ON THE RISE
At the end of last year I set my
objectives for the upcoming season. Made a serious assessment on the steps to
take, and the conclusion was that an attempt to become, by the end of the season,
top ten in my age group (+40s) at the
Quebec Senior rankings was something achievable. I’m glad to see that we did
achieve the objective much sooner than that as the latest list puts my name in
the 8th place. It’s been a lot of work and gone through lots and lots
of pain to achieve that. Very proud and thankful for the help of so many people
involved in this success. People that I keep working with on an ongoing basis,
people that I had worked in the past… all of them are part of this present. So
a big thanks to all of them.
In the +35s, my good friend, and
doubles partner is also on the rise. Oussama Azizi, the Moroccan Marvel, has
stepped on the 16th place. Believe me; he’ll go all the way to the
top. Give him some time. When his head makes the final click, he will start
storming in and out taking one tourney after another. He has all the shots,
great serve, a killer forehand, can swing his backhand with one or two wrists…
he’s very aggressive at the net… and lately became a tennis tactician researcher…
Just wait and see. He is a star on the rise. We’ve been improving out double
performances in the last events and I can see now some positive signs that we
may be contenders at one point in the next 12 months or so.
Now that we’ve got where we
wanted to be in another six months, it is time to set new goals. Breaking into
the top five would be amazing. Can it be done? Let’s see, we have a group of
great players in the first echelon, Olivier Borlee and Alexandre Blaettler who
I met in the Indoor Nationals last month. Both very solid and with a vision of
the game that has no match in the tour. They have a different ball pace from
the rest of us, and to beat them… well let’s put it this way, it would be a
goal in itself. Not saying cannot be done, though. But it’ll take a lot of
work.
Another player on the rise is my
countryman, Carlos Montoto. Never played him, but he used to play the interclub
championships in Argentina in what was called the “intermedia” level. Just
below the A players from the ATP tour, the likes of Chela, Calleri, Nalbandian,
etc... Carlos, former #1 in Quebec, has taken two indoor tournaments so far and
made 3rd place at the Indoor Nationals, which makes him the best guy
in the first 5 months of 2013. Carlos possesses such classy tennis, one wrist
backhand, with a nice serve, and very aggressive groundstrokes.
Then you have Felipe Heck from
Brazil. Solid, fast and a true die hard out there. His forehand is a blast as
well as his first serve. Not quite in the same league as Borlee and Blaettler,
but definitely a tough one. His tennis is based on regularity and the correct
administration of his great mobility and forehand drive.
In my personal list Christian
Breton who I faced in Boucherville semis, follows. The guy has a fantastic
serve and good groundstrokes. He takes more risks to make a point, but on hard
he has an edge on the attack versus most of the guys out there.
To these five players, you have
to add two grinders; a kind of Solomon-Dibbs material: Stéphane Chartrand and
Nicolas Roy. Both with similar technique, two hands backhand but for Stéphane
add the lefty skill to the list. Never played Nicolas, but Stéphane and I had a
few matches on us and I know how hard one has to work to make the ball pass him
by. But they are not alone, Phil Chalabi, with almost identical weapons and a
stubborn steel will, is another serious contender. Played Phil only in practice
and let me point out that after the warm up he is already driving at full speed
inside the court and all hell can break loose if you are not in the mood for
running and chasing the ball to the end of the Earth.
And I’m sure there are many more that I have
not met yet that will be in the fight. It’s going to be a phenomenal season.
Can the top five barrier be broken by the end of the season? We’ll put all our love for the game in the
run. You can bet on it.
See you in the hunt
Iron Gaucho
