Off Season Notes

We have officially entered into the off season here in Austin. The Austin Tennis League Fall 2009 season has wrapped up, December 13th is the deadline to complete all makeup matches, and the Spring season will start on January 30th.

Registration has opened for the 2010 USTA Leagues for the 3.0-4.0 levels, with play beginning the first week of February, check the CATA Leagues Page for more information.

The UT Men's team will be back in action on January 9th, when they go to Florida to play in the Key Biscane Quad. The UT Women will return to the courts on January 15th, when they compete in the Georgia Invitational.

According to Andy Roddick's Twitter page, he has been working out with coach Larry Stefanki and friend Mardy Fish the past few days.

I've been talking to some 4.5 players who are over 50 about the need to start a USTA Men's Senior 4.5 league, if anyone is interested drop me an email at atatu2005@yahoo.com, in two or three years that league should get a healthy influx of players (unless the USTA reverses direction and starts bumping a lot of guys down).

The Blog has been getting hammered by spam lately, so I changed the comment process to include a word verification step. Hopefully this will not discourage the few people who do leave comments.

Winter Tournament Guide 2010

Berry Creek Winter Open, Jan. 15-17th. Open, 25's, 30's and NTRP Levels, singles and doubles. Berry Creek Racquet Club and Georgetown area schools. This popular tournament is the first local tournament of the year and a good way to knock off some rust. Entry deadline is Jan. 5th. Click here for more information and to enter.

Polar Brrr Nothing But Doubles, Jan. 22-24th. NTRP Doubles Levels, Multiple sites in Austin. Compass Draw will be used and all teams are guaranteed a minimum of three matches. Entry Deadline is Jan 10th. Click here to enter on-line.

Mabry Adult and Senior Open, Feb. 5-7th. Adult NTRP and Age Group Levels, singles and doubles. McFarlin Tennis Center in San Antonio. This is a well run tournament that traditionally has strong age group draws. Entries open on December 7, 2009. Click here for more information.

Horseshoe Bay Resort Red Clay Adult Open, Feb. 12-15th. Adult Open and NTRP Levels, singles and doubles. One of the few tournaments held on Red Clay, this tournament is growing in popularity year by year. Entries open on Jan. 1. For more information, click here.

SAPTA H.E.B. Adult Major Zone, Feb. 19-21. Adult Open, 25's, 30's and NTRP Levels, singles and doubles. Multiple Sites in San Antonio, Open division is played on clay. Entry deadline is Feb. 10th. Click here to enter now.

Waco Senior Major Zone and Super Senior Major Zone, Feb. 25-28th. Senior and Super Senior age groups, singles and doubles. Held at the Waco Regional Tennis and Fitness Center. Entry deadline is Feb. 14th. Click here to enter online.

Year End NTRP Ratings Are Up

See tennislink for the year end ratings. I did not see too many surprises on the men's side. Moving from 4.5 to 5.0 are Lytton Allen, Brett Bunch, Chad Case, Juan DeKruyff, Sean Doles, Grant Chambers, Stephen Creel, Stephen Johnson, Kevin Kramer, Jeff Guevara, Eduardo Sandoval and David Wright. Here is the link for the 5.0 list. Of the guys who are still rated 4.5, I am surprised to see Fred Hall, Chris McDaniel, Patrick Seidensticker, Josh Torrez, Dan Garza, Alan Cannaday, and Daniel Rockey. Here is the list of 4.5 ratings.

There were several players moved up from 3.5 and 4.0 to 4.5, I know I'm going to miss some , but the guys I recognize as moving up include: Dave Ballard, Haroon Barlas, Corey Bilse, Dave Borkowicz, Jim Brown, Mike Cancino, Jeff Canon, David Cuebas, Changsu Lee, Arturo Mata, Danny Meek, Mohit Nilekani, Michael Pan, Clark Peterson, Igor Ponomarev, Jaco Raubenheimer, Evan Segal, Joseph Spacek, and Gentry Sparling. If someone wants to email a more complete list I'll update this one. Here is the link for the 4.0 ratings.

Year End NTRP Ratings and Rumors

Update: Here's an updated link from USTA.com basically stating the same information discussed below. They also have a chart which reflects how many players were moved up, nationwide, level by level. For example, at the 4.5 level there were 1,333 players moved up and 965 players moved down. Although they say the 2009 ratings have been published to tennislink, I was not able to pull up any 2009 year end ratings.

There has been a lot of discussion on some of the internet forums such as Talk Tennis on Tennis Warehouse about the end of the year NTRP ratings. The two rumors that have surfaced are that the ratings should be released by December 2nd, and that there will be a significantly higher percentage of player bumped up this year. This link from the Mississippi Tennis Association lends some legitimacy to the second rumor. According to the MTA, the is a "National Oversight Group" (NOG) which is charged with maintaining the integrity of the NTRP system, and as a result of concerns raised to the NOG there will be a nationwide movement to move more players up. I guess we will see how this all plays out pretty soon.

Pets Alive Tournament December 13th at Pharr

Here is an email I received from Jayne Clark about an upcoming tournament, if anyone needs a PDF of the entry form, send me an email and I will forward it to you, or you can click here to dowload an entry form.

Howdy Everybody!

Just a quick reminder the 2nd Annual Austin Pets Alive (www.austinpetsalive.org) benefit tournament is coming up Sunday, Dec. 13. Entry deadline is Dec. 1st and it will be here before we know it. So make sure to get your entry in.

It's going to be a great time! There will be raffle prizes, everyone will receive a t-shirt, snacks and drinks will be provided throughout the day, and awards will be given to 1st place winners. This is a round robin even so you will get to play A LOT of tennis.

I have attached the entry form, please feel free to pass this on to your friends, team captains, and whom ever you think would be interested. If you can't play, please consider making a tax deductible donation to Austin Pets Alive.

For every $100 raised they are able to save a perfectly adoptable, healthy dog or cat. This is a great organization doing a fantastic job at saving lives and making Austin a no kill city. Let's do all that we can to support them!

Austin Pets Alive, www.austinpetsalive.org

If you have any questions please call me 968 - 2644 or email me at jaynetennis@gmail.com

Thanks everybody!

Jayne

*************************

I hope everyone has a good Thanksgiving, last night the hard drive on my Mac went out, so I may not be posting too much before Christmas, unless I can bring myself to use this old PC.

Women's Tri-Level Results

The Tri-level league was completed over the weekend despite the rain, with teams competing in two women's divisions: Women's 3.0/3.5/4.0 and 3.5/4.0/4.5. No men's teams entered the league this year.

The winning team in the 3.0/3.5/4.0 division was Tri-Winners, captained by Maureen Percenti, as they edged out Great Hills Triple Threat, based on total lines won. The teams of Michele Haggerty and Cindy Breed and Margaret Gilburg and Julie Asbra contributed two wins each for Tri-Winners.

In the 3.5/4.0/4.5 division, the winning team was TRE, captained by Linda Warner. TRE went 4-0 on the weekend, winning 11 matches and losing only 1. The team of Linda Dee and Susan Sorenson recorded three wins for TRE. Second place went to Dirty Dozen, captained by Diana Garcia.
****************************
Congratulations to former Austin area resident Ashwin Kumar, last week he qualified for the main doubles draw of the JSM Challenger held in Champaign-Urbana and reached the second round playing with former University of Illinois player Ryan Rowe. Ashwin's doubles ranking is now #450 on the ATP tour. The doubles draw was won by Brian Battistone and his brother Dan. If you've never seen Brian Battistone's serve, check out this youtube video.

ATB Book Review: Open by Andre Agassi

I'm going to take a break from focusing on Austin tennis for tonight and do a quick review of the Andre Agassi autobiography, which is titled Open. I picked the book up at Bookpeople last week, deciding I should support a local Austin business (that turned out to be a mistake, as I saw it at Target a few days later for ten dollars less). By now, everyone has heard about the big revelations in the book: Agassi used Crystal Meth on and off for about a year; he wore a hairpiece during his loss to Andres Gomez in the French Open; and he claims that he hates tennis. But, if you think that is all there is to this book, you would be mistaken.

For me, the book was a fascinating memoir that detailed Agassi's transformation from a lonely, rebellious teenager into a mature, retrospective father of two. Anyone who follows tennis already knows that Agassi's father pushed him from an early age, but after reading this book one realizes that Mike Agassi's behavior bordered on being abusive. At the age of seven, Agassi was hitting 2,500 balls a day, which were fired from a modified ball machine nicknamed "the dragon." Agassi's father reasoned that 2,500 balls a day equaled 17,500 balls each week and one million balls at the end of a year, and a child who hits one million balls each year will be unbeatable.

The most interesting part of the book, however is Agassi's re-telling of his first few years on the tour. Still playing as an Amateur at the age of 15, Agassi and his brother subsist for a month on a diet of baked potatoes, then Andre gets a wild card into the tournament at La Quinta, where he proceeds to win three qualifying rounds and one main draw round. Agassi then convinces the tournament director Charlie Pasarell to give him $2,000 for expenses (prize money for reaching the second round is $2,600).

"Then we talk about where we're going to eat dinner. We're drooling as we bandy names of restaurants about. In the end we agree that this is a very special occasion, a once in a lifetime occasion, which calls for something truly fancy. Sizzler."

There is much more to this book, Agassi doesn't hold much back as he talks about his relationships with players like Boris Becker, Pete Sampras and Michael Chang. In addition, his friendships with Gil Reyes, Perry Rogers, Brad Gilbert and Darren Cahill are thoroughly explored. Finally, he tells the readers all about his marriage to Brooke Shields and his courtship of Steffi Graf.

I hate to say I couldn't put this book down, but that's pretty much the truth. The 386 pages went by in a hurry and I can honestly say I was left wishing there was more, which to me is a good indication of how much I enjoyed reading a book.

ATL Week 9 Update

In Division 1 Westover OS took a 6-2 decision over a short handed Austin Wild team. Winners for Westover were Jeff Guevara at #2 singles and the #1 doubles team of Joe Prather and Bernhard Deussner. AW got a win at #1 singles when Chad Case beat Grant Chambers in a well played match 6-3, 6-4...Elsewhere, Barton Creek rolled over a rapidly fading Ball Busters team 6-2, including two defaults. Steve Creel and Greg Hixon recorded a double bagel for Barton Creek at #1 doubles and Ned Boone picked up two sets for Ball Busters when he beat Joel Trammell 6-3, 6-2...Ad In and Lakeway battled to a 4-4 split, with Daniel Rockey and Brett Tomlinson winning both singles matches for Ad In. Lakeway took the doubles lines thanks to the teams of Taylor Fyfe and Jonathon Creath and Fred Hall and Jason Crabtree.

In D2 Court Jesters swept I'd Hit That 8-0, getting wins from Torch Acosta, David Garrison, Darrell Breeden/Steve Gilmer and Danny Dobbs/Andy Swanson...Westwood and Sharp Shooters split 4-4. Westwood got wins at #1 singles and #1 doubles thanks to Julian Lowin and the team of Leonard Smith and Doug Harrison. Sharp Shooters countered with wins by David Brandt at #2 singles and a win by Vu Do and Vivek Naik at #2 doubles...ATC Family affair beat Topspin 6-2, getting wins from Dan Garza and the doubles teams of Stacey Smith/Scott Crews and Paul Bradshaw/Gus Alaniz.

Division 3 saw a close match when Hall of Framers and Jaguars split 4-4. Mike Bajkowski won for Jaguars at #1 singles along with Miguel Gonzalez and Phillip Fu at #2 doubles. HOF got a win at #2 singles from Kevin Pimm and they also picked up a doubles win from Justin Murrill and Zach Johnston...Also in D3 Polo Club topped Ball Busters II by the score of 6-2. St. Ed's player Brett Powers tallied the only win for Ball Busters at #1 singles and the rest of the wins went to the Polo Club, Jed Brickely at #2 singles, and the doubles teams of Joe McGowan and Jay McBurney and Scott Hardey and Rex Elmore...One Bounce took 8 sets from Lakeway II and dropped only one. Clayton Rogers continued his strong play, getting a win at #1 singles for One Bounce, he was joined by teammates Haroon Barlas at #2 singles and the doubles teams of Evan Segal and Jaco Raubenheimer, who beat George Turner and Brian Winans in three sets, and Eric Addington and Changsu Lee.

Austin Area 2009 Masters Tournament Winners

Congratulations to the following Austin area players for their performances at the Pok e Jo's Masters Tournament this weekend:

Roland Waits - M2.5 singles winner
Daryn Watson- M3.5 singles winner
Juan DeKruyff- M4.5 singles winner
Trent McClure/Chris Salmon - M3.5 doubles winners
Linda Pfitzner-W 3.0 singles winner
Heidi Bloch-W 3.5 singles winner
Lisa Tanner-W 4.0 singles winner
Melanie Logan-W 4.5 singles winner
Jeanine Bischoping/Susan Pyle-W 2.5 doubles winners
Colleen Dial/Michael Friedman- Open MXD doubles winners

Congratulatons to everyone who qualified for the tournament, sorry if I missed anyone. Click here to see all the draws.

Masters Tournament Update....Sampras Exo Rescheduled

The 2009 Pok e Jo's Masters Tournament is this weekend, November 13-15th. Click here to see all the draws. Thanks to a reader for putting together this list (sorry if we missed anyone) of Austin area competitors:

Men:
Jorge Bouffier, Michael Friedman, Hiep Chung, Keith Orie, Clark Peterson, Roland Waits, Brian Brumlett, Daryn Watson, Michael Pan, Scott Sevin, Juan DeKryuff, Chad Loup, John McDonough, Leon Kincy, Scott Canaan, Steve Cotton, David DeRoo, John Smiljanic, Trent McClure, Chris Salmon, Michael Flynn, Greg Gold, Keith Bundas, Greg Rychlik, and Greg Dyer.

Ladies:
Colleen Dial, Jelka Jonker, Seasha McKay, Corrine Perry-Rotan, Elaine Rathgeber, Amanda West, Alisha Bednarz, Linda Pfitzner, April Alarcon, Heidi Bloch, Wendy Durham, Monica Melvin, Heather Shuvalov, Lori Adams, Michelle Ash, Pollyanna Held, Melanie Logan, Brenda Bianchi, Jeanine Bischoping, Susan Pyle, JoLynn Dyer, Amy Gold, Jennifer Harrison, Kim McNair, Cheryl Bicknell, Wendy Durham, Andrea Moynihan, CJ Bigart, Sharon Coudert, Jacqueline Davis, Monica Melvin, Karen Shields, Anne Blackwood, Ilene Levinson, Joann Assawamatyanont, Thanh Chung, Elizabeth Davis, Diana Garcia, Kristen Ramirez, and Susan Witherspoon.
******************************
The Exhibition match between Pete Sampras and Todd Martin benefiting Children of Fallen Soldiers has been re-scheduled for March 6, 2010.

Sampras Exo Rained Out...ATL Updates

The Pete Sampras vs. Todd Martin Exhibition benefit for Children of Fallen Soldiers was rained out on Sunday. Organizers will reschedule this event sometime in the next month, stay tuned for more specifics.
***************************
In ATL Division 1, Austin Wild took an 7-1 decision over Lakeway. AW got four lines of defaults from Lakeway, plus a doubles win from Greg Gormley and Kevin Lemke. Chad Case split sets with Rob VanSwelm in a match that was not completed when they got bumped off the courts...Ball Busters and Westover OS split their match 4-4. Ball Busters got a win at #1 singles when Ned Boone beat Sean Doles 6-3, 6-4 and also took the #1 doubles when Boris Barrios and Jorge Bouffier topped Brendan Sheehan and Michael Friedman 6-4, 6-2. Westover took the #2 singles line thanks to Grant Chambers and picked up two sets when BB once again defaulted the #2 doubles line...Barton Creek got a 7-3 win over Ad In, in a match featuring a three set win by Daniel Rockey at #1 singles over Jeff Fifield 6-7, 6-2, 6-3. Barton Creek countered with a win at #2 singles by Kent Lovato and doubles wins by Steve Creel/Sean Fifield and John McLean and Kevin Thorne.

In Division 2 there was a nice match between Court Jesters and Sharp Shooters, which Court Jesters won 6-4. Chris McDaniel recorded another win for CJ at #1 singles, and Torch Acosta outlasted David Brandt at #2 singles 6-0, 3-6, 6-4. In doubles Brian Smithart and David Garrison scored a win for CJ, while Mike Jacques and Vu Do got two sets for Sharp Shooters...Elsewhere Westwood swept Family Affair 8-0, getting wins from Tim Klitch and Stephen Johnson in singles, and the doubles teams of Julian Lowin and Lee Livingston and Chaly Balanza and Scott Raper...I'd Hit That took a 5-2 decision over Topspin, recording wins from Mike Takao at #1 singles, and Ruben Ibarra and Kristi Francis at #2 doubles. Topspin took the #1 doubles line thanks to Dave Ballard and David Hoover, and the #2 singles match between Travis Lee and Susan Bryson was suspended with Lee ahead 7-6, 3-4.

In D3 action, Polo Club took out the Hall of Framers 7-2, it looks like the best match there was the HOF win by Mike O'Keefe over Scott Sevin 3-6, 6-2, 6-4. Polo Club recorded wins by Jed Brickley at #2 singles and the doubles team of Scott Hardey and Rex Elmore...other D2 action saw Jaguars beat One Bounce 6-2 with Clayton Rogers handing Mike Bajkowski a rare loss when he took a 7-6, 7-6 decision.

UT Players Head to ITA Indoors...Hitting Session with Former D1 Player

Three UT players will be in New Haven, Connecticut this weekend competing in the ITA National Indoor Championships. On the men's side, senior Dimitar Kutrovsky is seeded sixth, and will open against Javier Garrapiz of Georgia on Thursday. Meanwhile, teammate Ed Corrie will face Moritz Baumann of Wisconsin in the lower half of the draw. In the women's draw, freshman Aeriel Ellis is the sole UT representative, and she will play Kristi Boxx of Mississippi in the first round. Click here to see all the draws.
****************************
While I'm on the subject of Division 1 tennis players, I had the opportunity to take a lesson from former University of Notre Dame #1 Brett Helgeson last week. After an hour of playing against someone who hits with a lot more pace and consistency than I'm used to, I was exhausted, and I think it was well worth the time and cost. Brett recently moved to Austin, and he is available evenings and weekends for lessons and hitting sessions. Click here to read his interview with the USTA earlier this year. Contact Brett via email at:
brett.helgeson@gmail.com

ATL Updates Week 7....Sampras in Austin This Week

In D1 this week there was a nice match between first place Austin Wild and Ad In. AW won at #1 singles thanks to Chris Klepper and at #1 doubles with Greg Gormley and Eric Strawbridge. Ad In won at #2 singles when Daniel Rockey beat Kevin Lemke in three sets and at #2 doubles thanks to Trey Nesloney and Mark Monreal. I caught some of the Rockey/Lemke match and there was some great tennis being played on both sides...Meanwhile Westover OS edged Barton Creek 5-4 when BC took both singles matches as Joel Trammel beat Juan DeKruyff 6-4, 7-6, and Chris Beevers beat Sean Doles 7-6, 6-7, 1-0 in another well played match. Westover took both doubles matches courtesy of Michael Friedman/Robert Stapper and Joe Prather/Brendan Sheehan...Ball Busters beat Lakeway 6-2, getting wins from Ned Boone, Brody Rodriguez, and the doubles team of Jorge Bouffier and Mark Armengual. Lakeway won at #2 doubles with the team of Adrian Garza and Lyton Allen.

In Division 2, Sharp Shooters beat ATC Family Affair 6-5 in a match that saw lots of three set matches. At #2 singles Ashwin Sheshadri beat John Whitney 6-7, 6-2, 6-4, at #1 doubles David Brandt and Jimmy Blanton beat Mike Flynn and Jeff McMillioan 6-7, 6-2, 1-0, and at #2 doubles Bruce Kellison and Mand Maloney outlasted Mike Grable and Scott Crews 4-6, 6-1, 6-3. Daniel Garza also won at #1 singles for ATC...Westwood CC took an 8-2 decision against I'd Hit That, as Julian Lowin won at #1 singles for WW, along with Doug Harrison at #2 singles and the doubles teams of Bill Raman/Russell Briggs and Trey Fyfe/Scott Raper...Court Jesters beat Topspin 7-2, but no scores were reported.

In D3, Ball Busters 2 split with Hall of Framers 4-4. Michael O'Keefe and Justin Murrill recorded singles wins for HOF, while Ball Busters got a doubles win from Rick Rodriguez and Robby Vickery plus a forfeit win at #2 doubles...One Bounce beat Polo Club I by the score of 7 sets to 4. There was a close match at #1 singles as Clayton Rogers edged Michael Lane 7-5, 1-6, 6-2. The doubles teams of Mike Caskey and Eric Addington and Evan Segal and Jaco Raubenheimer also won for One Bounce, while Scott Sevin won for Lakeway when Haroon Barlas had to withdraw due to injury.
****************************
Just a reminder that Pete Sampras will be in Austin this Sunday, November 8th. To see the details, click here.

Kutrovsky Takes Singles and Doubles at Texas Invitational...Super Seniors Update

Dimitar Kutrovsky won both the singles and doubles titles at the Texas Invitational, beating teammate Ed Corrie in three sets 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 to win the "A" singles draw, and teaming with Josh Zavala to take the doubles title over Michael Nusslein and Christian Saravia of Rice, 8-4. In the "B" singles draw, Saravia beat teammate Jonathan Chang 6-0, 5-7, 6-2. Read more at Texassports.com and to see the completed draws click here.
***************************
At the Lakeway Super Seniors Tournament, Del Campbell of Dripping Spring won the men's 65's singles title, then teamed with Circle C's Fernando Velasco to take the doubles title. Meanwhile, Jeff Fifield and Kent Lovato won the men's 55 doubles title. On the women's side of the draw, Sheryl Bene won the women's 65 singles title, and Frances Ryan was the winner of the women's 80 singles draw. In doubles, Janet Rice took the 60's doubles title, teaming up with Barbara Hubbard of Hawaii. All the draws can be seen here.

UT Men Roll at Texas Invitational...Update From 4.5 Nationals

At the Texas Invitational today, the UT men's team placed seven players into the quarterfinals of the "A" draws. Alex Hilliard turned in an impressive performance, as he defeated #5 seed Julian Bley in the morning, then came back to knock off Michael Nusslein of Rice in the afternoon. Meanwhile, freshman Danield Whitehead beat teammate Josh Zavala for the second time this month to earn his spot in the quarters. Joining Hilliard and Whitehead in the final eight are #1 seed Dimitar Kutrovsky, #2 seed Ed Corrie, #3 seed Kellen Damico and freshmen Chris Camillone and Vasil Mladenov. Play continues Saturday at 8:30am, click here to see the draws.
*****************************
At the USTA 4.5 Nationals today, the Houston Hurricanes men's team representing Texas went 1-1 for the day, losing a tough 3-2 match against Mid Atlantic with all three losses coming in third set tiebreakers. Earlier in the day Houston swept New England 5-0.