Switzerland F1 - Leuggern 10K (Carpet)

GC77 · County player

Switzerland F1 - Leuggern 10K (Carpet)

johnnylad · Tennis legend

Hoping his serve will get him through! Great to see some players playing futures in Europe rather than getting pasted in the 15K ones in Britain!

GC77 · County player

Ross will play Austrian Patrick Linke who beat Andreas Eichenberger(Sui) 7-6(2), 6-3

-- Edited by GC77 at 20:14, 2007-02-24

Sheddie · administrator

Has anyone here seen Ross play ? Well Madeline did in 2005, I wondered if anyone else had ?

From what she wrote, he has a big serve but doesn't get it in enough. His slice serve out wide is apparently very effective

Patrick Linke shouldn't be too difficult. Linke had lost his last 4 matches before this tournament and hasn't played in a main draw since last June so Ross will be heavy favourite

steven · Tennis legend

QR2: (q10) Ross Connolly WR 1053 beat Patrick Linke (AUT) UNR by 4 & 4

QR3: (q10) Ross Connolly WR 1053 v (q3) Gvidas Sabeckis (LTU) WR 769

QR3 is being played on Monday.

johnnylad · Tennis legend

Good QR2 win.

Connolly seems a lot more consistent this last 4 months or so. Still expect him to lose next match though!

Sheddie · administrator

Good win for Ross

Although Sabeckis is ranked nearly 300 places higher at 769, this is his first tournament since October and he's a clay-courter so the fast Swiss indoor carpet will suit Ross a lot more.

johnnylad · Tennis legend

That's encouraging! Go Ross!

johnnylad · Tennis legend

Ross Connolly qualifies beating Sabeckis 3-6 6-4 6-3

Pretty good draw as well!

MD R1 vs Patrick Eichenberger (SUI) (wc) 995 to Ross's 1053

Sheddie · administrator

Great win for Ross

Eichenberger will be a difficult opponent, it's a harder match than it looks on paper. He's a very good player on fast indoor surfaces, is very consistent and runs down a lot of balls. Has a big serve and attacks the net a lot, takes a while to get used to his game. Slabba had problems against him in the autumn, before winning in 3.

ForeverDelayed · Grand Slam Champion

ultimateshedman wrote:

Has anyone here seen Ross play ? Well Madeline did in 2005, I wondered if anyone else had ?

From what she wrote, he has a big serve but doesn't get it in enough. His slice serve out wide is apparently very effective

Patrick Linke shouldn't be too difficult. Linke had lost his last 4 matches before this tournament and hasn't played in a main draw since last June so Ross will be heavy favourite

I saw Ross play against Kennaugh in Exmouth, and to be honest didn't impress me too much. He has a solid serve, but his ground strokes didn't seem to be that good or consistant enough and lost 6 games in a row. He missed far too many balls in that match, and never got close to winning

Still, good to see him win a few matches here and a chance of picking up a ranking point

GC77 · County player

R1:

Ross Connolly (Gbr) bt Patrick Eichenberger 3-6 6-2 6-4

R2:

Ross Connolly (Gbr) WR 1053 vs (6)Alberto Giraudo (Ita) WR 524

Good win for Ross, and with it another ranking point

Sheddie · administrator

Thanks for the game info Forever delayed, that seems to explain why in the past he's rarely been able to get any points from Europe, most of his points come from the weaker fields in Africa, South and Central America and Asia. I guess that once opponent's start to read the serve, there's not much from the baseline. He is a quality volleyer though, serve-volleyed extremely effectively on grass in Ikley last July, came close to beating Lee Childs, losing in two tiebreaks.

Very good win for him here, didn't think he'd beat Eichenberger but very glad to be proved wrong ! That edges Ross a step closer to the top 1000.

Looking ahead to rd2, it'll be a tough match for Ross as although Girauldo competes mainly on clay, he has had success indoors too. So far this year, he's reached rd2 of two futures in Austria and the final qualifying round of the Bergamo 50K+H challenger.

johnnylad · Tennis legend

Wow! Nice on Ross. Finally winning points where is hard(er) to do so! Should be a real boost to his confidence.

Hopefully his serve can blow this next dude off the court.

Really encouraging to see Ross win in 3 sets for two matches running. Shows he has developed sticking power and mental fortitude of some sort!

Sheddie · administrator

Unfortunately Ross got outplayed after the 1st set:

A Giraudo (Ita)(6) bt R Connolly (GB)(q) 4-6, 6-0, 6-2

He next heads to Israel for several 10Ks, fields will be weak so a good opportunity to pick up some more points