THE TRIBE NEWSLETTER
YEAR I – NUMBER I
By Iron Gaucho
I’m very happy to announce the first TRIBE INVITATIONAL MASTER tournament to take place at the nice Côtes-de-Liesse Tennis Club or CDL from April 12th to May 5th, 2010.
This wacky group of tennis enthusiasts deserved an event like this, no doubt about it. With a strong field of players aligned and ready to strike down opponents and chase balls all day long, this tournament should be the starting point of many great sport and social events to come.
I want to thank everyone that has been so helpful sharing ideas, taking care of things, and look for solutions when a problem arises. All the players have been terrific by quickly replying to the chain of emails and showed great flexibility in order to put all this in motion. Many thanks!!
The rules are quite simple, we held a tournament with a master format: eight players divided into two groups: “Rafael Nadal”[1] and “Hans Gildemeister”[2]. The following players have filled up these groups:
Jonathan Shedletzky requested to be in the Group Nadal as well as Mauricio Castro who wanted to be in the Group Gildemeister. Both did these choices from the beginning, without knowing who was going to be assigned to these groups.
The rest of the players were randomly selected, I personally gave Jonathan 6 sheets of paper with names written on them. He was not aware of the names and chose 3 of those to complete the Group Gildemeister. These names were: Oussama Azizi, Lucas Agnelli and Temo Chalasani. The Group Nadal, thus, got the remaining names: Don Bui, Simon Schlesinger and Jiri Tucker.
The tournament will provide Dunlop Roland Garros tennis balls, chosen by majority, as these balls are ideal to play long matches on clay courts, as the likes that we are going to play on for this occasion[3]. Matches are to be played to the best of three sets, with standard tiebreaks on any of them at 6 games all.
ABOUT THE CDL TENNIS CLUB
A very nice venue in Montreal offering a wide range of services within this sport facility, from almost any racket sport and a nice restaurant, to sauna & steam bath packaged in a friendly atmosphere.
TENNIS
Tennis enthusiasts can rejoice at the thought of playing on the city’s only indoor clay tennis courts.
Easier on the joints and back, the slower clay courts also make for longer and more exciting rallies.
Fans of the faster game are also well served with the
Clubs indoor Decoturf hard courts, which utilize the same
playing surface as the US Open.
The Club is outfitted with a total of 15 clay courts
(9 indoors and 6 outdoors) and 4 hard courts.
A multitudes of programs are available for league, instructional and social play.
FITNESS CENTRE
The fitness centre covers over 8000 square feet
and carries the latest in fitness equipment.
A highly experienced team of trainers
and instructors are always on site to
answer questions, assist you with
a machine, or design a fitness program.
CDL ASLO OFFERS GREAT FACILITIES FOR SQUASH, BADMINTON, RACQUETBALL, INDOOR CLIMBING WALL, AND FOR THE SUMMER SEASON OUTDOOR POOL & BAR.
ABOUT THE PLAYERS
As mentioned before, this tournament has a really strong field of players with very different game styles and backgrounds. In no particular order:
THE ONE TO WATCH: OUSSAMA “ROGER FEDERER” AZIZI
It amazes me how “Roger” has been able to develop his game. Starting in his early twenties (not that long ago) he switched from a two-wrist backhand to a single wrist backhand only two years ago. I must say that the change in rackets has been crucial in this improvement, moving from Babolat Pure Drive, to a customized Dunlop Aerogel 300. This is a player to watch, one of those underdogs that will put a real fight for every point and who has enough power in his arm as no other player I’ve faced so far. He can serve you out with an airstrike of first serves, blasting forehands and backhands. Do you want to attack him? Be my guest…but get ready for his concerto of passing shots and his trade mark: The “Oussama” a killer lob that will land on the line for your own frustration. If Oussama is on an “IN-DAY” he can beat any opponent. No doubt.
A TRAIN AT FULL SPEED: JONATHAN SHEDLETZKY
There are not many guys at CDL that can hit such clean shots as Jon. Very strong on both sides, a real delight to see, specially, when hitting his two-wrists backhand. It is hard to say if his cross-court, is better than the one down the line. He can change directions disguising his shots until the last fraction of a second and at full steam. This guy, as the real Nadal, moves really quickly and has a tremendous hanger for winning. His motion serve reminds me of a pre-1976 Bjorn Borg or an early 1983 Mats Wilander. He puts the ball in play, but be aware, his service likes to “kiss” the lines; and if so, it gets pretty ugly out-there as you have an open court with a skillful predator on the other side of the net. THE ARTIST: SIMON SCHLESINGER
This is a character not to be missed, tennis pro, poet, musician and actor. A multifaceted individual, that brings a fresh personality to the tennis court. Look for his devastating cross-court two-wrist backhand that can create any possible angle. This is a truly hard hitter that imposes both pace and effect like no other. One of his unique characteristics is that Simon squeezes every drop of tennis from his racket, he is a fast learner and if you think you got it, because you get ahead in the beginning, watch-out…this guy is going to come back strong and willing to show that being the youngest of the field gives him an extra hedge on stamina and mobility.THE BOMBARDIER FROM THE SOUTH: MAURICIO CASTRO
This guy works in aeronautics as an accomplished engineer, but also is one heavy hitter. The latest acquisition for THE TRIBE, after a few years in France, coming from Chile… THE BOMBARDIER: Mauricio Castro. A neat player, very elegant, with beautiful groundstrokes that makes difficult to choose between his forehand and his single-wrist backhand. Old clay court school specialist, he moves at ease on the CDL back yard. He has among his weapons, a very nice sliced service that opens the court to blast-out his opponents. Some time ago, like in the mid-eighties (listen to this all you young guns) World Tennis Magazine created the term “dirt devils” to point out those clay court players that could hunt down any favorite of the crowd. Mauricio is definitely one of those.
THE ARMITRAJ[4] INHERITANCE: TEMO CHALASANI
As most of the Indian tennis players, Temo is a true talent. Capable of invent any possible angle out of his racket, the guy is a shot maker. True he seems to be better fit for hard court game, but Temo was born on red clay and he knows his game very well. Starting with a superb ball positioning with his serve, he has also an unorthodox backhand (again two-wrists) that makes bounce to ball to the moon. If that is not enough for you, he can make the ball die against the surface of the court with a sliced backhand that will make you ask for mercy. It reminds me one time when Armitraj himself was playing a Davis Cup tie…being down at match point he executed the most outstanding backhand “gillette” with such effect that bounced it once on his opponent side and went back to his. A true hero…by the way he won the match and got the tie for India. On his forehand, Temo changes the pace and the effect all the time to avoid giving the opponent too much to work with. A smart and dangerous player, you have been warned. DIE HARD: LUCAS AGNELLI
This is a classic clay court player with huge backswings on his groundstrokes. If you are going to face Lucas, be aware that you only know the time the match starts…all the rest is unknown domain. Following the school of Guillermo Vilas[5], he is one tough guy who will fight to the end. If he is serving well, start worrying. He manages that weapon and builds his game upon it. Like any other South American tennis player, he shares with Mauricio the same type of game, with tons of heavy topspin and the patience of a monk. Another “dirt devil” that can pull out results even if he has to come back from way back behind.
Up to here, the players I personally know. Jonathan has been very kind to share his views on the last two players that signed-in for THE TRIBE INVITATIONAL: JIRI TUCKER and DON BUI.
THE DUTCH-JAMAICAN CALVES OF STEEL: JIRI TUCKER
This is the elder tribe statesman, both in age and longevity that came out of retirement for this invitational tournament. This guy, though presumably rusty, it is still likely to instill fear in the bravest of tribal hearts, making Group Nadal kind of a War Zone. It seems that Jiri might well be another music aficionado as his strong flat serve is unmistakable escorted by a resounding vocal delivery.
Despite the initial statement, Jiri is able to track down any ball and hit a defensive winner. Do you want proof? Check out in YouTube and you'll see this player punishing the ball. Beware the wily but deadly one-handed cross-court backhand that will put you in the run over and over again.
By the way… Do not be distracted by his two sons heckling from the backcourt, it might well be part of TEAM TUCKER strategy.
THE MAN WITH THE MANY ALIASES, THE CHAMALEON: DON BUI
Don Bui aka Bon Dui aka Jon Bon Dui aka Sing Song Sui, etc. seems to be one and multiple players at the same time. Recently returned after injury recuperation, we have a guy that is fresh off the bench. Don is one difficult player to read, he can disguise his shots very naturally and spray winners to all corners of the court. He likes to favour his forehand and see his casual opponent run for the ball like a Forest Gump. If you think you can take revenge on that…Don is also able to chase down ANY ball that you throw at him or …passed him.
Another tough competitor for the Group Nadal that makes even tougher to make a call.
Next week the newsletter will start making comments on the matches. Stay tuned.
IRON GAUCHO
[1] Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera (born 3 June 1986) is a former World No. 1 Spanish professional tennis player currently ranked No. 3 in the world. Nadal has won six Grand Slam singles titles, the 2008 Olympic gold medal in singles, 15 ATP Masters Series tournaments and also was part of the Spain Davis Cup team that won the finals in 2004 and 2009.
Nadal was ranked World No. 1 from 18 August 2008 to 5 July 2009. Nadal was ranked World No. 2, behind Roger Federer for a record 160 weeks before earning the top spot.[4] In 2009, he became the first player to simultaneously hold Grand Slam titles on clay, grass and hardcourt. His success on clay has earned him the nickname "The King of Clay"
[2] Hans Gildemeister Bohner (born Juan Pedro Gildemeister Bohner on February 9, 1956 in Ascope, Peru), is a former Chilean tennis player of German ancestry, who won four singles and 23 doubles titles during his professional career. He is the brother of Heinz and Fritz Gildemeister, also tennis players. The right-hander reached his highest singles ATP ranking on February 22, 1980, when he became the number 12 in the world.
[3] Surface also was decided upon the vote of the majority.
[4] Vijay Amritraj (born 14 December 1953) is a former Indian tennis player, sports commentator and actor[2].
Amritraj was born in Chennai, India to Maggie Dhairyam and Robert Amritraj.[3] He and his brothers, Anand Amritraj and Ashok Amritraj, were among the first Indians to play in top-flight international tour tennis. They did their schooling in Don Bosco Egmore,Chennai. In 1976, the brothers (Vijay and Anand) were semifinalists in the Wimbledon men's doubles. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1983.
[5] Seldom has a player found such empathy beyond his own borders as did Guillermo Vilas, the "Young Bull of the Pampas" during his pro career. As the foremost Latin American male, he is the only Argentine to be tapped for the Hall of Fame (1991), and the first to win major titles (four of them). The burly 5-foot-11, 175-pound left-hander captivated audiences everywhere with his sportsmanship and sensitivity of a poet - which he is. An appealing head-banded figure of the 1970s and early 1980s, his chestnut hair flowing below his shoulders, Vilas was the epitome of strength and fitness, endurance and patience on court, outlasting opponents from the baseline with his high-rolling top-spinning strokes - hour after hour, a destructive metronome.
