Media

[vic_orthdox]

In Brief
Calm Rivers
Scotland Rivers moved to douse any
suggestion that media supporting his
inclusion had any effect on the
result of the recent Davis Cup tie.
"The guys playing deserve to be,
they are ranked well ahead of me.
My time will come. I'm sure that our
tennis federation won't tolerate
mediocrity forever."

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

Drake speaks out about West CWL debacle
By Seymour Butts

Jefferson Drake, East CWL's current #1 has weighed into the debate regarding the non-selection of Scotland Rivers for the recent Davis Cup clash between the divided nation.

"Rivers is a mad ****... oh, and I rule."

Stern but thought provoking words.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Zoltán Varga dies

Horrible news .

 

[ripper868]

Maxum Retires from Singles Tour
by I.P.Freely
Jarko Maxum has today stunned nobody by announcing his retirement from all singles competition effective immediately. Maxum has said he would rather focus only on doubles in the future with his good compatriot Rob "The Lob" Bowenburg, and possibly some swingers parties when time allows.

Maxum will follow Bowenburg to each tournament the Lob contests and enthusiastically cheer from the players box, and occasionally from seats in the stands as well.

Maxum leaves the singles circuit with some good memories and few friends, but hopes that by focusing on his work with his partner he will rise to be the dominatrix he always knew he could be.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Heavyweights 'stunned' by Maxum retirement
by I.P. Hourly

Tennis heavyweights have expressed their surprise at the shocking news of 24-year old East CWLander Jarkko Maxum's retirement from singles tennis. Maxum, ranked No. 55 in the world, sensationally announced he would focus on his doubles career on his website, and has resulted in confused reactions from the tennis world.

"He's still a young guy, so I don't know if this is injury-related or what," the outspoken Roy Daniels said as he took advantage of a chance to speak his mind to the media. "He's been through a rough patch this year, but that's nothing that couldn't have been solved by a trip to the Challenger circuit to tune up his game.

Similar surprise was expressed by three-time French Open runner up Johan Källgren. "He's one of the very good young players on clay, so it is a real shame if he's been forced to retire through injury. He's a good doubles player and will no doubt have success there, but I hope he does eventually return to the singles circuit."

Maxum will remain on the singles ranking and won't take the first real hit in his rankings until the ATP Masters Series Rome where he qualified last year. He has been named in the Davis Cup squad travelling to Spain this week.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Some interesting interview extracts:

March 17, II

S. OXENSTIERNA/D. Micic

3-6, 7-5, 6-0

An interview with:

DANIJEL MICIC

[...]

Q. You obviously weren't really happy with that call at 5-6 in the second. What happened?
DANIJEL MICIC: It was out. I told the umpire and he said it was the linesman's call and I'd used up all my challenges, but it was out.

Q. Do you regret the way you spoke to the linesman?
DANIJEL MICIC: No, they get paid to do their job and he didn't do his job. People criticise me when I get it wrong so I don't see why he can get off when he misses a clear line call.

Q. What impact do you think that had on the match for you?
DANIJEL MICIC: I got angry and played really bad. I was in a good spot against [Oxenstierna]'s serve, but then you get a decision like that which ruins your chance. All he had to do was keep the ball in and I just made so many mistakes.

Q. He played pretty well in that third set, though.
DANIJEL MICIC: He played okay, but all the pressure was off at that point. That is what makes me so mad because if I don't get angry, I think I'm playing better tennis and win the match. I lose my concentration, and he just plays his natural game not hitting winners. It is disappointing for me.

[...]

FastScripts by ASAP Sports....

March 18, II

D. COWAN/R. Daneu

6-1, 7-6(4)

An interview with:

DARCY COWAN

[...]

Q. So what is the difference between playing a guy like Daneu and Jefferson Drake who you have this Saturday?
DARCY COWAN: They're totally different players. Apart from Daneu being a left-hander, he likes to try to frustrate you and gets killer angles on his shots. He's got a pretty good all round game, so you have to play really well to beat him every time you play him. Drake is kind of different because you can play well and just not go close to him. He's got a style where he blows guys off the court, but that can also play against him if he's not really on.

Q. Can you do anything to make him 'not be on'?
DARCY COWAN: All I can do is play my game and hope I can put pressure on him early. I played real well against Daneu today at the start so if I can do the same on Saturday then I think I'm in a good position. He likes to dictate the play and play aggressive, so I've just got to take it back to him and hopefully we'll put on a good show.

[...]

Q. You've only dropped the one set this week to Rob Bowenburg in the second round. How did you bounce back from that?
DARCY COWAN: I was pretty nervous in my first match here and he played really good tennis. He hits it hard and I probably gave him a few too many chances and he took them. I like to think I play pretty well here, but my form hasn't been great and I was disappointed with how I was beaten here last year. But that gave me some confidence, and sometimes tough first matches are real important.

[...]

FastScripts by ASAP Sports....

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Cowan, Oxenstierna to meet in Indian Wells finale
3/21/10 3:52 AM | Jonny Garcia

With just two career titles between them, fifth and sixth seeds Darcy Cowan and Sven Oxenstierna this Sunday do battle in the Indian Wells final for their first PTA Masters Series title. Oxenstierna is fighting to shake his tag as a choker on the big stage, whilst Cowan looks for his first title on home soil.

It really amazing that following this week, these two players will both be ranked inside the world's top five yet one of them will have just one title under their belt. In their first career meeting, it is probably Cowan who takes in the edge having proven himself on the big arena with his one and only triumph coming on the grandest stage of them all at Wimbledon. Half a year on, Cowan has been unable to add to that trophy cabinet and competes in his first final of the season after semi finals in San Jose and Dubai.

Oxenstierna, meanwhile, also has appeared in a Grand Slam final. He took a set off World No. 2 Daniel Páez Blanco, but was thrashed in the third and fourth sets in his first appearance in the round of two. His one title came in Tokyo where he beat Jefferson Drake, but for the most part his ranking is propped up by his consistent showings that have seen him make semi finals at the Tennis Masters Cup and Indian Wells, and a final in Clowich. His record in finals, however, is 1-3 and he will hope to rectify that against a younger opponent and a hostile crowd.

The two meet for the first time tomorrow, and it is Cowan who comes in on the back of arguably better form having dropped just one set this week. He came from a set down to beat Rob Bowenburg 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 before taking out Antonio Bachunelli, Jojo Mustard and defending champion Radivoj Daneu in straight sets. He followed it up yesterday by blitzing Jefferson Drake in the first set tiebreaker and then rolling him in the second 7-6(0), 6-2.

Oxenstierna, meanwhile, has had it tougher. He accounted for countryman Scotland Rivers in straight sets before being made to work through sticky situations against Morgan Carter, Danijel Micic, Becker Haas and then Jason Hall. Four three-setters in a row cannot be easy for him, especially coming into the best-of-five finale.

The PTA announced at the start of the season that all Masters Series 1000 finals would come in line with the World Tour Finals by having a five-set conclusion to the tournaments, and Indian Wells plays host to the first one. Cowan has spent more than three hours less time on court than Oxenstierna and should be able to outlast him as this one goes the journey.

Oxenstierna will keep it close, but look for Cowan to show he's the real deal in five.

​

 

[Jarquis]

Backing my fellow Westerner. Partly due to the beard as well.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

Rumours of East CWLand betting syndicates loading up on the match not going five sets.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

What a beard on the Ox!

 

[ripper868]

Maxum returns serve
V.B. Drinker

Jarko Maxum announced his return to the CWland singles circuit this evening. Maxum cited "unfinished business" as his motivation for returning to the fold.

Maxum previously made a shock decision to retire from the singles scene after a run of outs led to depression and manic thoughts of attempting a professional lawn bowls career. Jarko copped some flack for his early retirement decision from within media circles, many saying what a waste of talent it was to see someone so relatively young bow out of the scene.

Maxum hopes this return will bring new endeavour to his life and looks forward to making his return at a challenger event in the near future. Maxum also hopes to find love while on tour, having recently split from his Mongolian girlfriend who was the catalyst for his initial retirement.

Ends

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

# @JMaxum Good to have you back my man. Shame the mongol didnt work out for you. 9:20 PM Apr 6th via web

# Disappointing match 2day.....taavi very good but ill stick with it. thx for all your support! 9:15 PM Apr 6th via web

---

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

FRC convert Clipton-Marshall on the board in Arkansas

New West CWLand adopted son Julian Clipton-Marshall has celebrated his transition to professionalism with a semi final appearance in Little Rock, AR to earn his first PTA World Tour ranking points in the first Futures week of the season. The $15,000 Futures event was headlined by young Australian prodigy Harry Thompson, but it was Clipton-Marshall who had the most to be happy about as he earned his first eight points on the PTA rankings.

The youngster overcame some early jitters to beat local Luke West in the first round in three sets, before easing past fellow westerner Daniel LeRusso 6-3, 6-2 and Mexico's Rafael Garcia 6-4, 7-6(2). His great debut run came to an end against Dean Delgado as the American secured a 6-3, 6-4 win - a scoreline not representative of the tight contest. Delgado would go on to win the tournament against Butch Miller in the final, but it was a small step forward for the young convert.

FUTURES WEEK 15 WRAP

[B]Brazil F1[/B]
Santa Maria, Brazil
April 5-11, II
Surface: Clay
Main Draw      : 32
Qualifying Draw: 64
$10,000

Quarterfinals
Junior Rosseli PER def. Javier Espinoza ECU 6-3 4-6 6-3
Luis Navarrete CHL def. Murilo Oliveira BRA 7-6(9) 6-0
Marzio Claverini BRA def. Julio Garcia ARG 6-2 3-6 7-6(6)
Alejandro Martínez URU vs. Moises Vasquez CHL 6-2 6-4

Semifinals
Junior Rosseli PER def. Luis Navarrete CHL 7-6(3) 6-0
Marzio Claverini BRA def. Alejandro Martínez URU 7-5 6-2

Final
Junior Rosseli PER def. Marzio Claverini BRA 6-3 6-2

[B]China F1[/B]
Chongqing, China, P.R.
April 5-11, II
Surface: Hard
Main Draw      : 32
Qualifying Draw: 64
$15,000

Quarterfinals
Wang Qiang CHN def. Jordan Little GBR
Chiang Jie CHN def. Dusko Milosevic SRB
Navajo Engelsma NED def. Jung Ki-Jung KOR
Rory Cross CAN def. Feng Dewei CHN

Semifinals
Chiang Jie CHN def. Wang Qiang CHN
Rory Cross CAN def. Navajo Engelsma NED

Final
Chiang Jie CHN def. Rory Cross CAN 1-6 6-2 7-5

[B]Japan F1[/B]
Tsukuba, Japan
April 5-11, II
Surface: Hard
Main Draw      : 32
Qualifying Draw: 64
$10,000

Quarterfinals
Dai Hashimoto JPN def. Tamakuchi Haradsun JPN
Nathan Hannah AUS def. Oh Dong-Jin KOR
Weerasak Meelean THA def. Yukito Kudou JPN
Hajimi Yamada JPN def. Takahasi Asai JPN

Semifinals
Dai Hashimoto JPN def. Nathan Hannah AUS
Hajimi Yamada JPN def. Weerasak Meelean THA

Final
Hajimi Yamada JPN def. Dai Hashimoto JPN 6-7(4) 6-4 7-5

[B]Turkey F1[/B]
Antalya, Turkey
April 5-11, II
Surface: Clay
Main Draw      : 32
Qualifying Draw: 128
$10,000

Quarterfinals
Erdi Azgin TUR def. Rustam Toshpulatov UZB
Dominic Viens FRA def. Nikola Todorovski MKD
Nicolae Neaga MDA def. Christian Bruns SUI
Maxim Kukeyev KAZ def. Stefan Vicini ITA

Semifinals
Erdi Azgin TUR def. Dominic Viens FRA
Maxim Kukeyev KAZ def. Nicolae Neaga MDA

Final
Erdi Azgin TUR def. Maxim Kukeyev KAZ 4-6 6-3 6-1

[B]USA F1[/B]
Little Rock, AR, USA
April 5-11, II
Surface: Hard
Main Draw      : 32
Qualifying Draw: 64
$15,000

Quarterfinals
Harry Thompson AUS def. Jerry Carlton USA
Brian Miller USA def. Timothy Brodzky AUS
[B]Julian Clipton-Marshall FRC[/B] def. Rafael Garcia MEX 6-4 7-6(2)
Dean Delgado USA def. Ashim Kumar IND

Semifinals
Brian Miller USA def. Harry Thompson AUS
Dean Delgado USA def. [B]Julian Clipton-Marshall FRC 6-3 6-4[/B]

Final
Dean Delgado USA def. Brian Miller USA 7-6(3) 7-5

I won't do this every week, but I suspect it will come in handy if we get some newer players in and helps pad the rankings for me.

 

[Jarquis]

@mdeane4 Enjoying the week off but missing the court. Need to rediscover the winning feeling and get a Challenger tourney to my name! Peace

.

 

[morgieb]

@bmread Disappointing comeback for me. QF may be ok given I've been away from the game for a while, but given I was once in the top 16 and was the 4th seed in the game, I should've done better. Don't give up boys, I will be back!

Updates to all my fans out there.

And yes, you might say I ripped off Marcuss, but I thought it was a good idea!

 

[Magrat Garlick]

Maxim Kukeyev KAZ .

More Kukeyev please.

 

[morgieb]

@bmread Bitterly annoyed to go first round. Means that my ranking will be ****ed for ages.

.

 

[morgieb]

End of the Read?
by I.P. Freely

Brett Read, who recently came back from personal troubles, is rumoured to leave the game...again. While his previous departure was his wife beating him up after the French Open, which saw him pull out of Wimbledon and the drama afterwards forcing him to miss a lot of tennis, this time, the rumour is that his coach Morgan Burridge is looking at someone else to take up the game.

From his hotel in Estoril, Burridge said the following....."he's too old. I want someone in their late teens-early 20's, not a washed up 28 or 29 year old." "He isn't gonna give me much success. If he doesn't win a game at either Wimbledon or the French Open, then I will divorce him".

Read was stunned. "**** Burridge. If the **** doesn't wanna give me a chance to get back to my best, then I will leave the game again".

Burridge's new protegee is a young Australian with a thick Irish accent who resides on West CWLand, Tom McDermott. Whether he will stick it out with Read or go to McDermott, time will tell.

Also, I am hearing rumours that Read's parents were seriously injured in a car crash, which may see him pull out of the rest of the season to look after them. Read claims "I am staying in Estoril. Which ever dickhead made this **** up I will ****ing rage at them. If it is real, then after Estoril I'll go home to care for them. The health of my family is more important than my tennis." Burridge claims "I have not heard anything about a car crash".

.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

"East behind rotten claims": Rukavina
Ian Peter Seaman | Neutrality

Not often does the World No. 89 tennis player get debated on the floor of the house of parliament, but West CWLand's Brett Read was the focus on allegation of "blasphemy" and "blatant lies" on behalf of East CWLand's propaganda ministry.

Tensions have been high between the bordering oil nations who split earlier this year (or was it last year...?), and were not helped by the claims of Minister for Sport Simon Rukavina who labelled reports published in this newspaper a "fraud".

"I have it on good authority that the allegations about Mr. Read's career were entirely false and without merit," Rukavina announced in response to a question on grassroots funding for badminton clubs.

"This is yet another fraud... another in a string of blatant lies from the evil propaganda wing in Nixonstown designed to unsettle our great country," he said. "This is another blasphemy and we cannot allow it to continue."

When asked about the relevance of this to the restringing of racquets and the introduction of compulsory eyewear in badminton clubs across the west, Rukavina responded by suggesting that this was a desperate attempt to unsettle the dominant tennis nation.

"They have their best players go into hiding and give up the sport - that is what is experienced over there," he noted. "We cannot continue to put up with this."

When asked to comment, East CWLand Minister of the Interior told Neutrality that he had no idea who Mr. Read was. "Is he a singer?" Minister Ismail Badri Hajjar asked.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Daniels - "Give me Jesus"
TENNIS - East CWLand tennis player Roy
Daniels has been involved in another bizz-
are outburst after calling out the likes of
Jason Hall, Radek Spidla and Jesus. The
world number 139 qualified for the main
draw at Wimbledon yesterday, and follow-
ed it up in an expletive-laden tirade. "Man,
give me any one - Hall, Spidla even Jesus,"
he said to an East CWLand network. "I can
do it all ... I'm ****ing Superman." When
things couldn't get weirder, Daniels conclu-
ded his remarks by stating "P.S. I am not
a crackpot."