly concern! With a teamful of USTA League Tennis veterans like the Great Valley squad boasts this year, nothing is ever over until we say it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Dave U. put his infamous slow motion tennis/jedi mind tricks into action and rebounded to win his 2nd singles match in 3 sets, and Tom Mead grabbed Capt. Kenny by the scruff of the neck and willed 3rd doubles to a 3 set victory as well. Along with Brett Siegfried’s straight set victory and Rich and my win at 2nd doubles, GV put up another 4-1 win and maintained our 2 match lead over Easy Killer.
I didn’t watch enough of the other matches to add a whole lot more of my pithy commentary. I do want to thank my 16-month old son Aaron for trying to replicate the feel of a home Davis Cup match at the West Chester courts. Whenever our opponents would toe the line to serve on my son’s side of the court, he would start banging his hand on the metal risers as a distraction. Well played, boy!
#1 Singles – Brett Siegfried (7-0 singles) d. Jakub Avramov (0-2 singles), 6-3, 7-5
#2 Singles – Dave Umbach (2-0 singles) d. Michael Weidinger (2-2 singles, 3-0 doubles), 3-6, 6-4, 6-1
#1 Doubles – Van Alstine (0-2 doubles)/McKernan (0-1 doubles) v. Ortega (2-0 doubles)/Hebenton (4-1 doubles), 2-6, 4-6
#2 Doubles – Heck (1-0 singles, 5-0 doubles)/Trach (5-0 doubles) d. Stevens (1-1 doubles)/Dharmaraj (1-1 doubles), 6-4, 6-3
#3 Doubles – Mead (3-0 doubles)/Werkiser (2-0 doubles) d. Francis (2-2 doubles)/Patitucci (1-3 doubles), 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
Notable: Brett just keeps on rolling. 1 lost set in 7 matches this season. Wow. Tom Mead continues his undefeated run in his rookie season with GV, this time carrying Kenny to a 3-set victory. Rich Trach and I played better this week, though my service problems continue. We kept points much shorter and poached effectively. Apparently our opponent Karthekeyan Dharmaraj is a 3.5 – he was a pretty solid player with a strong serve. He has to be a tremendous asset to his 3.5 team.
That’s about it for this week. GV faces Healthplex at the Healthplex sauna this week. I’ll be in the Poconos, 3 beers in by the time you guys take the courts. If conditions are similar to last year, drink lots of fluids. I think I lost about 10 pounds of water weight that day. Didn’t help that I choked away the 2nd set tiebreak and had to play 3…
Sunday, May 31, 2009
The Cavalry Arrives!
"I pity the Fools!"
As strong as the season has started for the Great Valley 4.0 squad, there's been something missing. The tennis has been excellent, the comraderie quite good...what has it been? Oh yeah, now I remember. The warpaint! Our favorite bandana-ed, warpainted team member has re-emerged from his Florida winter hideout to help us in our push towards Princeton and beyond, and he made an impact in his first match back on Saturday morning.
Phoenixville High School was the setting, on another beautiful Saturday morning for tennis. Scattered clouds, high 70's, little humidity. Can we dial that up for the rest of the season? Great Valley brought a strong lineup to face the Drunken Fools, who sent out a formidable lineup of their own. Let's go to the match-by-match review.
#1 Singles - Brett Siegfried (5-0, singles) d. Shawn Minnier (4-4, singles), 6-4, 7-5
Brett Siegfried is, quite frankly, on a roll. We'll disregard any Thursday night tune-up matches and just pay attention to his spotless USTA record - our singles anchor has only dropped 1 set in 5 matches this year, including one CPD match. He faced Shawn Minnier, who gave Great Valley fits last year (he was 9-1 in singles last year in PATD 4.0 action!) but has struggled this year. Shawn struggled versus yours truly in Week 1, but has done a nice job in Delaware action this year, with a 3-1 record down south. Anyway, this looked like a very competitive match from our court. Shawn was hitting crisp groundstrokes, but you just can't outlast Brett right now. Ultimately Shawn just didn't have enough, and Brett pulled out yet another victory. By the way (and I hope the USTA computers aren't reading this), Brett is 19-3 in his last 22 USTA singles matches, including playoffs last year (Districts, Sectionals AND Nationals). Pretty darned impressive.
#2 Singles - Dave Umbach (1-0, singles) d. Jeffrey Horwitz (0-3, singles), 7-5, 6-3
As I alluded to in the intro, the warpaint is back! Dave made is back in time for practice on Wednesday night, where it was determined that he was not exactly ready to resume doubles play with 2008 partner Rich Trach. Actually, looking back at their 2008 results, Dave and Rich had a fascinating run. 0-1 in the regular season (a 3-set loss to the Chambermaids and Hos), they went 7-0 in the playoffs between Districts and Sectionals. But the fascinating part is that 5 of those matches went to the 10-point 3rd set tiebreak, and Dave and Rich won all 5. Dave also managed a 4-0 singles record last year, including a match against his 5/30 opponent Jeff Horwitz. So when Jeff jumped to a 5-2, 40-Love lead in the first set, he had to know that Dave had him just where he wanted him. Sure enough, Mr. Umbach pulled out the first set despite the early difficulties, and cruised the rest of the way to a comfortable straight set victory. Dave's return gives us a tremendous amount of flexibility going forward, hopefully deep into the playoffs.
#1 Doubles - Heck (1-0, singles, 4-0, doubles)/Trach (4-0, doubles) d. Cooper (2-1, doubles)/Ruhl (3-1, doubles), 7-5, 5-7, 6-4
My third straight match with Rich Trach saw our first real bit of adversity as we dropped the second set before closing out the match against two tough opponents. I couldn't look at Lonnie Cooper without thinking of "Bruiser" from Ocean's Eleven. Not sure if anyone will get that reference, but that's not really my problem. Anyway, Rich and I played a fairly uneven match, mostly because of my service problems and our inability to put balls away. We had some fabulous net points, and it really was a fun doubles match to be a part of. That said, I know that I personally have to do a better job of ending points quicker, because we kept them in a lot of points that should have been over early. As Russell mentioned in his blog last week, Rich is a fantastic singles player who has made a seamless transition to doubles. It's great for our team to have so much versatility between singles and doubles.
#2 Doubles - Schmidt (2-1 singles, 1-0 doubles)/Mackenthun (5-0 doubles) d. Potts (1-0 singles, 1-1 doubles)/Flemming (1-3 doubles), 6-3, 2-6, 7-5
The Germans are coming! The Germans are coming! Holger Mackenthun, who's played with everyone but Bobby Riggs this year, found himself with a new partner and countryman to face the Drunken Fools' young combo of Potts & Flemming in this barnburner of a match. Michael Schmidt was bumped down to 2nd dubs because of Dave Umbach's return (giving us tremendous depth), and the Germans found themselves face-to-face with two kids whose combined ages were probably less than the average age of a player on our team! This was a back-and-forth affair, much fist-pumping from the young Fools duo, much solid tennis from our boys. In the end, the veterans got it done, holding on for a 3-set victory. Holger has now had 4 different partners in 5 weeks...and is yet to drop a match. He even carried Kenny to a victory! Many candidates for team MVP this year - Holger has to be high on the list.
#3 Doubles - Gionta (1-1 doubles)/Cantu (0-2 doubles) v. Pattinson (2-2 doubles)/Dixon (1-2 doubles), 6-7, 3-6
Two of our ailing warriors, "Wey Cool" Gionta and "Hammer" Cantu fell in a hard-fought match with their Drunken Fools counterparts in the final match of the day. Gionta and Cantu couldn't recover from dropping the 1st set tiebreak, as both are rounding back into match condition after injuries have slowed their 2009 campaigns. Getting on the court is the best medicine, and both players expect a strong second half to prepare for the playoffs.
So there we are. 5-0, two game lead over both Easy Killer (who scraped by Kinetix 3-2 this weekend) and the West Chester Aces (5-0 victors over doormat Healthplex). Our "magic number" is technically 4, but we can put an absolute choke hold on the subflight with a victory this weekend against the West Chester Aces, the only squad we haven't faced. The Aces beat Easy Killer early in the season, but have since lost to the Fools and Kinetix, so I'm not quite sure what to expect. Let's bring our "A" games, just in case.
By the way, the link to Russell's blog is now on the right side above the link the USTA standings, for those interested in keeping track of our chief rivals. Enjoy!
-g
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
