Ethanian Tennis Players have managed to achieve strong results in the first day of qualifiers, many winning in straight sets, and will be looking to build on this throughout the rest of the qualifiers.With Day 1 of the Hamilton Internationals completed, the Ethane Tennis Union will be looking to success in this tournament after some very strong showings by many of their players. After a fairly successful Astyrian Slam for the players - all of whom are fairly new to the NSTT - they will be looking to pick up some decent results in Hamilton, Electrum, to help boost their world ranking, and get themselves recognised as decent tennis players.
Most of the players from Ethane have got off to a good start, in their quest to penetrate deep into the competition, with a multitude of them winning their matches in straight sets, to the surprise of many at home in the Ethane Tennis Union. They will be hoping that these starter results are not anomalies, and that they are able to continue the form that they have shown on the first day of the qualifiers deep into this tournament, in the hope that they can pull off some surprising results when it comes to facing the higher ranked players in this tournament.
However, not all the matches were as good as some, with a few key players for Ethane, such as Samuel Hartnell, losing their matches, damaging their qualification aims in this tournament. They will be extremely disappointed with the results they managed on the first day of qualification, but not all hope for them is lost, as they can still qualify to the main part of the tournament, as the top 2 from the qualification groups proceeds to the main draw - a major difference between this tournament and other tournaments that the Ethanian tennis players have participated in.
With all said and done though, looking at the overview of the tournament itself, which is the last of the year's clay court swing tournaments, the players will be looking to the future, not only in this tournament, which does bring great hope for many of the players from Ethane, but also to future tournaments in the year's tightly packed schedule, with the hope that they can bring more form into the NSTT throughout the year, and hope to eventually rise up the ranks, and be one of the best, in a field of tennis players that seems to be dominated by Ceni near the top.
A Closer Look:
Thomas Hutchon:Thomas Hutchon will be looking to continue the recent form of success that he managed at the Astyrian Slam coming into this tournament. As the highest ranked national player in the Ethanian Tennis Union, as well as the highest ranked Ethanian player internationally, at 76, a lot of pressure will be on him this tournament to succeed in the difficult games, and prove his worth as the highest ranked Ethanian player.
With a strong showing on the first day, dominating the match to win in straight sets against a stumbling Marc Lindstrom from San José Guayabal, Thomas will be looking for further strong matches in the qualification stages to proceed with a strong mindset, and a good set of form behind him. Having won both sets easily, only losing 3 games over the 9 sets, he will be hoping that this isn't just luck, but is a sign of things to come for him in this tournament. With the match placing him at the top of the qualification table after the first day of qualifiers, and only to win 1 more game to secure qualification, against either Albert Yong from United Vietussia or Fi Richardson from the Confederate Kingdom of West Phoenicia, Thomas Hutchon has a good chance of gaining qualifiation.
Thomas Hutchon (ETN) 6 6
Marc Lindstrom (SJG) 0 3
Alice Curson:Alice Curson, who was knocked out in day 1 of the round of 64 in the Astyrian Slam, will be looking to improve on her previous track record, having won 3 and lost 5 of the 8 matches she has played so far in her career. Being 8th in the current national rankings in Ethane, and 179th in the international rankings, she was expected to not be the best player coming into this tournament, and potentially struggle against some of the other players, while also not winning by the greatest margins when she did win.
However, with our determination, and her fitness, that has recovered after previous tournaments, Alice Curson has pulled off a decent result to start the qualification period of this tournament, winning her first match in straight sets. After playing Uswald Uneena, from Jestoria, in what is admittedly a much closer game than that of Thomas Hutchon, but still a win by a comfortable margin, she will be full of confidence, after the lack in morale she has had recently due to a string off poor results, she will be hoping to build up her confidence, in order to at least provide a challenge for some of the other competitors in the main draw, even if she struggles to win the games.
Alice Curson (ETN) 6 6
Uswald Uneena (JES) 4 3
Adam Samson:Adam Samson is once again looking to gain some valuable ranking points on the international stage and the national stage in the hope of catching up and retaking what was previously his place as the best Ethanian tennis player, nationally and internationally. Having had a fairly decent Astyrian slam tournament, but not the best, Adam will be hoping that this tournament can provide him with the results he needs to once again rise in the rankings, and hopefully race back past Hollie Gratton and Thomas Hutchon.
With his strong performance in his first match against Aleksander Nye of Slashska, winning in straight sets by a considerable margin, only really getting a challenge towards the end of the 2nd set, Adam will be looking not only to the rest of his qualification group, where he will have to play Bilaal Bilclough of Eastfield Lodge and Walter Woo of Jestoria, but also to the other groups, where he will be hoping - not that he would admit this, however - that the other players above him in the rankings falter, so that he may have a greater chance of regaining that lead in the rankings in Ethane.
Adam Samson (ETN) 6 7
Aleksander Nye (SSA) 2 5
Samuel Hartnell:A slightly disappointing day for Samuel, following on from what he considered to be a disappointing Astyrian Slam tournament, leaves him with nothing in the groups so far, and a difficult challenge to get back into contention for qualification for the main draw. Being 5th in the national rankings, and 146th in the international rankings, Samuel was hoping to prove himself as one of Ethane's best in this tournament, by achieving what many doubted he could.
So far, Samuel Hartnell is looking set to prove those who doubt him right, with a tight loss against a stronger Vera di Santos from the Confederate Kingdom of West Phoenicia, taking the game to all 3 sets with a close fight throughout, apart from in the final set. Only winning the second set, 6-2, he lost the final set by the same margin, suggesting he may not have the stamina to compete at such a high level. To remain in contention, he has to hope he can win the rest of his matches, which are both tough matches against Sara Zhuo of Electrum and Yassin Yeerlis of Jestoria, but he believes he has the right mindset to do so. Samuel Hartnell said after his match: ''I know this may seem like a disappointing result from my first match, and to some extent, you could call it so, but to see where I have come from, and looking at my age, I still have a long way to go yet in my career, and there will be plenty of time before I have to call it a day, and finish my career. It may seem like I am in a tough situation now, but I still have plenty of chance to qualify for this tournament, and it is not like this would be the end of my career - there are plenty of other tournaments to come after this, which I can do better in.''
Samuel Hartnell (ETN) 4 6 2
Vera di Santos (KWP) 6 2 6
Hollie Gratton:As 4th in the national rankings, and 98. in the international rankings (the second highest ranked Ethanian), Hollie Gratton will be looking to achieve some decent results in this tournament to continue to build on her top 100 ranking. With many games behind her - 8 games so far, excluding this tournament, in which she has an even split between wins and losses, she will be looking to continue with her career, in high hopes for what she can do.
With a strong result in her first qualification game, winning in straight sets, it is looking likely that she will qualify for the main draw, having annihilated Jerry Strand from Slashska 6 games to 0 in the first set. However, not all questions about her ability have yet gone away, because of her form in the second set, as even though she did win it, she allowed Jerry Strand, who she didn't let win a single game in the first set, pressure her for the set, only managing to pip the win right at the end, to a 7-6 set in her favour. The question people will be asking her is if she performs well to start, can she still perform well under pressure when someone is right up behind her, and does she have the stamina to pull off a 3 or 5 set match victory. Only time can tell.
Hollie Graton (ETN) 6 7
Jerry Strand (SSA) 0 6
Charlotte Little
Charlotte will be looking to this tournament to build up her national and international ranks, as she is 7th in the national rankings and 299th in the international rankings. She will be looking to qualify for this tournament to hopefully achieve a few wins, and build up her rank, in a quest to improve herself for the future in tennis.
However, with her performance today, she is definitely on the right track towards securing this goal. While it is not all other yet for her qualification, she has started on the road to get her there, with a remarkable win against Mats Gustafsson of San José Guayabal. After winning the first set 6 games to 4, Mats fought back to pull off a worrying 6 games to 1 win against Charlotte in the second set. However, rallying for the win in the third set, Charlotte carried the game, giving Mats a taste of his own medicine to dominate the set by winning also 6 games to 1, to secure the match 2 sets to 1.
Charlotte Little (ETN) 6 1 6
Mats Gustafsson (SJG) 4 6 1
Jasmine Abraw:Jasmine Abraw has been hit with another disappointing result when it comes to tennis. Being in a poor position in the national rankings but in a much better position based on the international rankings, she was placed into this tournament on international rankings alone, and so far, she has not proven that she deserves to be at this tournament. After being thrashed by Thomas Hutchon in the Astyrian slam Round of 64, losing all 3 sets, 3-6 4-6 0-6, in a tournament that she had been doing fairly well in, she came into this tournament hoping to redeem herself from her shockingly bad results in that match.
However, with the poor result on the first day of qualifications, she has not succeeded in this so far. Winning the first set 6 games to 2 against Freepan Jer from United Vietussia, she looked to go on to win the game, but was unable to maintain the same skill of playing throughout the game. Losing the 2nd set 4 games to 6, it all came down to the final set. Unable to cope with the pressure of the match, Jasmine Abraw was unable to secure a win in the set, losing the set by 2 games to 6, and leaving her in a difficult place in terms of contention for qualification.
Jasmine Abraw (ETN) 6 4 2
Freepan Jer (UNV) 2 6 6
Nico Angelo:Once again, Nico has struggled to obtain the success he needs at the international level to become internationally esteemed. Struggling recently in all his tennis tournaments, with poor form, he was hoping to get a good victory in this first match to show that he was still a good player, and deserved a place playing internationally.
However, the performance he showed today suggests maybe he is not quite up to it, losing in straight sets, albeit by close margins. Losing the first set 4 games to 6, not a large margin in itself, Nico was looking to claw back a set in the second set to keep him in contention, but it was not to be. Pushing for a victory towards the end of the set, he did put pressure on Linda Santamaría from San José Guayabal, but was unable to pull off a victory, losing to Linda 6 games to 7.
Nico Angelo (ETN) 4 6
Linda Santamaría (SJG) 6 7
Ethan Manners/Susan IngramBeing one of the three doubles pairs fighting for qualification, a lot of pressure was on these players to perform well in their first match, even with their low national and international ranking. Fighting for a victory throughout, they did manage to pull off a good result, and will be looking to the rest of the tournament to prove themselves, and Ethane, as a strong Tennis Union, with strong players.
Winning the first set, which at points was on a knife edge, 6 games, to Moshe Schnoor/Tate Zimmermann's 6 (from Slashska), the pair were hopeful of what they could achieve in this match and tournament. With renewed pressure in the second set upon them, the ended up falling, but by a much closer game of 5 games to 7. With the pressure heaped on to win in the final set, the onus was on Ethan and Susan to pull off a strong win to put them in good contention for qualification. Ending up going down to the wire, it was not until a bad mistake by Moshe in the 18th game of the final set gave them a victory, giving the Ethanian doubles pair a 10 game to 8 game victory. With Atrap Dert/Aden Bea from United Vietussia and Rayford Wise/Dhaakir Prieto from Eastfield Lodge still to come however, their path to qualification is in no way going to get any easy for them.
Ethan Manners/Susan Ingram (ETN) 6 5 10
Moshe Schnoor/Tate Zimmermann (SSA) 3 7 8
Jordan Bennet/Lucy HockersAs the highest ranked Ethanian pair in national and international rankings, the pressure was on this pair to perform well, in the bid to keep themselves as high up the rankings charts as possible. With a fairly good performance in the Astyrian slam, they were looking for a good start in the Hamilton International, and that is exactly what they did.
Obliterating the pair from the Confederate Kingdom of West Phoenicia, they managed to win the match in 2 straight sets, both by a margin of 6 games to 2. With this strong victory in the bag, they will be looking to the rest of the qualification group - which includes Mark Aðalsteinn/Pryce Cormac from Ferret Civilization, and Onur Junior/Thommy Tiger from Jestoria, to see what they can pull off against them, as the both achieved a much closer game than the one played by Ethane.
Jordan Bennet/Lucy Hockers (ETN) 6 6
Con Towers/Vera di Santos (KWP) 2 2
Oscar Bowermars/Julie SyncoleAs the third of the doubles pairs, and level on ranking with the first doubles pair, they were not expected to be the best going into this tournament, but the tennis union in Ethane was hoping they might be able to achieve 1 or 2 wins in the whole tournament, and possible qualify. From their first match, you could say they have already fulfilled the demands of the tennis union, but with many more matches to come for them hopefully, more is now expected from them.
Winning the game against Marcos Gavidia/Fernando Abadía from San José Guayabal was never going to be easy, but the pair rallied together to pull off a remarkable, but tight performance, to succeed, and obtain a victory, putting them in a good position to qualify, if they continue with their current form. Winning the first set 6 games to 4, they pushed to secure the game in the second set, but were unable to do so, losing the set to the same margin that they had won the first set. Going into the final set, they had pressure put on them from behind, but able to cope with the increased pressure, they accelerated, and cruised to a 10 games to 6 win, to secure a point on the table. However, with games against Phinehas Bauer/Maynerd Aitken of Slashska - who have proved Ethanian players many a problem, and Phoebe Harvey/Berat Latif of Eastfield Lodge, who are a great threat to Ethanian success, the qualification in this group is far from over.
Oscar Bowermars/Julie Syncole (ETN) 6 4 10
Marcos Gavidia/Fernando Abadía (SJG) 4 6 6