THE TRIBE NEWSLETTER
YEAR I – NUMBER 4
By Iron Gaucho
THE TRIBE INVITATIONAL – TIME OF DEFINITION
With Round Robin matches already behind, the four remaining warriors would clash in highly attended matches for the last two spots to in the final.
SEMIFINALS MATCHES
JONATHAN SHEDLETZKY VS LUCAS AGNELLI: “OFF TIMING” IS A BITCH…
Jon and Lucas had played a couple of times before, and the encounters were always well-balanced tight fights. This match should had been no difference, except that between the round robin stage and the semis, there had been a delay of a couple of weeks. Injuries, trips out of town and a cold made some damage in these players’ “A” game. The Argentine took command of the actions from the very beginning, not by being aggressive, but patient. Jon was trying to impose his best weaponry: Speed and Power, but the fact that he was slightly off-timing made him accumulate an abnormal rate of unforced errors for a guy his talent. While Lucas kept accumulating points, Jon accumulated frustration. After just 45 minutes, the score was set on a surreal 6-0, 3-0 for the South American player. Jon had gone ballistic during that time, but he started finding his game. He kept his serve for 1-3 and again for 2-4 raising his level and seriously threatening for a comeback. The Toronto born pushed really hard in the following game to get a break in one of the longest games of the match and got a shot to level the second set. Lucas seemed shook up by the break. As he later admitted: “When you are comfortably leading a match, winning all your serves, with your rival making lots of mistakes; being broken makes you very uneasy…you start wondering if your opponent finally woke up and there is an entirely new ball game going on. Mind wise, that is a very tricky situation”
Jon got to 3-4 30-30 when Lucas was able to hit a couple of good returns that caught his opponent wrong footed and regain the lead. Still the last game had its thrill with Jon trying to build on his last minutes improved form, saving 3 match points. But Lucas’ serve ended the ride. Overall the match lacked the level of the round robin stage. While Lucas style allows him to get the best of such situations, Jon’s game needs more volume of play and that is why he started to get really dangerous in the second set. Regrettably for Jon was too little, too late. At least this time… I’m sure there will be other much better battles in the future.
Final result: 6-0, 6-3 for Lucas Agnelli.
JIRI TUCKER VS TEMO CHALASANI: IS THERE ANY PLACE SAFE?
The second semifinal had a high octane clash between the solid Muster-like Jiri versus the unpredictable and “never surrender” Temo. The Indian born, made an amazing comeback in his group to win his spot in the semis with some great tennis. Would that be enough to stop the unbeaten Dutch?
The two old buddies started the match like two experienced boxers, testing their reach, speed, accuracy and power. That game went back and forth until Jiri was able to clinch a break and steadily went to claim the first set 6-4.
Both players kept their serves for most of the second set until Jiri was again able to gain a break. Usually under these circumstances Jiri would close the match, unless… unless Temo is on the other side of the net. True is once again this guy dove back into the game and pushed Jiri to the limit to finally break him twice and get the second set by 7-5. The tie had changed…
The epic battle went into a third set. Temo going for every ball, chasing them to the end of the World if needed, while Jiri started to feel tired, and slowly most of the points went to Temo. After a grueling 3.5 hours the battle was over, and Temo got the upper hand.
In the words of Teddy Roosevelt[1]: “…The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” Kudos to Temo, for such brilliant comeback; and to Jiri, for being such a fierce warrior.
Final result: 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 for Temo Chalasani.
THE FINAL - CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
TEMO CHALASANI VS LUCAS AGNELLI: IRON MAN VS IRON GAUCHO
Tennis is an amazing sport, and from my point of view, one of the toughest out there. In order to succeed, you don’t only need a good technique and strategy, but also physical and mental strength. Temo and Lucas demonstrated that they were both capable to cope not only with their opponents, but also fatigue, injuries and stress.
While Temo came back from a shoulder injury at the early stages of the tournament, Lucas had some back discomfort after a practice match with Simon Schlesinger. On the stats side, Lucas came to the final without dropping a set, with Temo as his toughest rival. Temo on the other hand, had fought back many of his matches, accumulating more than 9 hours of tournament before the final, with only one match lost…against his group mate.
The previous of the match took place 10 days before, when these two players played on hard courts at Kent Park. By then, Lucas was already in the final and Temo still had to face the favorite Jiri. They split sets: 6-2 for Lucas and 6-1 for Temo. The final step was there and only one of these fine gentlemen would emerge as the winner.
The final took place on Monday, June 7th at CDL. The match started with Temo serving. He held his serve with nice points and a solid game. Temo broke in the second game and took the lead. Lucas stormed back with great returns and some flaws on Temo’s serve that collaborated in the task. Now the Argentine, tough still uneasy with his opponent’s game, was in command winning 3 games in a row. But Temo is never too far and he claimed another break and set himself to even the set at 3-all. By then Temo was pouring balls all over the court like a Soderling clone of some kind, executing a magic inside-out forehand drive that gave him many points.
Lucas stayed cool and broke back, regained control with his serve and fought back a great game to break once more to close the first set 6-3. The first set was in but war was far from over.
Temo kept playing well but now was under the pressure of being again one set down and forced to play more aggressively. He had bad luck in a couple of points and found himself in a tight situation at 1-4. Lucas was ahead but it was obvious that his game plan was taken a big toll in terms of stamina. Temo was making Lucas run all over the place, even though the Argentine was able to keep his defensive game, Temo would sooner or later capitalize on his strategy.
The Indian shifted gears up once more and served really well to close the gap 2-4 and went for more. With a blitzkrieg strategy Temo pushed back from 30-0 deficit to break Lucas with a blaster of unreadable forehands and twisted moon-balls backhands. At 3-4 Temo was serving to even the match as he was gaining momentum. But his serve failed, a couple of double faults and a great backhand passing shot from his rival sealed Temo’s last comeback.
Holding the Championship service game is not easy. Probably for Lucas was even more special, since 2006 he wasn’t in such situation. Temo played brilliantly and saved 2 match points but fell short and Lucas finished with a great serve and a return that Temo put into the net. The first Tribe Invitational Master Tournament finally had his winner.
Final Result: 6-3, 6-3 for Lucas Agnelli
THE TRIBE INVITATIONAL – SOME INTERESTING FACTS
Longest Match in time: 3h30, Temo Chalasani vs. Jiri Tucker.
Longest Match in games: 29 games, Temo Chalasani vs. Jiri Tucker, and Mauricio Castro vs. Oussama Azizi.
Most hours on court for the full tournament: 11h15, Temo Chalasani.
Most hours on court for the RR stage: 6h00, Temo Chalasani for Group Hans Gildemeister. 5h50, Simon Schlesinger for Group Rafael Nadal.
Least hours on court for the RR stage: 5h05, Lucas Agnelli for Group Hans Gildemeister. 5h15, Jiri Tucker for Group Rafael Nadal.
Number of balls used in the tournament: 60
Number of games played: 530
Number of sets played: 32
Number of Tie breaks played: 1
Number of Matches played to 3 sets: 2. Both winners coming from 1 set deficit.
THE TRIBE INVITATIONAL – LAST WORDS
It has been very exciting organizing this tournament, lots of fun, great matches and wonderful atmosphere all along. I want to thank each of the participants for their patience and sportsmanship. Hopefully our next one will be even better. We are thinking on a hard-court tourney in only 2 weekends to speed up things and avoid delays. The occasion will be a good excuse to help CANIMO[2] with their mission. It should be held by the end of July, so once again, stay tuned.
IRON GAUCHO
[1] Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919); was the 26th President of the United States. He is well remembered for his energetic personality, range of interests and achievements, leadership of the Progressive Movement, model of masculinity, and his "cowboy" image. He was a leader of the Republican Party and founder of the short-lived Progressive ("Bull Moose") Party of 1912. Before becoming President (1901–1909) he held offices at the municipal, state, and federal level of government. Roosevelt's achievements as a naturalist, explorer, hunter, author, and soldier are as much a part of his fame as any office he held as a politician.
[2] Founded to support animals in need and all profits generated by the refund of deposit containers is given to the Montreal SPCA. Their mission consists in gathering soft drinks cans and beer bottles in designated boxes. To collect the deposit containers, CANIMO provides decorated boxes or use those already in place in businesses. CANIMO do not ask for any financial donations from companies or individuals. They collect directly from businesses, houses, etc.
To make sure that all the money given to Montreal SPCA is well spent, CANIMO buys all the material needed: medicine, veterinarian cares, litters, cages, etc. www.canimo.ca
