T. A. Niles's Blog
Posted by T. A. Niles
Get your calendars ready because the Fort Myers USPTA Pro League, with brand new Title Sponsor Ritzman Tennis, is about to launch its best season ever. New additions include relatively recent college players and a former ATP world class player who can boast of a win against Jimmy Arias when Arias was ranked No.21 in the world.
Note: "Stagger" means that matches will be played at two times: 4pm and 5:30pm; "All" means all matches will begin at 4pm.
2009 - 2010 PRO LEAGUE SCHEDULE
Legends Country Club October 23 @ 4pm Stagger
Gulf Harbour Golf & Country Club November 6 @ 4pm Stagger
The Landings November 20 @ 4pm All
Fiddlesticks Country Club December 4 @ 4pm Stagger
Shadow Wood Country Club December 18 @ 4pm All
Heritage Palms Country Club January 15 @ 4pm All
Bonita Bay January 29 @ 4pm Stagger
Lexington Country Club February 12 @ 4pm Stagger
Colonial Country Club February 26 @ 4pm Stagger
Grandezza, the Club at March 12 @ 4pm Stagger
TEAM ROSTERS (Players and Clubs)
Team Johnny Malloy's
Roberto Saad (Captain)-- Oasis
Denny Rager-- Lely
T. A. Niles-- Gulf Harbour
Mark Drons-- Vasari
Dave Dooley-- Shadow Wood
Milan Fiser-- Paseo
Cary Vaughan-- Grey Oak
Glen Kouns-- Cypress Lakes
Paula Scheb-- Bonita Bay
Greg Copeland
Team Key Private Bank
Scotty Harrington (Captain)-- Legends
Jared Kalpin-- Grandezza
Frank Swope-- Mediterra
Butch Martin-- Pelican Landing
Joel Hampton-- Gulf Harbour
Alex Hermeto-- Gateway
Jeff Timmer-- Colonial
Steve Shortridge-- Colonial
Kerry Kendrick-- South Seas
Dan Moenning--
Team Boston Retirement Advisors
Mike Curran (Captain)-- Gulf Harbour
Fred Kangwa-- Forest
Luke Andreae
Jim Katterfield-- Shadow Wood
Larry Gagnon-- Miromar Lakes
Anthony Hatori-- Pelican Sound
Kenny Gibson-- Palmira
Armor Persons-- Breckenridge
Leigh Bradwell-- Fiddlesticks
Dave Wheeler-- Lexington
Team USPTA
Shawn Hedrick (Captain)-- Cascades
Chris Fletcher-- Forest
Mike Lawver-- Heritage Palms
Dave Rowat
Frank Fourgeau-- Legends
Patrick Kangwa-- Landings
Rob Vinal-- Bonita Bay
Toni Halski-- Sundial
Carolyn Lawver-- Heritage Palms
Terry See-- Landings
Posted by T. A. Niles
Ya know how sometimes you read a book, then go to see the movie only to be disappointed? Well, I just went through the entire publication of Play Tennis Florida (PTF) online, the now “ex-official publication” of USTA Florida, and I was pleasantly surprised! In this case, the “movie” clearly surpassed the “book.” Seriously; I was not a major fan of the print version of PTF (Sorry Rich), and only started browsing the online version on a whim tonight.
As I browsed, I couldn’t help wishing that the publication captured me as much in print as it did online. I read a piece on Alexandra Cercone and Lauren Embree, both of whom represented Florida at the Junior Australian Open. Maria Cercone, Director of Tennis at Bardmoor Golf & Country Club (Alex’s mom) is dear to me even at a distance, and it was great to read about Alex’s experience Down Under.
There was coverage of everything relating to Florida tennis, from QuickStart Tennis to Florida touring professionals. If you play USTA Leagues, you will find something to interest you in PTF. If you have kids that play, whether at the high performance level or learning the game level, you will find something to capture you attention. Want to know what’s going on in pro tennis from a Florida perspective? Need access to junior tournament schedules? PTF has it all.
They say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover and apparently that’s what I have done with previous issues of Play Tennis Florida. Now that I have browsed the entire publication, and have actually read some of the content, I believe I’ll be tuning in on a regular basis. Thanks for the good work Rich, and I’m sure USTA Florida, the organization, will miss you! Game, set, match...
Posted by T. A. Niles
Of course it is a tad early to start beating Andy Murray's drum, or settling in comfortably on his bandwagon (just ask the bookies who handled the AO), but you've got to admit it is an intriguing question. Three consecutive wins over Roddick and Federer, and two straight against Nadal and Novak Djokovic? That's pretty heady stuff!
Ok, speaking of drums, Roddick is beatable at any time by any of the top tier players who can get his serve back; i.e., all of them. And, granted, both Federer and Djokovic have been vulnerable for some time now. Just this year alone, Djokovic has lost to players ranked 40th, 53rd, and 55th on Tour. And to think that he was once my pick to usurp Fed's No.1 title. Shows how much I know.
Fed has shown flashes of his former brilliance at the AO, but his string of losses to Murray late last year and early this year and his loss to James Blake at the Olympics, combined with his public implosion on the podium at the AO, are testimonies to Roger's vulnerability. But taking Rafa out two straight is no mean feat. One has to go back to 2007 to find a player with consecutive wins over Nadal.
David Nalbandian has won the two times they've played, and Mikhail Youhzny and James Blake had consecutive wins over Rafa in 2006 - 2007. But those wins were before Nadal had reached the pinnacle of dominance he's inhabited over the past year. Murray's lack of predictability, his shot variety, along with his speed, power, and exquisite touch may be just the combination one needs to ruffle Rafa's feathers.
Again, it's far too early to begin anointing Mr. Murray (I made that error with "Da Djoker"), but he has coerced his way into the conversation about the likeliest threat to Nadal's newly established dominance of men's tennis.
Posted by T. A. Niles
I think I played my first tennis tournament in 1976, and I have played quite a few tournaments and other types of tennis events over the years. I write about many of my tournament experiences, but my recent tournament experience at the USPTA Florida Grand Prix event at Addison Reserve Country Club demanded mention over and above the usual.
The first mentions must go to the facility and staff that hosted the event. Jeff Bingo, director of tennis, and members of his staff, Head Pro Barbora Burns and Administrative Assistant Heather Kostenbauder to name a few, pulled out all the stops to ensure that the tournament players and Addison Reserve members had a superb experience.
Regarding the facility, the locker rooms were spectacularly outfitted and decorated with marble countertops, art deco porcelain sinks, and rich cherry wood lockers. All the standard amenities and toiletries were present, but the disposable toothbrushes did the trick for me. I was impressed.
The tennis courts were also in great shape, and were groomed prior to each match. I even had the pleasure of playing against the USTA Men’s 45 Clay Court Champion, Horacio Rearte, on the red clay, Grand Stand court. Ordinarily I wouldn’t associate the word “pleasure” with a 1-6, 0-6 loss, but Horacio is as classy a person as he is a player, and the venue was topnotch.
When I returned home from the event, I asked Mike Curran, a veteran of USPTA and USTA events if he had ever had tournament staff come around to the courts with cold towels and ice during a match. He replied, “No.” Neither had I, and it definitely made an impression.
I could say much more, but due to spatial limitations, I’ll just say “Great job!” to Jeff and his outstanding staff. Game, set, match…
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Posted by T. A. Niles
If you check the history of this blog, you won’t find a single product review on it prior to this one. That should give you some indication of how strongly I feel about the string that I am about to review.
I have played with Kirschbaum’s Pro Line II (1.25) since July of this year, shortly after meeting Kirschbaum USA’s President, Javier Quiroga, at the USPTA Convention in Delray. Since then, I have tried other Kirschbaum strings out of curiosity, but nothing has compared to the Pro Line II.
I gave the string to three other players (two male and one female 4.5 players) to see if they would have experiences similar to mine. The following are the comments from the men and woman who tested the string.
Play Tester Chris- Male, 4.5 player, 45 years old, using Wilson K-blade Team for 15 hours strung at 57 lbs. Overall rating: 9.5/10:
I also rated the string 9.5 overall because of the excellent feel, the mix of power and control, and the incredible tension retention. This string is a must try!
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