We’ll meet again… The South Shore Chapter

November in Montreal is not great, the city runs out of colors, and the wind makes sure the trees are naked and set for the upcoming winter. Usually rains a lot and temperatures drop significantly. Still no snow (usually) so not much to do outside.

But November is also the month were the Veterans go back to the South Shore. We open the season at Sani Sport in Boucherville, and we close it at Sani Sport in Brossard, sort of a full circle, so to speak.

This year the draw was much bigger than in 2013 and much stronger: King Montoto and his chaser Richard Lacombe, Felipe Heck, Marc Boivin, and Francis Demers back in action among others.

“Hard to judge from outside but tennis shows that it is not always the strongest player who wins, but the one that capitalizes the opportunities.”

Shariff Cabarcas opened the action on November 1^st with a laborious win over Ron Sebag, just to hit the wall against Montoto, the top seeded. At the same time, David Descôteaux earned the chance to avenge his loss in Piedmont facing again his slayer Felipe Heck. To do so he had to battle past an annoying Sébastien Larivée in the max of sets.

Francis Demers played an irregular match with ups and downs all the way. Had his chances against Marc Boivin and his unorthodox backhand but blew them all to lose 6-3, 5-7, 7-6. Hard to judge from outside but tennis shows that it is not always the strongest player who wins, but the one that capitalizes the opportunities.

Carlos Montoto

Felipe rolled over David once more in successive events to place himself in the semis against a not-so-solid Richard Lacombe. The second seeded had to come back from a one set deficit to beat Raphael Drouin. It was easy at the end, but Richard had to regain his legendary steadiness to win the 3 setter.

Interesting enough, this wake-up call made him play like a Swiss machinery against Heck. Hard to believe Felipe would go down in a set without making his mark. Richard was in absolute control of the actions and blast away enough distance to administer the effort of the second set. 6-0, 6-4 for Lacombe, who would face…

Yes, yet again… Carlos Montoto.

The Argentinian got complicated in the first set against Boivin, but once he corrected his aim and re-setup his central computer, the tennis droid took over and erased Marc’s attempts at will. Final score: 7-6, 6-2 for Carlos.

“The final was mainly a solo concerto for Montoto”

Carlos was in such state of mind that he literally could not miss a ball. He fired away 6-1, and stayed undisturbed until 5-2 when he decided to change tactics. Richard saw an opening and tried one last effort to turn tables breaking Carlos’ serve and confirming with his own. Alerted by the sudden change of events, King Carlos made the proper adjustments and sailed to victory (his third of the season + 2 finals and 1 semifinal appearance). Final score: Montoto wins 6-1, 6-4.

Congrats to Carlos and Richard for a great season!

See you in the hunt.

Yours,

IRON GAUCHO.

Battle of wills

Quebec’s geography is gorgeous enough to seduce almost anybody. I’m not shy to admit that the Laurentians region scenery is one at the top of my list of all-time favorites, especially in the fall: The vast exuberance of the trees against the mountains is superb. The palette of colors, from pale yellows to furious red that one can enjoy is simply breathtaking. Add to this, pink dyed clouds at sunset and you would have known the actual meaning of paradise on Earth.

But the Laurentians not only have a fantastic emplacement, also has one of the nicest tennis clubs in the “Belle Province”, Tennis Interclub in Piedmont, just meters from St-Sauver. The club offers the players both indoor and outdoor courts in order to enjoy tennis no matter the weather.

This past September, Lucien Desmarais organized another round of the Quebec Tennis Veterans tour at this location.

Among the contenders in the 40+ category, we found the tough Brazilian Felipe Heck, Jeff Salhany a former pro player, some of the local guys like Steve Baribeau, the always present Marc Boivin, and others.

“They will chase every ball, they will grunt, spit, and charge back until you kill them… twice to earn the point.”

Jeff Salhany

Felipe started as usual showing determination and good tennis knocking down David Descôteaux and later on Pierre-Alain Dubois, a massive guy that likes to strike the tennis balls as if they were some kind of grenades, both in straight sets.

On the bottom part of the draw Jeff took care of Martin Roberge in 2 sets and then went on to stop a late charge from Marc Boivin, the second seeded by 6-1, 7-5.

Once again Felipe would face Jeff. I believe it was in Valois 2013 that they played for the first time with a tight victory for the Canadian. Both Salhany and Heck are probably two of the most die-hard players you can find in our age category. To beat any of them one has to commit to the end and beyond. They will chase every ball, they will grunt, spit, and charge back until you kill them… twice to earn the point.

Never played Jeff, but did hit a few times with Felipe and I remember leaving the court pretty tired. Jeff has great technique as he’s also part of the Great Base Initiative. Clean shots and ball acceleration are his trademarks.

This clash would again prove to be another classic with both contenders hitting and creating diabolic angles to outlast the enemy. Felipe took the first set, and by the same token Jeff tied in the second. The third set was truly a battle of wills; they kept hitting the ball until one of them eventually run out of ammo. This time Felipe was the one that had to surrender. Final score: 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 for Jeff Salhany class 70, back to the winners circle.

Congrats to Jeff. See you in the hunt.

Yours,

IRON GAUCHO