Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2017 2:29 pm
Nova Lisboa Open Preview
@ Nova Lisboa Tennis Centre - Nova Lisboa, Costa de Ouro
Hello and Welcome to a special edition of Mercedini Sports Daily! Today, we close out the Astyrian Series here in Nova Lisboa as the players have their final chance to big up ranking points before 'The Big One' in the Astyrian Slam, the first grand slam of the calendar year. Today, though, we focus our attention on the Nova Lisboa Open with, yet again, four Mercedinian players and two Mercedinian doubles players in action hoping to climb up the rankings and win the first piece of silverware of the year for Mercedini. We will be going through all the ins and outs of the draws, starting with the singles draw where four Mercedinians were anxiously waiting for their opponents in the final event of the tour. Let's see how they went on:
Nova Lisboa Open: Qualifiers & First Round Draw
The final leg of the Astyrian Tour will be kicking off shortly with four singles' players and two doubles' pairings in action in Costa de Ouro as they hope to pick up some silverware and those valuable ranking points as they aim to book a spot at their first NSTT World Tour Finals at the end of the year. Mercedini have been ever present at this event and almost all of the players have made the impact they wanted to, with players in mid-table rocketing up the rankings with some tremendous performances, along with the likes of Almeronovic, Roshik and Jokek all coasting along and picking up points when needed. The draw has been made and we have some tasty match-ups waiting for the crowds in Nova Lisboa. Here is the lowdown..
Once again, as he is one of the highest ranked players in the tournament Cracik Almeronovic (6) has bypassed the qualifiers and finds himself in the main draw. This time, he has been placed in the lower portion if the top half of the draw (if that makes any sense), along with Andrew Lamar (4) from New Gelderland and Hadar ben Ofer from House of Judah and four qualifiers who will be intermingled in the bunch. If Almeronovic performs well at this tournament, we will probably see him reach the third round before being dispatched by Andrew Lamar. However, more ridiculous things have happened at tennis tournaments before so anything is possible.
Her dreams have finally come true! Laura Roshik is finally the #1 seed at a tournament...wait... it's just for the qualifiers? Oh well. She is the highest ranked player in qualification so it may seem academical that she will qualify for the first round, but don't count out her opponents just yet. She must get past Maria Julenic of Mattijana which is notoriously a difficult nation to play against tennis-wise, which could prove a challenge in the very first match at this tournament. In the same group as Roshik will be Emma au Fuse de Maris from The Redvale and Jane Smith from Tobiasia, but considering the qualifiers are straight knockout, Roshik will only play one of those IF she beats Julenic. Plenty to ponder over, should be an interesting set of matches.
The current lowest ranked, still active Mercedinian player is back in action in Nova Lisboa and ready to continue her great first year in professional tennis after her Junior ITT win. That's right, Molly Rhonic represents Mercedini once again, thanks to the confidence that the MNTA has put into youth players for the future of Mercedinian tennis. She has been given a very tough draw as she needs to get through the Mattijanan juggernaut Dominika Lisicki (who just so happens to be qualifying's fourth seed) before the winner of that match plays Iona Aumlio Constantinescu from Natanians and Nosts or Francisco Abreu from New Lusitania. Not to be rude or anything, anything other than a Mattijanan steamrolling would be a surprise considering the gulf in rankings between Lisicki and the rest of the players in the group. A Mercedinian triumph would be surprising but no doubt accepted by us, our girl on fire is still burning.
Finally, Rasmus Milik will be returning to the fray to continue his resurgence since his set of disappointing results since debuting on the NSTT tour. He has taken the Astyrian Tour by the .scruff of the neck and has stepped up to the plate when needed to pull out some tremendous results which has seen him actively fighting for the #5 rank spot in Mercedini. He will have to put up some great scores in order to round off his Astyrian campaign with a flurry of points and securing his place as a force in Mercedinian tennis. Milik will play qualifying's 12th seed in Alba Baxter from Schottia which will no doubt prove difficult considering the tennis prowess that Schottia has to offer and the tidal wave that is Schottian players that are hitting the top-100 in their droves. The winner of that will play Brazzos from Qasden or Thompson from Ethane. Four well developed tennis-playing nations fighting it out for one spot in the first round proper, should be a tasty affair!
Glory glory hallelujah, Mercedini have reached what some consider the promised land in tennis, and that is to have all players qualified for the first round without having to go through qualification. That's right! Parminus, Stratesimov, Roshik and Noyek will all have time to top up their tan as they wait for the tournament proper to begin. That being said, we already have an idea of who they will play in the opening rounds of the Nova Lisboa Open. Jack Parminus and Adam Stratesimov will definitely be playing the tournament's proper third seed in Garry and Quehall from bezzie-mates Britonisea. Their tennis has been slow to get going as of late, and maybe the Mercedinians can catch them off guard while the Britonish focus on Vha Mehlodhivestoile 2017 or the World hit Festival (which we are involved in as well, because we're bezzie-mates). After that, Laura Roshik and Wendy Noyek will have to wait for their first opponents, although a match-up with the top seeds are likely which will be the ultimate test for the duo. There is a very unlikely scenario in which both duos will face each other in the semi-finals, if that happens we are guaranteed to have a Mercedinian finalist, but that happening in nearly impossible so let's just leave it at that.
That rounds out our tennis coverage and with those in qualifying playing tomorrow, we will give you coverage of their matches and what that means for the championship. We hope you can join us tomorrow for our coverage of the first qualifying rounds at we approach the end of the Astyrian Tour. From Nova Lisboa in Costa de Ouro, goodnight!
