I saw a little of Matt Chadwick's loss in the 2nd round against UK based Bulgarian Chris Anguelov. Chris's game style is based on spin, control and placement which didn't seem to suit Matt at all. He never really got into the match and a stiff back means he will give the WC playoffs in Loule next week to rest up for official qualifying.

Matt evetually lost 6-1 6-2 in the dark and the cold.

Minibusgate

One of the more bizarre stories of the day involved Chris Anguelov. Having played his first match in Vale do Lobo, he finished too late to get the regular shuttle bus at the cost of 6 euros, to take him to Faro for his next match. So, as is the policy here, he rang for the organisers to put on a specific bus for himself at a cost of 20 euros. By the time the minibus arrived, there were two other French players with him who also needed transport.

The minibus driver however, refused to allow the two French players to get on the bus as this was a PRIVATE contract for Chris and Chris alone. Despite much negotiation, the minibus driver refused to budge on his position and insisted that Chris was to travel alone in the bus for his 20 euro fee. In the end, the three players decided not to use the minibus at all and called a taxi so as to share the cost.

But the affair didn't end there. After completing his victory over Matt Chadwick, Chris was called to speak to the Tournament Director who had been contacted by the minibus driver. The tournament director threatened to report Chris to the ITF unless he paid the 20 euro fee IN FULL. It was clear that the TD hadn't been given the full story and in the end he has agreed to speak to the two French players before making a final decision on the matter tomorrow. Watch this space.

In my opinion, the players shouldn't be charged anyway. Faro is staging this tournament and if the lack of facilities at the Faro Club mean that the players are forced to play their matches at a separate location (20 mins drive away) then the Faro Club should foot the bill for the transport. Otherwise, they should reduce the draw to 64 players so that they can play all the matches on site. Don't forget, that the Faro Club made in excess of 3000 euros by playing the two WC play-offs last week with entry at 30 euros per person.

Round up of 2nd Round

QR2: (q1) Scott Clayton WR 757 lost to Diego Jose Manrique Velazquez (ESP) WR 1485 (CH 1431 Sept 2015)  6-3 0-6 6-1 
QR2: (q4) Jonny O'Mara WR 835 beat Jose Von Hafe Perez (POR) UNR   6-0 6-0 
QR2: (q8) Robbie Ridout WR 1019 beat Augustin Boje Ordonez (ESP) UNR (CH 333 Aug 2010) 6-4 7-5 
QR2: Matthew Chadwick UNR lost to Chris Anguelov (BUL) WR 1781 6-1 6-2 

Thanks Bob in Portugal, extremely interesting and informative and well living up to Bob standard

Coup Droit wrote:

---

Minibusgate - love it - brilliant reporting, yet again !

(And, yes, ridiculous - the only similar ones I've been to have had transport provided by the club - usually a host of locals, club members, spouses, whoever, who do the taxi runs for free).

And great to hear the match reports too..

---

 There is only one person doing taxi runs for free here.  Trust me though, it beats doing the laundry 

Jonny may be flu ridden this morning but it hasn't stopped him racing into a 4-1* lead