Tennis Players Headed to the Big Dance

Being a champion is to be a part of a unique fraternity. In golf, it is symbolized by a green jacket; in college basketball it devolves in March Madness and the Final Four. No matter the sport, everyone wants to go the big dance.

Tennis' big dance, the show, is coming to Mobile, Alabama. Players would be fighting tooth and nail to enter the hallowed halls of the Futures championship.

Somdev Dev Varman

Somdev Dev Varman is a member of that fraternity. He won the first futures of the year in Wesley Chapel-St. Leo, Florida. He beat top seed Dusan Vemic 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. Twenty-three-year-old Dev Varman is from Chennai, India.

Uladzimir Ignatik

Uladzimir Ignatik also went to the big dance. He won in North Miami Beach, Florida, defeating Todd Paul 4-6, 7-6(8), 6-2. Ignatik won the French Open junior championship and trained at the Andy Roddick family tennis center, the John Roddick Total Tennis Academy.

Gastao Elias

Gastao Elias won his second Futures championship in Boca Raton, Florida. He was a winner over Alberto Francis 6-2, 2-6, 6-0. Elias won a Futures tournament in Mexico last October.

Jamie Baker

Jamie Baker established himself in February by winning two championships in a row in Brownsville and in Harlingen, Texas. Baker defeated Kevin Anderson in Brownsville. Anderson was the one who went into an ATP tournament the very next week and made it all the way to the final.

Artem Sitak

Artem Sitak is headed to Mobile looking for another championship. He won the last one in McAllen, Texas. The Russian staved off Tim Smyczek 6-4, 6-2.

Baker, Vemic, Anderson Popular Hackers

Over the past month the most widely read story from The Tennis Hacker was 'Jamie Baker Spars with Roger Federer.' Jamie Baker, from the United Kingdom, won two Futures tennis tournaments recently.

Dusan Vemic who has achieved folk hero status at The Tennis Hacker was closely followed by readers; 'The Idosyncrasies of Dusan Vemic' was the second most popular story.

Kevin Anderson, who defeated Novak Djokovic in the Sony Ericsson Open, was featured in third most widely read article, 'Kevin Anderson Left His Heart in Illinois.'

Related:

Tennis Hacker's Top 3:

Jamie Baker Spars with Roger Federer

The Idiosyncrasies of Dusan Vemic

Kevin Anderson Left His Heart in Illinois

Resources:

Kevin Anderson Break-Through

Jamie Baker Goes South of The Border

The Tennis Hacker Serves 684 People

Six hundred and eighty-four people visited The Tennis Hacker website over the past month. An average of 23 people drop in daily to read about the Futures and other tennis news.

Fifty-seven visitors, the most of any single day this month, dropped in on March 16. It turns out that on that day a reader added The Tennis Hacker story 'The Idiosyncrasies of Dusan Vemic' to the website Stumbled Upon and that attracted more visitors.

The lowest amount of visitors for any single day this past month was 11 on March 1.

Tennis players set goals for themselves. For example, Robin Haase's goal is to be ranked in the top 50 by the end of 2008. The Tennis Hacker's goal is to have 50 visitors per day.

Related:

Unusual number of visitors read Dusan Vemic March 16.

Follow Robin Haase as he pursues his goal of Top 50.

The Tennis Hacker's Humble Beginnings

Resources:

Stumble Upon

Robin Haase!

Robin Haase is on a tear on the professional tennis circuit. He won the BMW Tennis Championship in Sunrise, Florida. He is steadily rising on the ATP rankings and has fans asking, Who is this guy?

Haase defeated Sebastien Grosjean 7-5, 5-7, 6-1 in the BMW final. He has qualified for the Sony Ericsson main draw with victories over two players who are regularly featured on The Tennis Hacker Dusan Vemic and Rik De Voest.

Haase is ranked 59th in the world and is from The Netherlands. He is 6-3, 158 pounds and previously won two Challenger tournaments in Germany 2007 and Nashville 2006; the BMW is his third Challenger victory.

He won two Futures tournaments: Jerusalem 2005 and Quebec 2006. And he won two Futures doubles championship.

At 20-years-old, he won $115,519 so far in 2008 and $318,502 in his career.

Related:

Robin Haase beat Dusan Vemic and Rik De Voest in Sony Ericsson.

Dutch fans love Robin Haase, British fans love Jamie.

Another Loveable Dutchman

Robert Smeets was born in The Netherlands but call Australia home.

Resources:

Robin Haase, The Miami Herald Feature

Robin Haase Interactive: Career Milestones Thru Fans' Daily Postings

Great Robin Haase Photo

Dusan Vemic Watch

Dusan Vemic and Janko Tipsarevic won the doubles championship in the BMW Tennis Championship in Sunrise, Florida. They defeated Kristof Vliegen and Peter Wessels.

Dusan Vemic lost to Robin Haase 6-4, 6-3 in the qualifying round of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami. This was a rematch of their meeting in the Pacific Open a week ago. Haas won the BMW singles tournament.

Related:

Dusan Vemic, A Reporter's Notebook

Dusan Vemic's Expanded Game

How to Pronounce Serbian Names

Resources:

Tournament Wrap-up with Dusan Pic

Dusan Vemic's Fans Call Him 'Dule'

Dusan Vemic: Reporter's Notebook

Dusan Vemic covers the court well with long, angular, athletic, smooth movements. He has a big serve and goes for it on his second serve.

He is a bit indecisive at the net. At times, after hitting a return, he has a tendency to marvel at his own handiwork and stand and watch his shot go over net.

He can be temperamental and at times succumbs to pressure. He has shown the ability to rally late in the match when it seems like it is all over.

Related:

Dusan Vemic's Grand Slam Coach

How To Beat Dusan Vemic

The Dusan Vemic Funky Dance

Resources:

Dusan Vemic, The Comeback Kid

Dusan Vemic's Coach

Hall of Fame player and coach Denny Ralston is the coach of Dusan Vemic. Ralston and partner Rafe Osuna won Wimbledon doubles championship in 1960. With Chuck McKinley, Ralston won the U.S. Open doubles in 1961, 1963 and 1964.

He was the coach of Chris Evert, Gabriela Sabatini and Yannick Noah. Ralston is a teaching professional at Broadmoor five-star resort in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Related:

How To Beat Dusan Vemic

Dusan Vemic: The Indomitable One

Coach Ralston Talks About Dusan's Game

Dusan Vemic: The Scouting Report

The strength of Dusan Vemic's game is his serve. Survive his serve, don't be overwhelmed by his power and you would find that there is a lot to exploit.

His Weakness
Feed him a steady diet of 'gimme' shots at the net. He 'over-thinks' his shot at the net, freezes and hits it in the net or hits it long.

Despite his height and power, he does not the handle the overhead shot well.

Move him around, make him work; play out the whole match. Players can be overwhelmed by his power without realizing that his fitness, his footwork and his ability to concentrate for long periods is suspect.

Play fast; get to the line and serve. He likes to slow down the match.

What To Watch For
During the changeover, when things are going well, he would be sitting on the bench in a state of zen; he takes his fluids, he puts resin on his hand and puts his palm to face and blows on it. He bites on his towel and let's it hang from his mouth and skips to his side of the court.

When he his rattled, during the changeover, he would be searching his gym bag, he would forget to take in his fluid and try to take a drink at the last minute -- spilling the drinking, visibly rattled -- and would bring the bottle on the court with him and place it on the sideline.

Warning
His second serve is as powerful as most players' first serve.

Related:

Dusan Vemic in California

Dusan Vemic: The Ultimate Tennis Hacker

Novak Djokovic Likes Dusan Vemic's Game

The Tennis Personalities

The Potty Mouth, Rylan Rizza. (Bottom photo, Gastao Elias.) Photos by Tessa Kolodny.

The players from the Futures and Challenger tournaments do not get a lot of television time. Fans may read the score of a match but have no idea of what a player's personality is like. The Tennis Hacker is hereby issuing nicknames to the players to give the fan an idea of their personality.

The Trash Talker
Tennis and golf is called the gentleman's sport, but apparently Robert Kendrick did not get the memo. He talks trash to his opponents; and he does so unprovoked.

The Gentleman
Rajeev Ram is almost too nice a guy. He apologizes profusely to his opponent; always makes sure his opponent is ready to receive the serve; politely reminds his opponent that new balls are in play.

The Potty Mouth
Rylan Rizza is bilingual. He cusses fluently in English and Spanish.

The Racket Smasher
Luigi D'Agord does not take losing easily. He has been known to smash his whole inventory of rackets after a loss.

Mr. Cool
Rik De Voest does not break a sweat. He is ultra cool in his dark sunglasses.

I'm Too Sexy For My Shirt
Gastao Elias and many of the young players is an attraction for the young ladies. Gastao plays and hangs out in the stands shirtless.

The Racket Whisperer
Alexei Grigorov talks to his racket -- in Russian.

The Indomitable One
Dusan Vemic is the most entertaining player on tour -- not necessarily because of his play, but because of his antics. He dances, he cajoles, he loses his equipment: he is worth the price of admission.

The Rabbit
Robert Smeets is entertaining for his hustle. He runs down every ball.

The players are not just names in a box score; they are real live personalities.

Related:

The Players

More on Mr. Cool

More on The Indomitable One

See Rabbit Run

Vemic, Highest Ranked Tennis Hacker

Of all the players featured on The Tennis Hacker, Dusan Vemic -- at 154 -- is the highest ranked. Vemic -- a Serbian name, pronounced Vee-mitch -- is an avid reader of The Tennis Hacker.

After reading a Tennis Hacker story about himself, Vemic e-mailed The Tennis Hacker to say that while reading the story, he never laughed so much in his life.

Robert Smeets, another Tennis Hacker folk hero is ranked 166 by the ATP.

Related:

Read Dusan Vemic's E-mail to The Tennis Hacker

Read The Story That Has Dusan Vemic Laughing

Show Me What Makes Robert Smeets Run

Resources:

Look Up The Ranking of Your Favorite Player

Anderson, McClune, Baker Knocked Out

Michael McClune. Photo by Tessa Kolodny.

Tournaments sanctioned by the ATP governing body is the big leagues in pro tennis. At the ATP level, there is a bigger payday and greater competition.

Kevin Anderson, Jamie Baker and Michael McClune stepped on to this bigger stage in the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California. They all came up short.

Anderson -- who made it all the way to the final of another ATP tournament in the previous week -- lost to Robin Haase 6-1, 6-7 (7), 6-4.

Michael McClune -- a national junior champion and a winner at the Futures level -- lost to Dusan Vemic 6-1, 4-6, 7-5.

Jamie Baker -- winner of two Futures championship in two weeks -- lost to Florent Serra 7-6 (7), 6-1.

Related:

Michael McClune Futures Championship Run

Kevin Anderson: Illinois via South Africa

British Fans Love Jamie Baker

Vemic Wants To Be The Complete Player

If he could, Dusan Vemic would trade his signature powerful serve for a complete game and the ability to win matches. Vemic was clocked as high 146 miles per hour at the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California.

"That's not as important as winning matches," Vemic said. "I would serve 120 (to) win every match I play.

His coach Dennis Ralston -- who has coached numerous champions including Chris Evert -- tends to agree with him. "(H)e started to play like he has to play if he wants to keep going. He started making returns," Ralston said. "That's the main thing. If he wants to go further, he has to do that, because he's always going to serve well."

Vemic is from Serbia and his countryman, Grand Slam champ Novak Djokovic was sitting at courtside watching his match.

Related:

The Idiosyncrasies of Dusan Vemic

The Idiosynscrasies of Robert Smeets

Resources:

Dusan Vemic Would Give Up His Trademark Serve For The Complete Game Quotes in above story appeared first in this article.

Pacific Life Open TV Schedule

Dusan Vemic Tumbles in Pacific Life Open

Dusan Vemic survived the qualifying round of the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California. But he could not get by Robin Haase, losing 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the first round of the main draw.

Haase is from The Netherlands and is ranked 82 in the world.

Related:

Dusan Vemic Responds to Tennis Hacker Article

Resources:

Dusan Vemic Unplugged

The Rabbit: More Idiosyncrasies -- From Another Player You Have Never Heard Of

Hello, my friend. I enjoy these conversations...of how life is much like tennis; and tennis is much like life. Let us review, we took a close look at the game of Dusan Vemic -- an obscure player with a monster serve -- and we gleamed that one can be successful in life by doing just one thing well.



What can we learn from Robert Smeets, another rather obscure player I discovered on my travels. Looking at Smeets, he appears to be the quintessential gym-rat; the kid the coach throws the keys to the gymnasium to and says, 'Lock up whenever you leave.'



If you were to ask someone to explain Smeets game he would say something like a runner, a retriever, the Energizer Bunny. Smeets is the kind of player who does not quit; he would run out -- and return -- every drop shot; he would return your biggest serve. He is the type of player who would break your spirit because shots that you figure to be winners, he would return.



Smeets has the kind of game that everyone loves because there is a lot of the common man in him. If he were not playing tennis he would be wearing a hard hat and carrying a lunch pail.



So from Smeets, we learn -- in tennis and in life -- if you run down one more ball, if you just get the ball back over the net one more time you would be surprised how many more matches you would win.

Tennis Hacker Tid Bits

Stories along the right hand side of the page are updated daily -- taken down and new ones put up. As the brief stories are taken down, they would be placed here in Tennis Hacker Tid Bits.

Index

Grand Prairie Loves The Tennis hacker

Arlington ZAT Girl 12 Results

Players Head to Hawaii

Dallas Wins Lonestar Championship

Discover Arlington Tennis Center

What People Are Saying About The Tennis Hacker

Lonestar Championships in San Antonio

The Tennis Hacker is Your Website

Boost Your Performance with a Power Bar

Opportunities to Host USTA Tournaments

Arlington Tennis Center is Wi-Fi Hot Spot

Arlington Holds Junior Tournament

Tennis Improves Sex Life, Mayo Clinic Reports

Dallas, Fort Worth Play Lonestar Championships

Fort Worth Seniors Finish Fourth in Nationals

Texas A & M Snags Top Recruits

Star-Telegram, Morning News: Local Newspaper Coverage

Michael McClune Plays Jeffrey Das

McClune's Coach Has Texas Connection

McClune Ball Headed to Baton Rouge

Carsten Ball Recalls Surreal Experience

McClune's Special Birthday Present

Bryan and Venus Wins Doubles

Tennis Hacker Featured in Bob Larson's News

Tennis Player Makes Texas His Home

John McEnroe Cusses Out Fan in Frisco Tournament

Texas 76ers Pro Event Available on Web Archives

Dallas Tennis Player Receives 4 Stars (Natalie Leitch)

Dusan Vemic Responds to The Tennis Hacker

Mansfield Upsets Arlington in Battle of Texas Cities

Richardson Player is 4-Star Recruit (Peta Lancaster)

Dallas Tennis Player Receives 5 Stars (Amy Allin)

Arlington Tennis Player Receives 4 Stars (Jason Lateko)

Recreational Players Get Together in Arlington

Arlington Spotlight (Clara Jagosova)

***

Arlington ZAT Girls 12 Results

Arlington Tennis Association Zone Advancement Tournament (ZAT)

Full results at ATA-United States Tennis Association site

Girls 12 Results

Final

(1) Darby Strickland d (2) Tori Simmons 6-1, 7-6

Semifinal

(2) Tori Simmons d (4) Kristen Murphy 6-2, 6-2

(1) Darby Strickland d (3) Melody Tong 6-3, 7-6 (4)

Quarterfinal

(2) Tori Simmons d Elizabeth Salmon 6-0, 4-6, 1-0 (7)

(4) Kristen Murphy d Aliese Thompson 6-1, 6-0

(3) Melody Tong d. Samantha Garnett 6-3, 6-4

(1) Darby Strickland d Diya Menon 6-0, 6-1

Round of 16

(2) Tori Simmons d Victoria Gilbert 6-1, 6-1

Elizabeth Salmon d Samantha Wong 6-2, 6-2

(4) Kristen Murphy d Nya Cheatham 7-6 (1), 6-1

Aliese Thompson d Madeleine Conley 6-2, 6-3

Samantha Garnett d Victoria Piranian 6-1, 6-1

(3) Melody Tong d Hayley Sharp 6-2 6-2

Diya Menon d Rebecca Sostek 6-3, 6-4

(1) Darby Strickland d Jordan Martin 6-0, 6-2

Consolation Final

Hayley Sharp d Victoria Gilbert 6-2, 6-0

Consolation Semifinal

Victoria Gilbert d Nya Cheatham 6-2, 7-5

Hayley Sharp d Jordan Martin 7-6, 3-6, 1-0 (8)

Round 1

Victoria Gilbert d Samantha Wong Wd (inj)

Nya Cheatham d Madeleine Conley 6-1, 7-6

Hayley Sharp d Victoria Piranian 6-1, 6-2

Jordan Martin d Rebecca Sostek 6-3, 2-6, 1-0 (9)

***
Grand Prairie, Texas, Loves The Tennis Hacker

People of Grand Prairie, Texas, find The Tennis Hacker very entertaining. Nearly half of all the visits to The Tennis Hacker were from Grand Prairie. Google keeps all these numbers in a big vault in Palo Alto, California.

Generally, the people of Texas plug into The Tennis Hacker more than the rest of the country. A small number from California and New York checked out The Tennis Hacker.All told, roughly 15 people read The Tennis Hacker daily.

How does The Tennis Hacker stack up against other websites?

*BlueHampshire.com which was featured in The Wall Street Journal receives 800 visitors a day.

*AskTheBuilder.com receives 25,000 people each day.

*Automotive-Forums.com entertains 30,000 people a day.

*Swap-a-lease.com 10,000 a day.

*TestMagic.com 3,000 a day.

*PVRblog.com 5,000 a day.

*Medical-coding.net 500 a day.

*SeatGuru.com 6,000 a day.

*SourceForge.net, featuring Slashdot.org, Freshmeat.net and ThinkGeek.com 850,000 a day.

***

Players Head to Hawaii

The $15,000 Oceanic Time Warner Cable Honolulu Futures Qualifying Event begin November 10 at the Hilton Waikoloa Village Resort in Hawaii. Michael McClune and Carsten Ball, who played in the Texas 76ers Pro Tennis Event in Mansfield, Texas, are expected to play. The wildcard section of the tournament was cancelled.

***

Dallas Wins Lonestar Championship

Dallas won the Lonestar championships, the United States Tennis Association league tennis tournament held October 27-28 in San Antonio, TX.Fort Worth also played at the Dominion Country Club. The home team San Antonio was a finalist. Other teams making the trip were Austin and Corpus Christi.

***

Discover Arlington Tennis Center

The Arlington Tennis Center is a 3.5-million-dollar complex owned and operated by the city of Arlington, Texas. There is a pro shop, locker-rooms and showers at the facility at 500 W. Mayfield Road.

The center offers classes drills and leagues for players of all abilities: beginners to advanced.

Call 817-459-6163 to hear more about the 20 lighted courts.

Beginner classes for juniors begin November 5.

***

What People Are Saying about The Tennis Hacker

Check out what people are saying about The Tennis Hacker:

"Your site looks great." Tessa"

Great site. I loved reading about how our kids did in Baton Rouge." Elise

"Your site looks great." Greg Howard, Texas High School Tennis

"I think there really is a need for a solid blog, solely dedicated to tennis." Scrapper Nation

"We appreciate the covereage." Jim Handley, International Tennis Federation

"This is the most I have ever laughed...Good job, buddy...I guess you know what you are talking about." Dusan Vemic


***

Lonestar Championships in San Antonio

Dallas will play Fort Worth in the Lonestar Championships Sunday, October 28 in San Antonio, Texas. Austin and Corpus Christi are also playing at the Dominion Country Club. This league tennis tournament is sanctioned by the United States Tennis Association.

Saturday's Schedule

Austin vs Fort Worth

Dallas vs San Antonio

Austin vs Dallas

Fort Worth vs Corpus Christi

San Antonio vs Corpus Christi

Sunday

Dallas vs Fort Worth

San Antonio vs Austin

Corpus Christi vs Dallas

Fort Worth vs San Antonio

Corpus Christi vs Austin

***

The Tennis Hacker is Your Website

The Tennis Hacker is a one-man operation out of an apartment in Arlington, Texas. If you enjoy The Tennis Hacker, learn how you can help by hitting the 'Make a donation' button.

Running a website is incredibly time-consuming and can quickly eat up meagre resources. The Tennis Hacker recently travelled to Lubbock, Texas, and Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he was able to get information for the articles on Dusan Vemic and Robert Smeets. Consider costs of travel, hotel and even entrance fees to the tennis tournament.

The Tennis Hacker also recently ordered a camera and enrolled in college computer courses in an attempt to improve the content and look of The Tennis Hacker.If you enjoy fresh and original coverage of topics that are important to you, the next step is to hit the 'Make a donation' button.


***

Boost Your Performance With Power Bars

When you start to tire during exercise, it could be that your body is running out of carbohydrates. Carbohydrates is the body's fuel. It is the body's primary source of energy.

Just before exercise, or during exercise, consider eating a Power Bar to boost your performance. Keep in mind, Power Bars are ideally-suitted for endurance athletes (marathon runners, distance cyclist and swimmers, competitive tennis players).

Recreational athletes should eat Power Bars in moderation; perhaps no more than a half bar or one bar a day. The best Power Bar for the recreational athlete is a piece of fruit.


***

Opportunities to Host USTA Tournaments

The United States Tennis Association is always looking for people or tennis centers that are interested in hosting a tournament like the Texas 76ers Pro Tennis Event. The USTA provides an experienced tournament director and a certified trainer to assist with the event.

High-energy, community-minded persons who are interested in hosting an event would need to secure a public or private venue, put together an operations staff, find an army of volunteers, and sign up business who would like to be sponsors.

"I think the most difficult part is trying to get the community to commit to sponsoring a tournament and the second hardest thing is to find good volunteers," said Abrie du Plooy. Du Plooy hosts two tournaments in Hammond, Louisiana, and was featured in USTA magazine.

Anyone interested in hosting a tournament, fill out the USTA questionnaire.


***
Arlington Tennis Center is Wi-Fi Hot Spot

The Arlington Tennis Center at 500 W. Mayfield in Arlington, Texas, is a Wi-Fi hot spot. That is a fancy term which means it has a wireless internet connection. Now parents, while waiting for children in classes or practice, can bring a laptop and enjoy The Tennis Hacker.

***

Arlington Holds Junior Tournament

Junior players who want to achieve a Texas state ranking can play in the Zone Advancement Tournament in Arlington November 3-4.Matches will be played at the Arlington Tennis Center and the University of Texas at Arlington.Visiting players stay at the Whitten Inn.

***

Tennis Improves Sex Life, Mayo Clinic Reports

Regular exercise -- that includes tennis -- can have a positive effect on your sex life, the Mayo Clinic reports. "Regular exercise can leave you feeling energized and looking better...Exercise improves your circulation which may lead to more satisfying sex."And men who regularly exercise are less likely to have problems with erectile dysfunction than are men who don't exercise, especially as they get older."

***

Dallas, Fort Worth Play Lonestar Championships

Dallas and Fort Worth teams will play in the United States Tennis Association's Lonestar Championships at the Dominion Country Club in San Antonio October 27-28. Austin, Corpus Christi and San Antonio will also be fielding teams in the Texas section of the league tennis championships.

***

Fort Worth Seniors Finish Fourth in Nationals

The Forth Worth seniors tennis team finished fourth at the Chrysler 3.5 Senior National Championships. Representing the Texas section of the United States Tennis Association were Elaine McCallion, Claire Harrison, Valerie Campo, Betty Kille, Kathy Coughran, Linda Gilson, Akemi Edwards, Deborah Anstice, Christi Gordon, Shelley Waters and Judy Helbing.

***

Texas A&M Snags Top Tennis Recruits

Zoo Tennis, a popular website for junior tennis news, is raving about Texas A & M's recruiting class of Austin Krajicek, Will Spencer and Steve Denton.

***

Star-Telegram, Morning News: Local Newspaper Coverage

The Arlington Star-Telegram (sister paper of the Mansfield News Mirror) carried an article an article by Stefan Stevenson on the finals of the Texas 76ers Pro Tennis Event.
Dallas Morning News carried a story on the StanfordChampionship where John McEnroe played in Frisco, Texas.The Star-Telegram had a well-written story of the Michael McClune-Carsten Ball final. (Reluctantly, I point out his report of 22 aces in the first set is grossly exaggerated.)

***

Michael McClune Plays Jeffrey Das

Michael McClune plays Jeffrey Das in the Baton Rouge Pro Tennis Classic in Louisiana. McClune won the Texas 76ers Pro Event in Mansfield; Das lost to Luigi D'Agord in the first round.Many players from the Mansfield event are now playing in Baton Rouge.

Schedule

Izak Der Merwe vs Kevin Dessauer

Jeffrey Das vs Michael MClune

Ryler De Heart vs Jarmere Jenkins

Luigi D'Agord vs Caio Burjaili

Lance Vodicka vs Rylan Rizza

Adam El Mihdawy vs Fred Hemmes

Carsten Ball vs Ikaika Jobe

Austin Krajicek vs Chase Buchanan

James Clusky vs Nicholas Monroe

***

McClune's Coach Has Texas Connection

Michael McClune's coach Jimmy Johnson studied at the Tennis Technical Program in Tyler, Texas. Johnson of the Advantage Tennis Academy in Irvine, California, also happens to be the coach of Robert Smeets, who is something of a legend at The Tennis Hacker

***

McClune, Ball Headed to Baton Rouge

Michael McClune and Carsten Ball are taking their show on the road. After an exciting final in the Texas 76ers Pro Tennis Event, McClune and Ball are headed to the Baton Rouge Pro Tennis Classic.The tournament starts immediately and goes through October 28.Some of the other players who played in Mansfield, Texas, and headed to Baton Rouge are Nicholas Monroe, Luigi D'Agord, Adam Fass, Michael Venus, Vahid Mirzadeh and Rylan Rizza.


***



Carsten Ball Recalls Surreal Experience

Carsten Ball, who lost in the Texas 76ers Pro Tennis Event finals, received a wildcard entry to play the doubles of a past Australian Open. He described the experience, sharing the same locker room with the world's greatest players, as surreal.Ball told the story during the presentation ceremonies Sunday at the Walnut Creek Country Club in Mansfield, Texas. He said proudly that they won one match.


***

McClune's Special Birthday Present

Michael McClune had a special birthday present: a play date with the world's number one player Roger Federer. McClune told the story at the presentation ceremonies of the Texas 76ers Pro Event Sunday at the Walnut Creek Country Club in Mansfield, Texas. McClune and Federer share the same management company, IMG, and the company was able to set up the opportunity for McClune to practise a few hours with Federer. It so happened that the meeting occurred on his birthday and McClune calls it the greatest birthday present ever.


***

Bryan and Venus Wins Doubles

Danny Bryan and Michael Venus defeated Daniel Byrnes and Robert McKenzie 6-1, 6-1 to win the doubles finals of Texas 76ers Pro Tennis Event at the Walnut Creek Country Club in Mansfield, Texas.Bryan and Venus has known each other since they were about 10 years, growing up in Sydney, Australia.



***

Tennis Hacker Featured on Bob Larson's News

Bob Larson's Junior Tennis News, a popular channel on the internet, is featuring The Tennis Hacker's coverage of the Texas 76ers Pro Event on its front page. Junior Tennis News scours the internet for any writing on junior tennis: many of the players in this Mansfield, Texas, tournament are juniors.The Tennis Hacker's stories featured are McClune Guts It Out, Michael McClune: Best Tennis of My Life, The Tennis Hacker Interviews The Players, and French Open Champ Has Texas Connection.

***




Ferreira Wins Stanford Championship

Wayne Ferreira defeated Jim Courier 2-6, 6-3, 11-9 (champions tiebreaker) in the finals Sunday in the Stanford Championships in Frisco, Texas.John McEnroe beat Mark Phillippousis, 6-4, 6-4 for third spot at the Dr. Pepper Star Center.



***

Tennis Player Makes Texas His Home

Austin Krajicek has decided to call Texas his new home. Krajicek is moving to Aggieland, College Station; he has decided to attend school at University of Texas A & M.Krajicek is an outstanding junior player and made it to the semifinals of the Texas 76ers Pro Tennis Event in Mansfield, Texas.Krajicek gave a respectable effort in losing to Carston Ball 6-2, 4-6, 4-6. Ball brings the heat; in fact he hits so hard he actually hit Krajicek in the stomach and a linesman on the arm.Ball had 11 aces.Ball eventually lost to Michael McClune 7-6, 4-6, 3-6 in the final at the Walnut Creek Country Club.

***

John McEnroe Cusses Out Fan in Frisco Tournament

John McEnroe will be John McEnroe. He dressed down a fan at the Stanford Championship in Frisco, according to The Dallas Morning News' blog Neighborsgo.

***

Texas 76ers Pro Event Audio Available on the Web Archives

The audio of the Texas 76ers Pro Tennis Event is available at the RadioTennis.com archives. The quarterfinals, semifinals and finals matches are available.

***

Dallas tennis player receives four stars

Natalie Leitch of Highland Park High School in Dallas was named a four-star recruit by the Tennis Recruiting Network. The recruiting network lists outstanding junior players who have the potential to play at the college level and beyond.

***

Dusan Vemic Responds to The Tennis Hacker

Dusan Vemic responded to The Tennis Hacker's story Dusan Vemic: The Idiosyncrasies of a Player You Have Never Heard About. It was a fun piece and Dusan accepted it in the spirit in which it was written. This is what he said: "This is the most I have ever laughed...damn...he massacred me...good job buddy...I guess you know what you are talking about...Serve is me...and volleys, you are right, players should just bring me in, and let me miss volleys!!! lol Keep up the good work. Dusan Vemic." The reader might have missed his comments because he posted his comments under the piece Michael McClune Engaged in a Battle of Young Guns.


***




Mansfield Upsets Arlington in Battle of Texas Cities

Arlington -- the home of the Texas Rangers, Six Flags Over Texas and soon the Dallas Cowboys -- was upset by Mansfield -- the site of the Texas 76ers Pro Tennis Event -- in this battle of two Texas neighboring cities.Mansfield received an honor in Money Magazine's Best Places To Live: number 83. Arlington failed to make the top 100.Other neighboring cities: Keller was ranked 50th and Grapevine 97th. Richardson Tennis Player Receives Four Stars

***

Richardson Player Is a 4-Star Recruit (Peta Lancaster)

Peta Lancaster of Richardson, Texas, is a four-star recruit by the Tennis Recruiting Network, a list that colleges can use to find potential players. Lancaster was honored as a second team member of the WFAA-TV 2007 All-Area Tennis Team. Peta learned how to play at the Canyon Creek Country Club at 625 W. Lookout Drive in Richardson.Clinics for juniors begin October 23 at Canyon Creek.

***

Dallas Tennis Player Receives Five Stars (Amy Allin)

Amy Allin of the T Bar M Tennis Academy in Dallas was listed as a five-star recruit by The Tennis Recruiting Network. Allin is considering attending the University of Illinois. Allin teams with doubles partner Meredith Matthews. They play at the T Bar M Racquet Club on 6060 Dilbeck Lane, site of the USTA Challenger of Dallas.

***

Arlington Tennis Player Gets Four Stars (Jason Lateko)

The area of Arlington and Mansfield, Texas, is gearing up for the Texas 76ers Tennis Pro Event but there is excitement in Arlington junior tennis. Jason Lateko of Arlington was listed as a 4-star top prospect by the Tennis Recruiting Network. The list -- Blue Chips, Five-Star, Four-Star, Three-Star, Two-Star, One-Star -- is studied by college coaches throughout the country. Jason and partner Carla Cooper is a respected mixed-doubles team throughout the state of Texas and was recognized by WFAA-TV Dallas-Fort Worth.

***

Recreational Players Get Together in Arlington, TX

Every Wednesday at 6 p.m. and Saturday at 4 p.m. recreational players of all levels get together at the Randol Mill Parks at 1924 W. Randol Mill in Arlington, Texas. Join them: they will be happy to have you.

***

Arlington Spotlight (Clara Jagosova)

Clara Jagosova, a member of the University of Texas at Arlington tennis team, is quietly making a name for herself. Clara is from Kyjov, Czech Republic. Read her story here in this excellent report by Isaac Cobham. Cobham has several stories about the UTA tennis team in The Shorthorn, a newspaper run totally by Arlington university students. The UTA tennis team is playing the Midland Invitational this weekend October 12-14 in Midland, Texas.

Dusan Vemic: The Idiosyncracies of a Player You Have Never Heard About (With a New Postscript: Dusan Responds)

Hello, friend. We have been talking a lot about Michael McClune, a young player who is scheduled to come to town for the Texas 76ers Pro Tennis Event at the Walnut Creek Country Club in Mansfield, Texas.

I like to take a close look at players, not just their style of play but their demeanor, their reaction in certain situations, what they do on the bench between points -- the game inside the game.

I was just at the Lubbock Challenger and the Tulsa Challenger recently and I took notes of the idiosyncrasies of the players and I would like to share them with you.

Dusan Vemic is probably a player you have never heard about. He makes a living on tour on just one identifiable skill -- a massive serve. (He actually misses a lot of first serves, but the serve is all he has got, so he even rips his second serve.)

He is completely useless at net: he freezes and hits the volley in the net or hits it long outside. He is very needy of the ballboys; he demands the towel between every point. (It is a ploy to slow the match down.)

When things are going well, when he leaves the bench, he bites on his towel and lets it hang from his mouth and literally skips and dances to his position at the service line. When things are going badly for Dusan Vemic, all hell break loose.

He is apparently very absent-minded, misplaces his gear and equipment. There is some kind of chalk or resin that players put on their hands and Vemic has been known to misplace his resin. (If an opposing player wanted to mess with Dusan's head just tip the ballboy to hide his resin.) He goes absolutely bunkers, tossing everthing out of his bag, accusing people of going into his bag, demanding that his coach go fetch some more powder.

Dusan Vemic is proof that you could make a living by doing just one thing well -- big serve, not much else.

I promised that we would talk about the Michael McClune-Donald Young match, but that match still has not played yet. Check for the scores here and we will dissect it when next we meet.

Postscript

Dusan Vemic responds.