Percy896's Tennis Forum

PSALT

Multiple juicy encounters will play out in the first round in Laguna Beach. A Tier I event, the draw is respectable this year. Yodavitch is the top seed; NEA, Trinky, and Dave round out the top 4 seeds. Dave is the defending champion, having captured this title in three sets over Child a year ago. Whether or not he can repeat will be interesting. He was not granted an easy draw. He plays Avolt in the first round; he pulls of a good hardcourt upset every once in a while. He can test the Brit. After that he will play J-man or PSALT. Yodavitch looms in his half as well. As always, matches to watch.

Matches to Watch

J-man-PSALT: H2H-3-3

This is possibly the premier first round match. Both players are playing in their home country, and both play two different games. This will be a rematch of their rather anti-climatic French Open final a few years ago. PSALT is the more decorated hardcourter, but J-man has proven many times he can win almost any match he plays. J-man will look to dominate from the baseline like usual. PSALT will need to expose J-man’s turtle-like movement. It could go either way.

NEA-Stevos: H2H 4-0

Two very similar players will face off. Both are quite speedy, has solid groundies, nice serves, and rather painful volleys. Not to mention both have had words in the past. NEA has dominated their H2H. NEA is the more accomplished of the two, Stevos is one of the great talents (great talents often times translates to ‘nut cases’, that holds true in this case) on tour. NEA should win; Stevos can pull an upset though.

I have two interviews today. One with Leftys_Rock, and another with last year’s finalist Child. Child will not be playing here this season, but she is in town to watch boo NEA play his matches.

Child first.

Q. Why are you not here defending your title?

Child. I have not title to defend. II assume you mean my final, which is much different from a title. I don't see a final as something you strive to defend. It means that you lost there last year, that you didn't play your best in the end when it mattered. I have been playing a lot of tennis this season and after Wimbledon I was just plain tired. Don't worry, I'm not going to "take a break" but am just making sure I am well rested for the summer.

Q. You have always come under fire for not 'being dedicated' to tennis. Is it unfair of people to think you owe all your time to tennis?

Child. *dissolves into a fit of giggles* Well I don't really see how that happens. Winning back-to-back majors and leading the rankings by over 1,000 points-yeah, real undedication there.

Q. Who should we watch out for this hardcourt season?

Child. I think Yodavitch of course will be a strong favorite all thoughout the summer, but I expect PSALT to come up with something big like he always does. N_E_A is playing awfully well too. I watched his win in Russia last week and he looked very impressive, so watch out for him. Hmm...I'd say J-man but who knows about him; is he injured or something right now?

Someone’s in a bitchy mood today.

Leftys

Q. It would be an understatement to say your career has faltered. A 7-5 7-5 loss to Nortan is only one example. What has happened to you?

Leftys. I don't think I worked on the general technique of my game as a whole enough. I have a fragile game, and some days, it's clicking, some day's it's not. I don't think anything has happened, I just have odd losses and I just have to live with those. But I still can easily bounce back from odd losses and be fine.

Q. Many people have said you haven't spent enough time actually improving your game. What do you think?

Leftys. I've tried hard at improving my game; just like everybody else at the beginning of their careers, I worked on my game, and we put our emphasis on different things, and however our career turns out, that's the way it is. Of course i'm trying to improve, but there's only so much you can perfect.

Q. How is the 'hottest' relationship on tour going?

Leftys. To be honest, it hasn't been quite so hot lately. I thought we weren't as happy as we could have in our relationship, so we've gone our separate ways. I am dating PSALT right now. I don't know about how Jbors is relationship wise.

Q. Who should we watch for during the USO Series?

Leftys. Stroganoff has been playing quite well lately, of course Yodavitch and Vanessa. NEA has been playing quite well lately, he should do well too. PSALT, dav6789, and Jenna should be factors as well.

Predictions

Yodavitch def Aztec 6-4 6-4
Leftys def Stroganoff 6-3 3-6 6-2
PSALT def J-man 7-6 4-6 6-4
Dave def Avolt 7-6 6-1
Tricatrina def Adelaide 6-0 6-2
Doublea def Phobe 6-4 5-7 6-4
Jbors def Bizet 7-6 5-7 6-4
NEA def Stevos 3-6 6-3 6-4

Yodavitch def Leftys 6-4 3-6 6-2
Dave def PSALT 7-5 7-5
Doublea def Tricatrina 6-4 1-6 6-3
NEA def Jbors 6-2 4-6 6-3

Yodavitch def Dave 6-3 6-3
NEA def Doublea 7-6 4-6 6-2

Yodavitch def NEA 3-6 6-4 6-4

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