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!
[Season 4] (Day 0) PSALT's Preview:New Zealand International
The tour kicks the year off with the New Zealand International. The Tier II generally has strong draws, 6 top 10 players this year. As there are only two weeks to get the rust off of your game before the Aussie, only few players tend to have consistent success this time of year. Jennacourt who has won this event twice before, and the finalist last year, is the favorite by a small margin. The UK’s No.1, Dave, has also found much success in warmups before the AO. Granted, only in Tier IV’s, but still he will likely do well here. Other players who can take the title include Trinky, Doublea, and NEA. Players like J-man, Mollusk, and Phobe are also capable of runs. The dark horse for sure is Jbors. He has got a large amount of high-quality wins, but whether he can get the amount of upsets needed is in question. Matches to watch,
J-man-Dreyfus - J-man has been slipping since his title in Paris. He is far from being the best player at getting himself out of a slump, while Dreyfus has a good year last year (for his standards). Dreyfus is capable of good play on hardcourts; he has the ability to pull of the upset if J-man doesn’t put the second half of last year behind him.
NEA-Agassi – There’s few better at upsets than Agassi. NEA is the favorite, but there is no question that Agassi serve and volley will put pressure on NEA.
Mollusk-Jbors – Mollusk had his best year in a while last year, he will meet Jbors, the class of the 40-15 ranking range. Mollusk is a textbook counterpuncher, and has given Jbors problems in the past.
I will have an interview with Jennacourt,
Q. After a disappointing end to Season 3 (going a dismal 1-2 in RR play), you return to the spot of so much success for you, do you think you will be capable of shaking the rust off of your game and making a run against the many high-quality players present?
Jennacourt:
Well that was a while ago and everyone is now coming off the rest between seasons. I think everyone will be a bit rusty, but of course this is one of my favorite events and I will be enjoying myself, hoping for the best.
Q. You lost your No.1 ranking to rival Vanessa Child, and are now in danger of slipping further behind (granted the closest player has a Slam final to defend). Do you think you will be able to put forth the dominance that you have shown you are capable of doing on hardcourts?
Jennacourt:
Even though my grand slam win was on grass, I always feel most comfortable on hard courts. I think the Australian Open should be a good place for me. In the past I've had it rough there, but of course I'm a slam champion now and so it will be different. I will fight hard to get my #1 ranking back from Vanessa, but I do jsut want to point out that we don't really have much of a "rivalry". I mean we've played some great matches over the years, but I've only beaten her like once, maybe twice. I'll try to change that when we meet this year!
