THE VADER TROPHY! (Vader League 2012) (Page 10 of 26)

Simon had 0:40,and in total 5 break points to go 5:3 in the second set.Than 2 match points at 6:5 and lost the match!
So all of you who have Monfils on their team where very lucky today.

Last edited by Dragan (Feb. 4, 2012 10:47am)

Yep any kind of luck always helps the bank balance on FTT & Vader.
I think most of us have experienced the feeling of winning and losing when your guy has had match points, it's a far nicer feeling when he wins for sure, very unlucky indeed for all those who had Simon on their team this time.
The fact that it was Monfils who come back and won after saving match point probably makes it seem even luckier too I guess.....whew!

I have also been wondering lately how Robin Soderling is coming along in his battle with Mono?
I notice he is listed down to play later this month but will he though?
Thomas might be able to enlighten us with his penchant for twitter maybe??
I kinda miss him on the tour now, I see he is not listed in the Swedish Davis Cup team to face Serbia next week so that should provide the Serbs with an easy first round win at home huh.

EDIT: I've also got some news to share with you guys....the day after the Aussie Open final I received a nice email from Charles asking me if I would like to start writing blog entries for the GSFT website.
Of course those of you who know me well will realise that I have always enjoyed writing about tennis and I am a big fan of the game so it was a no brainer for me to accept his kind invitation.....check out my very first blog entry on the topic of "Equality And Prizemoney In Tennis"!

Last edited by Tono (Feb. 5, 2012 2:46am)

Intrepid Tennis Reporter "DARTH NEWS" summarises Week 5 of The Vader Trophy for "2012"!!

DEFENDING CHAMPION MOVES INTO TOP SPOT IN THE VADER TROPHY!

This week saw the first change at the top of the leaderboard in the Vader Trophy for 2012 when Defending Vader League Champion Tono unseated the previous leader and early season pacesetter Backhandpass.
Tono enjoyed a very successful week by winning the tournament in Montpellier, finishing a close up second to Dragan in Zagreb and also enjoyed a second equal finish in Vina Del Mar.
His key pick in the Montpellier tournament was the eventual champion Tomas Berdych, he was the only one of the Vader eight who decided to gamble on the talented Czech and was duly rewarded by securing the winning prizemoney which enabled him to leapfrog Backhandpass into the top spot.
Dragan also enjoyed a good week by winning the tournament outright in Zagreb, finishing second equal in Vina Del Mar and securing reasonable prizemoney in Montpellier to maintain his spot in third place overall.
Arvis secured his first outright victory in the Vader League for 2012 by winning the first clay court tournament of the season in Vina Del Mar, this win was enough to see him maintain his place in fourth spot overall even though he finished last in both the Montpellier and Zagreb tournaments.

TONO was the "BIG MOVER" of the week with the outright victory and prizemoney in Montpellier helping him move into 1ST spot for the first time this season, the 44 year old kiwi from Palmerston North, New Zealand had been sitting in second spot behind Backhandpass since week one but now finds himself with a slender lead of $48,819 over Backhandpass who drops down one place into second.

BACKHANDPASS finished second equal in Montpellier but lost his overall lead by ending up mid table in Zagreb and near the bottom in Vina Del Mar, he surrendered his position at the top of the leaderboard for the first time this season and slips down one place into 2ND spot but still holds a healthy $234,145 lead over Dragan in third place.

DRAGAN reduced the deficit between himself and Backhandpass in second place by securing the outright victory in Zagreb, Marcos Baghdatis was the key pick in Zagreb for the Serbian native, he also enjoyed consistent performances in Montpellier and Vina Del Mar and maintains his position in 3RD spot overall, he has increased his lead to a solid $305,585 over Arvis in fourth place.

ARVIS had a mixed week securing his first outright tournament win in Vina Del Mar thanks to his Jeremy Chardy pick, but the 28 year old Florida resident blotted his copybook by finishing last in both the Montpellier and Zagreb tournaments, however his win in Chile was enough to keep him in 4TH spot and maintain a lead of $113,001 over Aiur in fifth place.

AIUR had a slightly disappointing week finishing last in Vina Del Mar and mid table in both Montpellier and Zagreb, however he holds onto his 5TH spot and even increased his lead over Wolmas in sixth place to $50,785.

WOLMAS finished second equal in Vina Del Mar and close up in third place in Zagreb but ended up missing the pick deadline for Montpellier which cost him vital prizemoney, the 25 year old from New Jersey still holds onto his 6TH spot and maintains a slender lead of $43,827 over The Lost Scot in seventh place.

THE LOST SCOT ended up with a mixed week overall finishing second equal in Montpellier, mid table in Vina Del Mar and second to bottom in the Zagreb tournament, however he did move up one position into 7TH spot thanks mainly to CrossCourt who did not make his picks in time for any of the three tournaments, the young Texan now holds a healthy $242,646 lead over CrossCourt in eighth place.

CROSSCOURT missed the deadline for making his picks in all three tournaments this week and now slips into 8TH spot and the dreaded "WOODEN SPOON" position, hopefully he will have time to regroup and make his presence felt in some of the bigger tournaments coming up in the next few months.

The next week will see the ATP World Tour take a break with the commencement of the first round of Davis Cup play, all Vader League competitors will enjoy a well earned rest before the battle continues in Week 6, the competition will then see the first 500 series tournament of the season in Rotterdam and two 250 series tournaments in Sao Paulo and San Jose respectively, some of the bigger names are due to play in Week 6 of the competition so we could see a variety of interesting picks and a very exciting week of tennis.

I don't know what it is, but I've never really struggled to win tournaments, I just struggle with consistency.  Last week was a microcosm of my entire Fantasy Tennis career.  1 outright win, 2 outright losses.  That sums "Arvis" quite nicely.

I'm going to enjoy this week off and bounce back big!  I have a "long-term" strategy.  I will be Lord Vader at the end of the year!

-Arvis

Love the fighting talk from all three of you guys!!
That's what a competition is all about, believing in yourself and giving it all you got until the very end.

@ Dragan....You are spot on mate, it is a long season and the battle still has a long way to go for sure, I'm assuming the Masters Cup will be separate again this year and with no prizemoney at the Olympics I'm guessing no draw will be available for that big event.

@ Arvis....Yes you do struggle with consistency but if you keep talking positive self talk like above then look out Vader League I say.

@ BHP....Nice one Arnie but Thanks for the congrats though mate, I appreciate it.
And yes you are right about your picks too, they are your picks and you alone live and die by them so definitely take who you want, agree with that 100%!

After the week I have had I saw a poster pic of Yoda the other day which I thought was rather appropriate, he was saying....
"Calm you shall keep and carry on you must...Yes, Hmmm!"

Thank you for noticing, BHP!  I knew Mona Barthel's streak was a sign of things to come, rather than a flash in the pan.

-Arvis

Too bad about Gonzo, as I picked him in Chile and hoped he was on his way back, not to be I guess.

I don't.  They're going to be utterly destroyed.

Unless Isner can play the way he did against Nadal in the first round of last year's French.

Other than that, I don't see how the Yanks get anything more than the Doubles tie.

-Arvis

The fact that I'm not even IN Australia renders me completely unable to make any Vader and R2D2 picks. I was lucky to make the Yoda picks. Hopefully, I will be initiate my comeback in all competitions from the 25th of this month.

Yeah that was a great win for Mardy over Stan for sure, the US have a very solid team, even more so when both the Bryan bros are on deck.....cunning choice of surface by the Swiss but so far the Yanks are performing really well on the slow clay....if the Bryan boys were playing the dubs you would have to think advantage USA but with Bob out I agree with you Arvis that it's still advantage Switzerland.....unless Johnny Isner does the unthinkable and topples Fed in front of his home fans!

I'm not overly surprised that JCF was picked ahead of Lopez, after all the tie is on clay which suits JCF more and Feli is not even listed on the team for this tie, it's Almagro, JCF, Granollers and Marc Lopez.
I see the mosquito got the job done for Spain (JUST) in five sets.....your not suggesting a rift of some kind between Corretja & some of the Spanish boys are you now Arvis??

EDIT: Wow...Isner takes a two sets to one lead over the Fed Express, could this be the catalyst for Isner to make a charge towards the Top 10 this year??

Last edited by Tono (Feb. 10, 2012 2:20pm)

Yep I'm shocked but happy for Big John, he is my favourite US player
What does this mean for Fed now I wonder....he is starting to get beaten more and more by these type of guys, age is catching up with the great one maybe.
Who would have picked the USA to be up two rubbers to nil after day one....master stroke by Jim Courier perhaps or just more heart shown by the Yanks?

I love the Davis Cup....you always get to see most players digging really deep and giving it their all....I enjoyed team competition the most when I played too, the comraderie and team spirit & support always made you give that little bit extra.

Last edited by Tono (Feb. 10, 2012 3:22pm)

Man, Fed never could get it up for Davis Cup.  But I don't want to take anything away from Isner, I think he is blossiming into a potentially dangerous player on the clay now!  After last year's performance at the French, I think he might have a chance to really start showing people his stuff!

We'll see during the clay court season whether this win was indicative of anything bigger or just hot player taking advantage of a half-effort from someone who's done it all.

-Arvis