Archive for Percy896's Tennis Forum This is a new tennis forum to discuss professional tennis, vote and create polls, and ask advice about equipment, fitness, or anything regarding tennis! Now with a new Fantasy Tennis League!
The third season of Percy’s Fantasy Tennis League was completed last week at the Federer Masters Cup. This has been yet another successful season with even more additions to the game.
The season started with a battle for the number 1 ranking between Bizet and John Edelstein. Edelstein had held it for most of Season 2, but Bizet just snatched it at the end with his Federer Masters Cup win. As usual, the New Zealand International kicked off the season. x.doublea came out of the blocks very fast and upset 4 seeds en route to the tier 2 title. In the final he dealt Jennacourt her first ever defeat in New Zealand. x.doublea continued his impressive early season form through into the Australian Open. There, he took out the top seed Bizet and reached his first grand slam SF. He lost to PSALT in 3 sets. PSALT played well under pressure to defend points, and played John Edelstein in a re-match of last year’s final. He put up a lot more fight this time, but Edelstein defended his title in the end, 7-6 2-6 6-3. The tour remained in Australia for the Hewitt Hardcourts, which was won by another up-and-comer, leftys_rock. She produced excellent comebacks against Vanessa Child and Jennacourt before sweeping Bizet aside in the final to burst into the top of the game.
dav6789 had also enjoyed a great start to the season. Coming in from reaching his first grand slam SF in Melbourne, he defeated Tricatrina to win his first higher tier title at the Schnyder Grand Prix. The Murray Indoors once again featured one of the best tier 4 draws, highlighted with Britain’s top players NEA and dav6789. leftys_rock silenced a restless crowd as she beat both Brits in 3 sets to win her 2nd title of the season. The high quality draw of this event pushed Rachy and Chikita Benita to protest against high ranked players entering their tier 4’s.
The tennis world then gathered for the Williams Series events. Jennacourt delivered under pressure to win her 3rd straight Williams Series crown, toughing out a 6-3 3-6 6-3 win over Tricatrina in the final of the WS-Venus. Her streak came to a sudden stop though, as she lost to PSALT in the WS-Serena QF. dav6789 made a late decision to enter the WS-Serena draw. He cruised through to his 5th final of the year but lost in a fiercely contested final to Vanessa Child. Child, who had struggled with injuries in the early part of the season was forced to 3 sets in all of her last three matches.
The tour then went from blue hardcourts to red claycourts and the run-up to the French Open. x.doublea was quick to prove he could play on the red dirt by winning the Gaudio Grand Prix. His run was highlighted with a win over former finalist Bizet in the SF. His second tier 2 title seemed to give him a lot more confidence on the clay, and he had a superb run to his first tier 1 final at the Henin-Hardenne Open. Having won the first set at a canter 6-1 against John Edelstein, he couldn’t close out the match. Edelstein, who had lost in the final the last two years finally won the title, 1-6 7-5 6-4. Another to impress before the French Open was Vanessa Child. She won back-to-back titles at the Coria Claycourt Masters and Myskina Tennis Cup, losing just two sets during this run. Her 6-3 6-2 thrashing of Tricatrina in Argentina allowed her to re-claim the number 1 ranking. Tricatrina came out of her early-season slump and reminded everyone she was the ‘Queen of Clay’. In Spain, she ended the run of Child before easing to the title against John Edelstein. The French Open, however, turned out to be a huge surprise. Season 2 finalist J-man had been in average form on the clay, but managed to go one step further this year to win his first grand slam. He looked out of the tournament when he lost his first set 6-0 to stevos14. He snuck through that match, and another against dav6789. He then showed the true class of a grand slam champion. He beat tournament favourites Child and Tricatrina, and then another surprise finalist PSALT 6-3 7-5.
During his career, PSALT had been a critic of the length of the claycourt season compeared to the grass. Straight after losing the final in Paris, he went to Sweden and was relieved to finally step onto a grasscourt. He adjusted very quickly and went onto win his biggest title. Jennacourt was also clearly happy to be on grass again. She surprisingly won the Roddick Open with wins over Bizet and John Edesltein, who had never lost in Texas before. The biggest story of the grasscourt season was in a tier 4 event, the Sprem Summer Lawns. Former number 1 Yodavitch made a winning comeback to the delight of his many fans. He had been sidelined with a serious back injury since the start of the year. Wimbledon began with Child and Edelstein still the strong favourites. They were upset early though, and Jennacourt and Bizet took advantage of this to both reach the first slam finals. In a very nervy final, Jennacourt pulled through for her first grand slam.
Jennacourt’s game went from grass to hard. She defended the Petrova Cup. However, her 13-match winning streak came to a sudden halt against NEA at another Russian event, the Kuznetsova Classic. NEA lost out to Phobe in the final, but showed glimpses of his old form, after his miserable claycourt season. Jennacourt became number 1 in the world, and was in devastating form. She won the Agassi Open, one of the biggest events on tour, losing just 9 games! Her 6-0 6-0 demolition of Tricatrina was sweet revenge from a a couple of years ago. dav6789 had struggled during the grasscourt season, but picked up his form on his favourite hardcourts. A convincing run to the Petrova Cup final was followed by his first tier 1 title at the Davenport US Champs. In Laguna Beach, he beat Edelstein and Child retained the British number 1 ranking. After losing to dav6789, Edesltein announced he was contemplating retirement due to ‘poor results’. That talk was put on hold, at least for a few days, when he won the Clijsters Classic. The US Open began with 3 of the top 4 seeds being upset. Jbors47 was pushed on by a massive American crowd all the way to the semis. He beat Jennacourt, Yodavitch and NEA, but lost in a close match to defending champion Tricatrina. Tricatrina faced Vanessa Child in the final. Both players had done almost nothing during the hardcourt season, and had been quietly making their way through the draw. Child won the final 6-7 6-4 6-3 and took another step to greatness, aswell as snatching the top ranking again.
As usual, the indoor season was dominated with the question of who would qualify for the YEC. NEA boosted his campaign early on by winning his first higher tier title in Croatia. He made it 7 match wins in a row, but lost the Sharapova Cup final to Jennacourt, who once again took the number 1 ranking back. Other contenders made their marks ahead of the YEC. PSALT won his first tier 1 at the Nalbandian Open. Vanessa Child won the Mauresmo Masters. Bizet, Jennacourt, and John Edelstein and Tricatrina had also done enough to qualify. The final places were still up for grabs though. NEA, dav6789 and Phobe were all within distance of them. dav6789 looked sure of a place when he left the US Open ranked 6. His form went down though, and he dropped to 9. Phobe had done well to defend most of her points, and NEA had been playing better during the indoor season. It all came down to the Canadian International. stevos14 decided things in the end. Although he beat dav6789 in the first round, he also beat Phobe in the QF, which secured both Brits their places in Switzerland. leftys_rock ended her season on a high by reaching the final. The Federer Masters Cup was a very high-quality event. Vanessa Child cruised through to the final to face PSALT. In the last match of the year, she came back from 2-5 in the final set to complete a very successful season for her. PSALT could console himself with a new career-high of 3 in the world.
The number 1 ranking has changed hands many times this year, but Child clinches it after her win in Geneva. She has had a great year, highlighted by those US Open and YEC titles. While she was not as dominant as she used to be, she was still the best player of the year. Jennacourt enjoyed her best ever season. She transformed herself from a contender to a champion. Her sweet patch of form in the middle of the year, when she won Wimbledon, got her to number 1 in the world. She had a few odd losses, but showed that mentally she can take the pressures of being at the top.
Members had a successful year aswell.
PSALT finishes at a career-high of 3, and reached 3 of the 5 major finals.
dav6789 was extremely consistent, winning 4 titles in 8 finals and reaching 6 in the world.
NEA managed to qualify for the YEC two years in a row, despite his dismal claycourt form. He won his biggest title, the Ljubicic International and remained in the top 10 for the whole year.
x.doublea had a sublime season, just missing a place in Switzerland. He reached the QF or better at every grand slam, and became the first member to win a higher tier event.
J-man, who two years ago was the first member to win a title, became the first to win a grand slam with an incredible performance at the French Open.
leftys_rock was the first member to win a tier 1, in Australia.
Jbors47 and stevos14 dominated the lower tier events. Jbors had a great run to the US Open SF, and beat Jennacourt twice.
Agassi2000 won 4 titles this season.
Benchwarmer1 and Tennis Fan also made important moves in the lower tier events.
UK won the Team Cup. dav6789 and NEA won all but 1 of their ties. dav6789 went 10-2 in singles, NEA 7-5. In doubles, they had a 5-1 record. Having lost to Argentina in their first tie, they kept in contention for the title. Canada beat Argentina in the last tie, which meant a tie-break would decide it. UK beat Argentina 4-1 for their first Team Cup title.
Thanks to Percy for yet another season of FTL, and to everyone else involved!
