TJTC WORLD TOUR

Top half action saw world number one, Angus, unkindly sending Madhoo on a 0 and 0 flight back to Switzerland. Then, world number 7, Bartley, taught the Canadian, Brown, that one should not enter these tournaments without being match tough. And after beating Allen to get to the round of 16, Sproul realized the difficulty in having to play two clay court matches in a single day. Tour opportunist, and newly installed world number three, Chambers, took full advantage  of this and mercilessly erased Sproul from the draw sheet. A matchup for the highlight reel though was that between Miss Rena Francis and Mr. Craig Grant. Determined to gain any advantage she could, Rena came on court in full regalia wearing a cat suit similar to the one worn by Serena Williams in 2002. It won her some fans, but Grant kept cool and business-like and held off a valiant Rena for a 2 and 3 victory.

Similar to the top half, proceedings began as expected in the bottom half. McDonald mowed down an inactive Morris, while the tour brat, Douglas, again proved too tough for Alando. And the self-deluded world number two, Mullings, was a little too consistent for teammate, Ewan. But the feature match in this section of the round of 16 was the clash between fourth seeded Plunkett and former shock world number one, Stanley. Plunkett taught Stanley some textbook tennis in the first set. However, determined to prove that his five-minute world number one ranking was no fluke, Stanley took the fight to a tie break in the second set before the fat lady forced herself on court and began to sing.

Then it was on to the quarters, where the excitement truly began. One could slice the tension with a knife in the matchup between Grant and Chambers. From point one, there was no love lost between the two. The matchup was a mixture of loud shouts of C’mons, shaky line calls and powerful forehand winners from both sides of the net. But Chambers handled the tension better and won the psychological battle between the two to set up another rematch with the world number one, Angus, who had to overcome an inspired Bartley. Though he lost to Angus 3 and 1, it was a sight to behold as Bartley matched Angus, power for power and shot for shot. However, the world number one was far more consistent on the crucial points. But without a doubt, Bartley proved in this match that he has the arsenal to trouble Angus in the near future.

On the other side of the draw, the prehistoric number one, McDonald, took on the super arrogant Mullings, who insists he is the all time greatest. McDonald taught him some classic tennis in the first set, mowing him down 6-2. However, Mullings’ teammate and Russian captain, Ewan, immediately went on damage control, alleging that the shocking loss of the first set was due to a crazed and boisterous Spanish fan in the crowd. After security had this ‘fan’ muzzled, Mullings regrouped and made the former number one feel like a pig on ice for the remainder of the match. Then it was time for a new showdown between tour brat, Douglas, and number four seed, Plunkett. With its expected high drama but low quality contest, it was a slice and dice battle which saw Plunkett serving for the match at 5-3 in the second set. But Douglas made another epic but drawn out come back and denied Plunkett a semifinal berth. Interestingly, this victory sent Douglas straight to the final as Mullings failed to show up. Having lost a set to McDonald, the Russian camp agreed he was in no shape to contend any further. And so Douglas made it an all Spanish final as the world number one, Angus, beat Chambers to get there. Chambers however, made sure to leave the court with his dignity by ensuring that he earned no less than two games per set.

The final however was of a different complexion. The colossal world number one completely ignored the fact that he was playing a fellow teammate and in approximately 45 minutes, abused, demoralized, and embarrassed Douglas with a comprehensive 0 and 0 beat down. Angus, who was well aware of Douglas’ intentions to dethrone him, ensured that he perished the thought immediately. Quite a few spectators were disappointed upon arrival to learn that the match had already been completed!

Up next, the grass court swing of the tour. Let’ see who will begin to establish themselves as major contenders for the prestigious Wimbledon crown.

Saddique was no big surprise and was one of the odds- makers favourite to cop the first title on tour for 2012. He had to grind out his semi-final win over Mark who got the better of a ‘game-troubled’ Ewan who’ll be looking to make adjustments based on his press conference interview after the match. Saddique had a shaky start and a pretty tentative match for the most part as he tried his best to settle in. He stayed calm when he needed to and did all that he could to come out with a 63 63 victory and earning him the title of the ‘Tier 3 King’ having won only two tier 3 tournaments on tour in his career thus far.

Shadaine stormed to the finals of his comeback tournament like he promised. He had to grind out two tough 3sets win however to do so. In his semi-final match he outlasted Deuce in a grueling 57 62 15-13 after taking down Ricardo in the quarter-finals. However, the length of his matches and the tremendous amount of work that Douglas has to do has us wondering about his chances of a full and deep run into a tournament especially that of a grandslam event where he has to play a number of matches within a relatively short tenure. Self belief has prevailed along with a strong backing of his countryman Angus who’ll be looking forward to Spain’s dominance atop the rankings on tour. Douglas was always going to find the going hard against Saddique but he should feel more confident to have shaken off some rust going into the open.

 All in all, Doha was a decent start to the season. It is fair to say that the tour is competitive but not fierce and this stance can be attributed to the ‘Wozniacki’ style game currently on tour. Players are so caught up with winning at all costs that they forget the real aim fun while we elevate our games. Is it the fear of losing? Bragging rights? Whatever it is it sure ain’t awesome tennis to watch with two people rolling the balls in the service boxes just to win. See where I’m coming from? Where’s the fire? We want to see top class tennis on tour by Roland Garros.

While we concede that there are different playing styles in tennis we respect each player’s game but TJTC wants a display of high level tennis all across the board. Yes, we concur that being tactical is entertaining but we need to see more aggression and people approaching the tour as if it’s the real deal. We want or players to feel like real tennis athletes via tjtc.

Doha was all about who could keep the ball longest within the limits of the court and I guess with all due respect the two players who are best at this skill from both sides of the draw has earned their places in the finals. Cheers to them but I urge my tour mates to get their heads in the game, look to enhance various aspects of their game and have a little fun will ya?