Week 13 - Spain F8 ($10,000) - Villajoyosa (Carpet)

LHarvey89 · Social player

Week 13 - Spain F8 ($10,000) - Villajoyosa (Carpet)

steven · Tennis legend

Slabba should be in the main draw here.

QR1: Richard Brooks UNR v Vicente Montón Queralt (ESP) UNR
QR1: Max Andrews WR 1573 v Ryoma Sloane (NZL) UNR

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

LHarvey89 wrote:
Both Brooks and Andrews safely through to the second round of qualifying.
Edit: Brooks faced Dutch player Elroy Middendorp (A) instead of Queralt.

-- Edited by LHarvey89 on Saturday 23rd of March 2013 07:57:51 PM

Good news. So I should have a couple of Brits to watch after seeing Mr Busta rack up another tournament victory.

Oh, and a belated welcome to the board from me.

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

QR1: Richard Brooks UNR beat Vicente Elroy Middledorp (NED) UNR by 6-0 6-1
QR1: Max Andrews WR 1573 beat Ryoma Sloane (NZL) UNR by 6-4 6-2

QR2: Richard Brooks UNR v (q12) Ferran Ventura Martell (ESP) WR 1383
QR2: Max Andrews WR 1573 (q9) Jose Salazar Martin (ESP) WR 1062

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

OK. Having watched the final, I moved across to court 3 to watch the Brits in qualies for week two of the Villajoyosa tournament. First up was the Richard Brooks' match which I joined at the end of the first set.

But I have a confession to make. I had no idea who was who. The game was well into the second set by which time I had come to the conclusion that the guy talking in English was the Brit and the guy talking in Spanish was the Spaniard - wrong !! Some here will know their Brits better than me and would no doubt know that Richard has a Spanish family and speaks fluent Spanish. Meanwhile, the Spanish guy was talking to someone else court side between points in perfect English. This person turned out to be Alex Slabinski - who I also failed to recognise (sorry Alex - hangs head in shame) and turned out to be HIS coach !!

So yes folks - this turned out to be Max's coach versus Alex's coach.

The match itself, was a case of two 30 something coaches, enjoying a good natured Sunday afternoon workout - and I don't mean that to be in anyway disrespectful. In the end, Ventura won 1-6 6-2 6-4 and the two embraced at the net like the best of buddies. One funny moment came when Richard was forced to call a medical time out for "nipple rash" from his new shirt and the medic promptly came out to "tape him up" !! (I promised Slabba I would mention that moment on here)

QR2: Richard Brooks UNR lost to (q12) Ferran Ventura Martell (ESP) WR 1383 : 1-6 6-2 6-4

-- Edited by Bob in Spain on Monday 25th of March 2013 02:56:30 PM

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

I also stayed on to watch the first set of Max's game on the same court. This was a game full of errors and the atmosphere was somewhat less than cordial with a number of disputed line calls.

Max went on to take a poor quality first set by 7-5. It was a set that contained 9 service breaks in all. Both players made a string of unforced errors on both wings, even on standard rallying balls, whilst the Spaniard - to use his own terminology - served like his grandmother !!

In the end, Max found a few strong forehands at the back end of the set to take him over the line. Apparently he went on to take the 2nd set more comfortably to move into the FQR.

And while typing this, I notice that Steven has beaten me to it and posted the results above - you are just too damn efficient Steven

-- Edited by Bob in Spain on Sunday 24th of March 2013 06:17:11 PM

steven · Tennis legend

Sorry about that, Bob but your posts were well worth waiting for - the coach v coach match sounds like quite a comedy show and it's interesting to hear about Slabba - I hope things start working out for him.

It's good to know so many of the Brits speak a fair bit of Spanish - quite lucky in a way that one of the best countries to train in has one of the easiest languages to learn, so 'even' the Brits can manage it. One of the many life skills that players must get the chance to pick up that could help them post-tennis as well.

-- Edited by steven on Sunday 24th of March 2013 06:42:27 PM

chavkev · Intermediate Club Player

Bob in Spain wrote:
LHarvey89 wrote:
Both Brooks and Andrews safely through to the second round of qualifying.
Edit: Brooks faced Dutch player Elroy Middendorp (A) instead of Queralt.

-- Edited by LHarvey89 on Saturday 23rd of March 2013 07:57:51 PM
Good news. So I should have a couple of Brits to watch after seeing Mr Busta rack up another tournament victory.
Oh, and a belated welcome to the board from me.

I hope you enjoyed the final Bob and that the young Brit and his coach progress through the qualies.

steven · Tennis legend

QR2: Richard Brooks UNR lost to (q12) Ferran Ventura Martell (ESP) WR 1383 by 1-6 6-2 6-4
QR2: Max Andrews WR 1573 beat (q9) José Salazar Martín (ESP) WR 1062 by 5 & 1

FQR: Max Andrews WR 1573 v (q8) Rafael Mazón Hernández (ESP) WR 1037

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

On an interesting note, I spent a fair bit of time talking to Alex and his plans for the year. He mentioned that he is now based in Girona and is playing a fair bit in the French leagues.

I am pleased to report however, that he is still very ambitious to get his ranking back where it was and to play the Challenger circuit as much as possible. Sadly, though, he is not yet injury free. He said that he was "trying to avoid" a third operation on his knee, and that his shoulder was also troubling him. Seemed like a really nice guy though.

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

steven wrote:
Sorry about that, Bob but your posts were well worth waiting for - the coach v coach match sounds like quite a comedy show and it's interesting to hear about Slabba - I hope things start working out for him.

It's good to know so many of the Brits speak a fair bit of Spanish - quite lucky in a way that one of the best countries to train in has one of the easiest languages to learn, so 'even' the Brits can manage it. One of the many life skills that players must get the chance to pick up that could help them post-tennis as well.

-- Edited by steven on Sunday 24th of March 2013 06:42:27 PM

Slabba mentioned that it is on his "to do" list.

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

Perhaps I should also add the many of the Spanish players seem to speak respectable English as well.

Jan · Hall of fame

thanks for the first-hand accounts Bob!

LHarvey89 · Social player

Cheers for the welcome Bob. Excellent reports on your experience in Villajoyosa today.

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

R1: João Domingues & José Antonio Salazar (POR/ESP) WR 2342 vs Alex Slabinsky & Ferran Ventura (ESP) WR 2612