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 8^th 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 16^th 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 3^rd 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