Welcome to the fourth installment of Tennis Sydney’s Newsletter, HAWKEYE. In this issue we wrap up the well attended Virginia Slims Winter Circuit. Thank you to all those who participated and congratulations to those who rose to the top.
Also in this issue, we reveal the current Race of the End of Year Doubles Tournament ladder. Remember, to earn points and qualify for an invitation to the Tournament, you need to participate in as many Tennis Sydney events and perform as successfully as possible.
As mentioned in previous emails, this issue also holds the Tennis Sydney Baby Photo Competition. These photos appear later in the newsletter. To win two double passes to the 2008 Medibank International, you need to submit your answers as instructed. The draw will take place on Sunday the 23 rd of September at the Rockdale Tennis Centre just prior to the trophy ceremony. Entries open as soon as you receive this newsletter and close on Saturday the 22 nd of September.
The next midweek comp is a two-week Doubles Championship, following that, Tennis Sydney will hold the Virginia Slims Spring Circuit which returns to normal format where you have one regular partner for the entire comp and singles and doubles matches are played during the evening. Start thinking about who you want to play with so you don’t miss out.
SERENA WILLIAMS: No, I mean, I'm just ------I really don't feel like talking about it, to be honest. It's like I don't want to get fined. That's the only reason I came. I can't afford to pay the fines becaubecausese I keep losing. Any more questions?
Division 1
The Division 1 girls all decided to play their comp out of order so god knows who was happening there! Anyway, let’s do our best to break down what happened. As predicted, Joanne Russell took out top honours leading for the entire season. I don’t think she was ever in any danger of missing out on that one. Nevertheless, it’s still an outstanding result considering she had tough competition from the likes of Billie-Jean King, Maria Bueno, Vera Bogarova, Frankie Durr, Chris Evert-Lloyd-Norman, Tracey Austin, Amy Frazier, Patty Schnyder and Hana Mandlikova in her way. Billie-Jean was in clear second for pretty much the entire comp, only to be elbowed unceremoniously into a fourth place result by Anke Huber and Maria Bueno. Anke who had fabulous final week with Madamoiselle Durr, winning all their matches surged into second spot out of nowhere. 1st : RUSSELL HALL 2nd : HOSHIO KANEKO Division 2
Throughout the comp, this Division had 4 different leaders. Darleen Hard started things off, doing well in the first week, but was usurped by Glenn Ball in the second. Glenn in turn was knocked down by Daniela Hantuchova. Daniela remained in top spot for a whike, even opening up a 10 game lead on second place. Staying true to her namesake’s reputation, she managed to squander her lead. In the second last week, Monica Seles-Post Stabbing clawed her way into first. In the final week, there were only four points between first & second and second & third. Monica, sporting a fairly impressive bruise after a dramatic dive the previous week came into the final round with an impressive run of results. Unfortunately for her, Glenn pulled out a 100% performance and won all his matches on the final night and took first place by just one game. 1st : GLENN BALL 2nd : JARRON GREEN
Division 3
The favourites for this division lived up to expectations by hovering around the top of the ladder throughout the comp, but for the entire season, a newcomer was leading them. Coming through the grades, Paul Verrenkamp (who has now taken the name Jelena Jankovic), led the Division 3 group and never faltered winning 236 of a possible 240 games. Congratulations to Jelena who will now obviously provide a bit of grief for those in the higher Divisions. As predicted, there were a lot of rallies and tie-breaks and lots of points distributed among the comp on the whole. The rest of the comp, including doubles specialist Na Li and her regular partner Dean Matterson had resigned themselves to playing for second place. Geoff Burke had stamped his authority on the second place position, but had a final week bye. It was that week, that perennial bridesmaid Jana Novotna rallied into second place jumping ahead of Geoff Burke and running 6 games clear of Paul Yung who ended up in third. 1st : PAUL VERRENKAMP 2nd : JAMIE PARKER
Division 4
In another Division that was hard fought, Darryn Vanstone managed to streak ahead of the others taking Division 4 out by 14 points. Like Division 2, Division 4 had different leaders throughout the comp. During the earlier rounds it appeared that anyone could have come out the winner. Three points separated 2 nd , 3 rd and 4 th . Lukas Picton was lucky enough to snatch 2 nd spot from Sandy Smith with a gallant Lee Spencer taking 4 th spot. It was a good showing by Sandy, just missing out on 2 nd spot. Sandy debuts in the Slims and will definitely be a contender in the next season. The other player who showed tremendous improvement during the comp was Grade C Mardi Gras 2007 Champion Matus Rajnoha who took 5 th place but performed very consistently during the rounds. 1st : Darryn Vanstone 2nd : Lukas Picton
Division 5 There were 10 points difference between 1 st to 4 th in Division 5. But, as Sui-Min predicted in the last issue, this field was taken out by Janson Lau. Janson took the 1 st place after performing well when it mattered and not losing too many games. The following three players, John McGill, Gino Ciangura and Vergil Baeta are all established Slims players, taking 2 nd , 3 rd and 4 th places respectively. The rest of the pack weren’t too far behind with Israel Flores on 175, Eric Finley on 169 and Ed O. and Jason Symons both scoring 155 games each. Congratulations must also go to Louise Goodchild and Tim Dekkers. Louise played in the Singles Championship and is looking to be making improvements to remain competitive with the boys. 1st : Janson Lau 2nd : John McGill
As announced in recent weeks, here is the TENNIS SYDNEY BABY PHOTO COMPETITION. Correct match the babies/toddlers below to the names, and submit your entry to [email protected] to go into the draw to win two tickets to the Wednesday evening session at the Medibank International. The draw will take place at the Trophy Ceremony (Sunday 23 rd of September) of the coming Peter Deacon Tournament.
A: B: C:
D: E: F:
G: H: I:
CARL COPAS * JAMIE PARKER * JARROD GREEN LINDA MONTANA * MICHAEL CATTERALL * PAUL VARRENKAMP PETER LONGAUER * TYRONE ANDRES * WILL PHAKDEEAKSORN
As mentioned in the last issue, Tennis Sydney will attempt to organise evenings out at the Medibank International where the members can all go and sit together.
Luckily, we can also get a discount rate, only if booked through Tyrone ([email protected]).
See below for regular prices and the discounted price that Tyrone can get.
Session Regular Price Discounted Price Sunday – Centre Court $20.00 $10.00 Monday – Centre Court $40.00 $25.00 Tuesday – Centre Court $45.00 $30.00 Wednesday – Centre Court $55.00 $40.00 Wednesday Night – Centre Court $35.00 $20.00 Thursday – Centre Court $65.00 $50.00 (Quarters) Thursday Night – Centre Court $40.00 $25.00 (Quarters/Semis) Friday – Centre Court $65.00 $50.00 (Semis) Friday Night – Centre Court $75.00 TBC (Women’s Final) Saturday – Centre Court $75.00 TBC (Men’s Final)
The seats that Tyrone can get are in the front rows of Sections 223 & 203 in the map below.
Semi-fresh from having a child and enjoying married life, Lindsay Davenport (nee Leach) returned to the WTA/Tennis Sydney circuit and made all efforts to convince everyone that she didn’t have any surgery done while she was away.
Lindsay was granted a wildcard entry into the Bali – Commonweath Bank Tier III Tournament and took out Daniilidou and Jankovic en route to the Finals.
She’s now set to meet her Doubles partner in the Tournament, Daniela Hantuchova. Not wanting the leggy Slovak to find out any more of her weaknesses, Davenport asked to withdraw from the Doubles Quarter-Final that they had reached, citing a fore- arm strain.
Goodness knows what brought that on, considering it was her left arm, but for all intensive purposes, it’s widely known that Lindsay sleeps on the western side of the bed. on-lookers say that her husband was grinning ear to ear and over heard bragging to anyone who would listen.
Tennis Sydney Superstar Ros Balodis (aka Peter Elliott) looks to be in fine fettle as she makes her way back onto the tour, following a mystery injury to her ring finger. Ros will have to be in fine form as she attempts to be the first person to win the Men’s and Women’s Singles in the veteran’s category and the Riverina Open Wagga Wagga in late September.
Meanwhile, she will use the upcoming Peter Deacon Tournament, (where she will be playing with Lemonova) as a warm up Tournament.
Daniela: Lindsay, you look like you’ve shed a few pounds! Lindsay: Why yes, I’ve just discovered the joys of breast- feeding! Following a brief sojourn overseas Monica Seles Pre-Stabbing (aka Oscar Guillen) returned to the tour and social scene.
The new look Monica, shown here in evening and court wear, had the girls wondering what had happened in Spain.
Had she been furiously working out at the gym or was it a case of better lighting?
Still on Spain, the Editors of Hawkeye would like to make a public apology regarding last issue’s section titled “Bon Voyage”. Monica’s trip to Spain was merely for a dirty weekend away.
Same goes for Gigi Fernandez (Jamie Mallum) who has decided to stay in Sydney.
But reports from the UK front say that the other glamour girl who went overseas for her man, Elena Dementieva (David Nguyen) say that she is going well, but seems to have lost her tan and is now an unflattering shade of beige.
Which past but not forgotten mademoiselle, known to some as Queen B and who now prefers to be known as “A Flash-in-the-Pan Thai Femme-Fatale” keeps sprouting a supposed comeback? We are all waiting...
Which Tennis Sydney All Star was recently spotted scratching around the car park of a well known tennis club for a non-existent $5 note? Surely this superstar should have some prize money left from her hey-day!
Which lady of the court has been giving the straight boys more than a mouthful (the non-sexual type) while she was playing in a non-WTA sanctioned competition recently? It is great to see that there is still some fire, as well as Ice Cream, in the belly!
Which multiple Grand Slam winner has been nursing a rather large bandage on an injured middle finger? The girls on tour have been wondering how this lady could have gotten such an injury?
Which three Tennis Sydney Gigastars were having so much fun on a night recently that the management of the hotel they were at thought it was to much and asked them to make their way out the door??? It appears as if their Diva turns have caught up with them.
Which legend of the Italian Ladies Veteran's circuit has been staying in on Saturday nights recently? The reasons for which are not entirely known.
And right: A lovely photo of the diminutive Rosie Casals on the cover her new instructional book on serving: "A Hint of Pace: Using placement instead of power on your serve." Out now.
As mentioned in the last issue of Hawkeye, Tennis Sydney will be holding an End of Year Invitational Tournament. This now looks set to be held on a Sunday in December due to time constraints.
Last Hawkeye had the Singles Race Points for both pools of players, this issue, you will see the Doubles Race Points. This has been compiled from the Slims and Tournaments Results thus far.
The Top 16 players (those who have earned the most points playing in eligible doubles events) will be invited to compete to make 8 teams.
As there will be a variety of doubles combinations within the Top 16, the top two players will be given first choice as to who they compete with and so on, until 8 teams have been formed.
Tournament format is still in negotiation at this stage, but it looks to be a pro-set, knock-out with a three-set final match.
Race to the Tennis Sydney Doubles Championships Total VS Mardi VS Doubles Peter VS Pos Name Race Summer Gras Winter C'ships Deacon Spring Points 1 KANEKO, Hoshio 154 80 202 436 2 HUNT, Craig 127 100 177 404 3 FAWCETT, Shane 131 80 176 387 4 HALL, Russell 132 235 367 5 ALFRED, Ben 131 40 193 364 6 FRAWLEY, Hayden 154 20 182 356 7 BALL, Glenn 126 75 137 338 8 RANKIN, Matt 113 195 308 9 CRAIGIE, Jason 118 15 163 296 10 FINNIGAN, Paul 121 152 273 11 LEONARD, Chris 73 166 239 12 ELLIOTT, Peter 133 100 233 13 GALLAGHER, Owen 107 126 233 14 HARRADINE, John 121 111 232 15 JONES, Mark 103 20 104 227 16 GREEN, Jarrod 73 136 209 17 SALCHOW, Jeff 126 75 201 18 RYALL, Al 77 115 192 19 SINCLAIR, Ross 77 114 191 20 NGUY, Tuan 127 60 187 21 SUGANDA, William 127 60 187 22 ANDRES, Tyrone 32 15 134 181 23 CLARK, Ian 132 40 172 24 GRAHAM, Simon 34 32 106 172 25 COLE, Nick 165 165 26 GUILLEN, Oscar 133 20 153 27 DAUS, Geoff 113 40 153 28 WHELAN, Sean 120 30 150 29 WRIGHT, Peter 120 30 150 30 MEDHURST, Andrew 106 40 146 31 MALLUM, Jamie 118 15 133 32 DUNN, Warren 127 127 33 WATANA, Bryce 127 127 34 GALVIN, Martin 127 127 35 HUYNH, Paul 107 20 127 36 PARK, Joshua 111 15 126 37 BELLEVILLE, Paul 103 20 123 38 WONG, Erwin 121 121 39 COOK, Graeme 86 30 116 40 CHRISTIANSEN, Edwin 86 30 116 41 GOSPER, Shane 111 111 42 MILNES, Andrew 107 107 43 JELFS, Paul 107 107 44 BOURKE, David 106 106 45 CLARKE, Stephen 98 98 46 LENNOX, Dwayne 91 91 47 THANG, Cameron 91 91 48 DUONG, Kevin 90 90 49 CHUN, Christopher 90 90 50 McDERMOTT, Greg 86 86 51 PHAKDEEAKSORN, Will 23 23 52 CARTHEW, Ian 20 20 53 DENTON, Grant 15 15 54 DUNN, Mick 15 15 55 RODGERS, Martin 15 15 56 WRIGHT, Paul 15 15 57 DUZEVICH, Garry 15 15 58 VINCI, Terrence 15 15 59 BEDFORD, Nigel 15 15 60 MACMILLAN, Tracey 15 15 61 YEO,Liz 15 15
Race to the Virginia Slims Doubles Championships Total VS Mardi VS Doubles Peter VS Pos Name Race Summer Gras Winter C'ships Deacon Spring Points 1 YUNG, Paul 98 100 186 384 2 BURKE, Geoff 116 20 175 311 3 CHAN, Ryan 92 40 170 302 4 PARKER, Jamie 57 40 192 289 5 VARRENKAMP, Paul 38 236 274 6 VICKERY, Darrin 88 40 141 269 7 MATTERSON, Dean 92 175 267 8 GLENNANE, Tony 76 20 158 254 9 CATTERALL, Michael 85 162 247 10 VANSTONE, Darryn 88 149 237 11 WILSON, Brian 60 177 237 12 MOORE, Brendan 116 119 235 13 SPENCER, Lee 76 20 137 233 14 LONGAUER, Peter 98 20 111 229 15 PICTON, Lukas 64 20 138 222 16 RAJNOHA, Matus 76 128 204 17 BUTLER, Sam 62 20 116 198 18 BAETA, Virgil 28 60 72 160 19 NGUYEN, David 143 143 20 SMITH, Sandy 138 138 21 UNDERWOOD, David 133 133 22 CIANGURA, Gino 38 15 72 125 23 ALIMIN, Edward 84 40 124 24 CHENG, The Liew 120 120 25 CHILMAID, Rodney 14 93 107 26 McGILL, John 30 74 104 27 FINLEY, Eric 34 68 102 28 LELEH, Bennett 100 100 29 CASHEN, Steven 38 60 98 30 FORD,Clare 76 20 96 31 SHEATHER, Andrew 92 92 32 ANDRES, Mark 91 91 33 GILLIS, Peter 91 91 34 PHUONG, Beu 84 84 35 NEFF, Christopher 80 80 36 LAU, Janson 76 76 37 FLORES, Israel 70 70 38 DEKKERS, Tim 14 48 62 39 OKUR, Edip 62 62 40 SYMONS, Jason 62 62 41 DIZON, Mervin 60 60 42 MONTANA, Linda 60 60 43 BAKTI, Rudi 59 59 44 BARDY, Steven 59 59 45 PATTERSON, Andrew 59 59 46 GOODCHILD, Louise 44 44 47 BUSH, Garry 42 42 48 FLOOD, Hugh 42 42 49 THURLOW, Steven 42 42 50 HALLARAN, Gareth 38 38 51 PARKER, Sharn 38 38 52 STEWART, Andrew 38 38 53 TRAVERS, Jason 38 38 54 FARRUGIA, Trevor 36 36 55 GRAY, Mark 36 36 56 SMITH, Bernard 36 36 57 DIAZ, John 34 34 58 KEATING, Matthew 34 34 59 ALVAREZ, Jorge 30 30 60 HAZARD, Matthew 30 30 61 JOHNSTON, Richard 30 30 62 CHUNG, Steven 28 28 63 BLANDY, Garry 20 20 64 DAO, Hung 20 20 65 VALOUCH, Petr 20 20 66 CHAFFEN, Colin 15 15 67 MINESS, Mark 15 15 68 PETTIT, Justin 15 15
* Only players who participate in Tennis Sydney events appear in the tables above.