"Bien-welk, Neu Engollon. You’re watching NETV Sports 19 with Courtside Central. I'm your host, Dom Toglani. Today is a big day for someone in the studio. Many of you know her, to my left...your right...is Lizbet Rittenhaus. Fresh from the Silver Racket, Liz is starting her first day on the job with NETV here as my co-host. Welcome, Liz!”
“Thanks, Dom. It’s a big honor and I’m glad to be here. I’m excited.”“Oh, me too. Also, as you may have noticed from my intro and the pretty graphics at the start of the show, or your cable guide menu, whatever...We now have our own dedicated show. Karl Demais will be taking over the Sports 19 Update show. This is just ours. No roller derby, rugby, curling, or hockey scores…”
“Not that there’s anything wrong with those sports, Dom…”
“Ha! No, of course not. But this is just us. Just...Tennis. Courtside Central. It feels pretty nice, doesn’t it, Liz?”
“It sure does. It’s been quite a few years since there was a dedicated tennis only show on NETV. I’m glad to be a part of it.”
“Liz, we’ve talked before, but it’s definitely great to have you here, although we all wish it was a little later and you were still finishing up your season.”
“Dom, it is what it is. I think that we all knew I wasn’t going to be heading into the World Tour Finals. I just wasn’t at that caliber. I’m glad to have done what I did, I got to participate in the Silver Racket. I got to be in most of the major tournaments for this cycle of the ATP, soon to be the NSTT...More on that later...And I’m happy. I got my respect and I got my bit of glory.”
“You only got to play for one full cycle of the International tour, with most of your career spent on the domestic circuit. That doesn’t bother you?”
“No, Dom. Well, a little, but it’s circumstance. The decision of the NETC to fully commit to the ATP, or NSTT, just came a lot later in my career than it did for a lot of my other peers on the national team. I’ve come to terms with that, and I’m happy for the time I got. I will enjoy my retirement and my new career and I have lots of other plans. I’m going to be here, and on my off time, my partner and I will be doing a lot of traveling.”
“That’s nice. Speaking of peers. There’s another top player on the circuit that is also at the end of her pro career this year...”
“Yes, Elaine Foyner, the Cenian player. We’ve talked a bit and got to know each other well over the year. She’s an amazing individual and player. I hope we can continue a good friendship and we’re talking about possible future projects. I hope we can get her on the show.”“That would be great. I would love to see that, too. So, you all are probably chomping at the bit out there. We probably need to get to the real deal of why we’re here today, Liz…”
“Yeah, Dom. World Finals Tour.”
“Speaking of friends and speaking of Elaine Foyner…”
“Yes, my good friend Marla Gerard, the only Neu Engollian to make it to the big show, the World Tour Finals. She’s had a rough go of it with some steep odds. Biggest of them being my other friend, Elaine.”
“Indeed. She took a clobbering at the hands of Elaine Foyner in the first match out the gates. Getting a couple games in on that slaughter. The second match of yesterday, she again took a loss, this time to Putra of Pemecutan, although not nearly as bad.”
“No, but still not bouncing back like we’d hoped.”
“Do you think Marla was severely demoralized by the first match with Foyner?”
“Uh, well, yes, I think that was obvious, Dom. It really shook her and I think Marla does need to somehow find her footing going into this third match, or she’s going to be looking at certain elimination early on. It’s already looking bleak, but I do have hope, as should all of Neu Engollon. She’s just off...and I’ve been there. This is the final big show and this type of play is intense like nothing we’ve experienced yet.”
“It decides the final rankings and really sets the tone for the next year. Do you think she has enough people in her corner? I know you wanted to be there."
"It just wasn't possible, with the Silver Racket and this show. Marla knew that and she's okay, we have plenty of our other friends there. Danjiella Zovic, Dom Ripaldi, Matti Doerwald and Alma Semmes, plus one of our newer players coming up from the Youth bracket, Felice Mareaux."
"All players that we'll see in the Astyrian Series coming up soon here. Felice especially, we are looking forward to her, as well as Marco Vrient and Teddi Rahl. Fresh faces, new challenges. It's going to be quite a year for tennis fans."
"Yes, I'm excited to be there, even though I'll be on this side of the desk. It's going to be a great series of tournaments, just as it was this past season. It's a great way to start off the NSTT cycle, and yeah...The new players coming up...again, it was great to attend the Youth tournaments and some of our joint ones, and see these kids coming in to the sport on the professional side. I don't know that they'd consider me a mentor although there was a lot of advice traded around, by myself and all the other NETC players."
"Except Paul, I'm assuming..."
"Dom! Come on, really we have to...?"
"Liz, you're on this side of the desk now, remember. Part of your job will be covering Paul Quiront, ups and downs."
"Yeah, yeah...So yeah, no, Paul has not been real helpful to the fresh players coming on to the NETC team for this year. For our International viewers out there, Quiront is...difficult. Let's put it that way. He has that reputation, and if you've seen the footage of him over the course of the year - He's had some real bad rants that have nearly got him kicked from some of the tournaments."
"Nearly being the key word, Liz. Why do you think that is, or that he's never seen sanction by the NETC, if not the NSTT?"
"Because he sells seats. Simple as that. I don't really want to get any deeper into it."
"Fair enough. Well, when we come back after the break, we’ll look at some more highlights from yesterday and make some predictions, as well as begin a preview of what we hope to see next year for NETC and the newly re-christened NSTT.”
“Thanks for tuning into Courtside Central. Stay tuned after this commercial sponsor, folks.”