THE TRIBE NEWSLETTER
YEAR 2 – NUMBER 7
By Iron Gaucho
A THRILL TO THE VERY END
There is a saying ‘When it rains, it pours’, that can certainly be applied to Francis Demers ‘cause his serve was an absolute thunderstorm!!! We got the best match of the tournament in the final; and both the winner and the runner-up delivered a first class tennis thru out the hot afternoon. With the presence of the rest of the participants, and thousands of fans cheering for the men in the arena, we witnessed a roller coaster of emotions and outstanding shots. The best man won and a new Tennis Tribe Champion has emerged. Francis “Stefan Edberg” Demers became: “TERMINATOR”… and… rest assured, he will be back for more.
THE ROUND-ROBIN BATTLE GROUND
Saturday June 4th 2011 was a perfect day for tennis, with lots of sunshine and a prospect of great matches. This time around, we made the draw in-situ; with all the players present (well…not all of them, Temo showed up a little bit later ;)) each player took a letter that would place him in his respective group.
Group Rafa was formed by Francis Demers, Oussama Azizi, and Lloyd Mangahas; while Group Nole contained Don Bui, Mauricio Castro and Temo Chalasani.
Francis and Oussama fired up early in the afternoon. These two players know each other pretty well. They used to play in the same league a few years back and had the chance to hit together in many occasions. The Moroccan marvel started at full steam with aggressive groundstrokes that left Francis wondering what was going on… His serve was not working and he got broken in the opening game. “Roger” was at his peak; a lethal flat service and shots to the lines were un-returnable by his opponent. Francis was being jerked all around the court for most of the first 3 or 4 games. But when Oussama was almost at the verge of 3-love, he just lost precision and surrender the initiative in the points to the Canadian that, by then, had warmed up enough and started imposing his fire power. After the break to 4-2 there was no more battle… Final Score: Francis Demers won 6-2
At the same time, Don was battling hard with Mauricio. Long exchanges towards the build-up of the point were slowly, but surely, helping Don make a break-thru in the match. As usual, the Chilean born tried to impose his heavy top spin, in a battle that reminded me of those epics between Borg and Connors, but was Don who took the best of it. Mauricio made a great effort to come back but always failed to overtake a better positioned opponent who managed the timing with his natural speed. Final Score: Don Bui won 6-2
Next match up put Oussama and Don aside and were Lloyd and Temo (he finally made it… Thank God!!), who step onto the stage.
There was no equivalence between Francis and Lloyd. Now more acclimated to the conditions of the court, and having suppressed his first match anxiety, Francis was very much in control most of the time. His serve was absolutely fantastic. Both, first and second when returned, put so much pressure on Lloyd that he could barely get his ball bounce passed the service line. Francis took advantage of that and in just a few minutes, he delivered a hard 6-0 to his rival. We have to be fair with Lloyd, it was his first match and that might have been also a factor that played in, still I doubt anyone in the group could have beaten Francis that day. He was way too, strong. Final Score: Francis Demers won 6-0
While Francis was “massacring” Lloyd, Temo could not believe his eyes when he saw this new version of Mauricio. True is, Temo kept the image of Mauricio from 2010 tournament. But Mauricio was probably the guy that showed the greatest evolution in his game in the last 12 months. With a new racquet that adds more sting to his already heavy topspin, “The Bombardier” was hungry to get back in the race. Heavy shots, great serves, and long rallies to Temo’s forehand paid big dividends to the South American player. Temo tried everything he could but at the end had to surrender to the best man on the court. Final Score: Mauricio Castro won 6-3.
Francis had finished his games in the RR and had secured his place in the final already. On the Group Nole, Don was about to do the same.
Temo was no match for Don this time. Moving better than in his first game, the deadly “Ninja” swept past Iron Man in less than 20 minutes. A well placed service and great returns put him ahead from the start. Temo realized how serious these guys were as after just 2 sets played, he’d just grabbed a couple of games. Final Score: Don Bui won 6-1.
That made Mauricio very happy as that result secured him the chance to battle for 3rd place. His opponent… would be “Lion heart” Mangahas who defeated the Moroccan threat with unusual ease.
Oussama is a man on a personal quest. One of the most gifted players I’ve faced, Oussama still has to learn to keep focus no matter his results, fellow competitors or the score in hand. Probably still under the effect of a great start against Francis and all of the sudden finding himself battling to classify for 3rd place, might have something to do with his lack of performance. But hey… this is some serious tennis; and let’s be honest, nobody likes going down. Lloyd capitalized on an avalanche of errors from “Roger” and used his natural speed to put the ball away on many occasions. He showed what he’s made of, coming back from a 0-6 to deliver a high note of brilliant tennis. Final Score, Lloyd Mangahas won 6-1. THE FINALS
Third place match would then face two guys that came back from losing their opening match. I was more inclined for Mauricio because of his experience in tournaments (don’t forget he is the current 6th player in the Quebec rankings in +40) and this particular surface. On hard courts indoor my choice would have been the opposite.
Mauricio and Lloyd know each other as they’ve played a couple of times and had great time on court with close sets. This time Lloyd could not keep such a great performance. He had lots of trouble to return Mauricio’s serve, particularly when he added an extra kick on it. “The Bombardier” managed the rhythm of the match at will and earned the 3rd place with a demolishing demonstration of clay court strategy. Final Score: Mauricio Castro won 6-1.
The tournament was coming to an end and that is, like any other tournament, the mother pearl of the Great Finale. Francis Demers versus Don Bui. Power versus Speed. Service versus Return. Gladiator versus Gladiator. You can’t ask for more.
Yet, these guys were able to deliver above the expectations, starting from the Final Score: 7-6, 6-7, and a Champions’ (never better use of the word) Tiebreak of 14-12.
The winner? I want to say that everyone at Mohawk Park won with such epic demonstration of stamina and good tennis.
The Champion? That was Francis Demers, the one and only.
Again the man from Beaconsfield had a slow start, Don began on the serve and Francis simply couldn’t find the range on the return and followed with a lousy 4 double faults game. The guy was in trouble, no doubt. Don was very pragmatic with his strategy, which basically consisted in not allowing his opponent to hit 2 shots in a row at the same pace and/or height. And it paid well for a while. In the first 5 games, the mighty Don made only 4 unforced errors and was in route to catch the first set. And then, only then, when it mattered the most, Francis came back to life… like a big tennis Frankenstein… His service started to find the lines, his groundstrokes became powerful and started to accumulate winner after winner. The 8th game saw 4 deuces where Francis was able to connect 3 aces and forced 4 errors on Don, the last one with a nice cross-court backhand. 4 games all… And Don strike back with a stealth game that put Francis off-pace once more… 4-5 Don.
The following game was rated “not suitable for weak hearts” (ironically just a warm-up for the rest of the encounter) Don had it; Francis had it, again Don and finally Francis. 5-all. Terminator was shifting gears. Another epic game followed that ended on Francis hands…only to get broken by a superb backhand passing shot down the line. Don, the predator was still in the hunt. That first tiebreak was the best I’ve seen Francis play in the last 4 or 5 years with winners from almost possible position and just one tiny mistake. In just one word: Superb.
The start of the second set was just a monologue of Frankie boy, he jumped 4-love in just a few minutes and everything seemed over for Donny. But … this is the wonder of tennis. A few doubts, maybe some nerves trying to close the match, then, “The King of Cool” lost the control of the actions. And the inner warrior in Don moved forward. And it was WAR.
This time was Don who moved up gears and forced errors on his rival with fantastic returns, smashing serves and sudden change of angles and pace. Francis was lost in translation; his service became irregular and double faulted to build on Don’s momentum. And Don didn’t failed; 4-all and the tension was on the rise.
Don broke Francis once more but his serve, now much weaker after the physical effort, put him back in the killing zone. Francis got the following game by a hair but Don, despite 2 more double faults, demonstrated he has what it takes to be a truly great of this sport. 2 Championship points saved, and a new tiebreak.
Nobody hide in the following exchanges. Both contenders were playing with everything they had. Francis earned another 2 Championship points but had to capitulate to the Tribe Wizard 9-7. Don stated: “This is to prove that weak servers can hold on these kind of matches… I’m playing for you-all guys” while pointing to a group of supporters.Francis was frustrated to say at the very least, but didn’t want to surrender. Having agreed to play a Champions Tiebreak to 10 points, action resumed after a short 3 minutes break.
And Francis jumped to a 5-0 lead but Don regrouped and hit back to close range at 7-8. Francis forced an error on Don’s forehand to earn another Championship point (5th). At 7-9 Don came back with one outstanding backhand and Francis helped with a weak forehand that smashed the net. 9-all. 7th Championship point for Terminator and another error, same with the 8th and 9th… and 10th…only on his 11th Championship point, Francis “Stefan Edberg” Demers was able to capitalize on Don’s error. It took him a couple of seconds to realize he was the winner; such was his state of mind. After 221 points and more than 2h30, Final score: 7-6 (7-1), 6-7 (7-9) and 14-12. See full stats on this match:
Francis Demers | Vs. | Don Bui | |
Points Played | 221 | 221 | |
Points Won | 113 | 108 | |
51% | 49% | ||
Break Conversion | 5/11 | 5/15 | |
45% | 33% | ||
Break Saved | 10/15 | 6/11 | |
67% | 55% | ||
First Serve In | 46% | 55% | |
First Serve Won | 63% | 54% | |
Second Serve In | 78% | 76% | |
Second Serve Won | 52% | 55% | |
Aces | 8 | 0 | |
Aces Wide | 7 | 0 | |
Aces T | 1 | 0 | |
Double Faults | 13 | 12 | |
Return of Serves | |||
Won on 1st Serve | 46% | 37% | |
Won on 2nd Serve | 45% | 48% | |
Ground Game Winners | |||
Forehand | 14 | 5 | |
Backhand | 5 | 4 | |
Volley | 4 | 2 | |
Overhead | 2 | 1 | |
Lob | 0 | 2 | |
Drop shot | 1 | 2 | |
Total | 26 | 16 | |
Forced Errors | |||
Forehand | 23 | 3 | |
Backhand | 10 | 10 | |
Volley | 3 | 1 | |
Overhead | 0 | 0 | |
Lob | 0 | 0 | |
Drop shot | 0 | 0 | |
Total | 36 | 14 | |
Unforced Errors | |||
Forehand | 47 | 24 | |
Backhand | 13 | 4 | |
Volley | 5 | 1 | |
Overhead | 0 | 1 | |
Lob | 0 | 1 | |
Drop shot | 0 | 0 | |
Total | 65 | 31 |
On top of such outstanding performance Francis also got the prize[1] for BEST SERVE with an unbeatable 221.92 km/h!!!! Congrats to TERMINATOR!! A well deserved winner and a true champion.
DINNER OF CHAMPIONS
The following evening we all went for a nice dinner of champions at Le Milsa. We shared anecdotes, plans for the future, great food, and some cariocan dance . Lots of fun and great memories. By the way, we have to practice on a routine for our next sortie… maybe some singing!!!
WHAT’S UP NEXT
I think the final frontier will be to held a 32 players draw at one point. We are still far from there, but I’m convinced it will be achievable in the future. For now, I’m thinking in a Grand Slam series, 4 tournaments, on different surfaces, hard-court indoor, clay outdoor, synthetic grass outdoor and hard-court outdoor… 4 weekends in 1 calendar year. Who is up to the challenge?
We may well introduce quallies for the new players… that would add prestige to the Tribe tournaments. We’ll see, it will depend basically on the demand.
FINAL WORDS
A big Thank you all for such a memorable tournament, great camaraderie and sportmanship. Cannot think of a better way to say goodbye to my dear Montreal. You guys are awesome. Keep playing, Tennis… is for life.
Yours,
IRON GAUCHO
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