[Tennis/NSTT] Grass Court season 6 [RP/Results]

[Electrum]

NationStates Tennis Tour Grass Court season 6 RP thread

The Nationstates Tennis Tour welcomes all tennis athletes to the grass court season. We have three returning tournaments and we welcome the Salvador Hills Open to the NationStates Tennis Tour family. The NationStates Tennis Tour, and its previous iteration, the Association of Tennis Professionals, has been running for six seasons (year), with a one year hiatus in between.

This thread will be the thread where roleplays and results will be posted for the four grass court tournaments of the season. In order, these tournaments are:

• Salvador Hills Open (Tier 2) hosted in Salvador, The Grearish Union
• Mercedinian Open (Tier 1) hosted in Zoloroni, Mercedini
• Ethanian Open (Tier 1) hosted in Lowes, Ethane
• AOpen (Grand Slam) hosted in Emberton, Krytenia

This thread OP will contain general information about the timeline for the four tournaments, whereas the next four posts will contain specific information for each of the tournaments, including information about the host city and draws/schedules.

Scorination Details
All NSTT tournaments will be scorinated on xkoranate with advantage sets. Grand slam singles tournaments will be best of five sets, all other tournaments, including grand slam doubles tournaments will be best of three sets. The logarithm points will be used, so that the vast inequalities in total points don't mean predictable matches. To determine the seeding and points of doubles pairings, the average of the sum of the doubles players logarithmic rankings will be used. Draws for both the singles and doubles competition will follow the normal procedures undertaken by the ITF.

All roleplays are scored, with quality over quantity emphasized. Multiple roleplays submitted on the same day will be counted as one larger whole. All players without a ranking will have a skill level equal to the lowest main draw player's logarithmic points.

Where there are more entrants than available places, a knock-out qualification round is played.

At the conclusion of each tournament, rankings are updated to reflect the new points earned by players. These points last one year/season.

Links
NSTT Grass Court season 6 sign-up thread
NSTT Season 6 tournament timeline and rankings
NSTT Discussion/OOC thread
NSTT Discord server

Timeline (all times in UTC)
31 Aug - Sign-ups open for all tournaments
1930 7 Sep - Sign-ups close for Salvador Hills Open
10 Sep - 17 Sep - Salvador Hills Open
2000 17 Sep - Sign-ups close for Mercedinian Open
20 Sep to 27 Sep - Mercedinian Open
Mid season break
7 Oct - Sign-ups close for AOpen
12 Oct to 25 Oct - AOpen
2000 24 Oct - Sign-ups close for Ethanian Open
29 Oct to 5 Nov - Ethanian Open

[The Grearish Union]

Salvador Hills Open, Grearish Union

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About

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The Salvador valley in The Grearish Union welcomes one and all to the proposed Salvador Hills Open in the city of Salvador nestled cozily in the lap of the Antane mountain range. The city (earlier known as San Salvador) was bought from San Jose Guayabal after their government decided to sell of some of the land to restart the governance in the nation. The valley itself is covered in sprawling meadows and the pristine river Macary flows through it at the trough. Not far in the distance one could see the sun rise and set over mighty Antane Range, lighting it up in a splendid amber as it goes about its daily routine. Winter further up in the mountains are a prime season for skiing, while the summers are the pleasant time when we invite the greatest tennis players of the world to come to Salvador for the Salvador Hills Open! The sprawling meadows make for the perfect blades of grass on display at the Salvador Tennis Arena, where Grearish tennis hero, Jeff Rogers is rumoured to have played in his early years.

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Venues

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Centre Court

Centre Court (20,000)

Fondly known by one and all as the Salvador Tennis Arena, it is a speculation among the majority that the Grearish tennis hero in Jeff Rogers used to spend much of his childhood in the then SJG, where his maternal family is from. The arena has a capacity of 20,000 people with separate provisions for VIP and VVIP seating. It is believed that this arena could hold up to 40,000 spectators back when the local Salvadorans who weren't as well-off could come to watch the national tournaments while standing. This has since been done away with. An all-seated stadium, it promises to gift competitive tennis in front of a passionate crowd, while the Antane range overlooks the proceedings with utmost grace. The temperatures will remain around 7-8 degrees Celsius and upwards up to about 13-14 degrees, making for pleasant playing conditions when coupled with the pristine grass cover in the arena.

Court A

Court A (8,000)

Located in the heart of the City of Salvador, Court A is probably the oldest patch of green designated for tennis in the entirety of the Grearish Union. Not far from the Salvador Hills University, it is crucial to the extraction of tennis talent in the region. Matches are played in front of crowds ranging up to 8,000 in attendance, while being overlooked by the Church of Salvador just across the street and by the humongous, but beautiful Antane Mountains in the distant background. The heritage associated with the arena makes it have its own character, as young starlets see their dreams rise and fall in the unwieldy world of tennis. The conditions in the stadium is typical to the the state of Adenham, and Salvador in particular, with summertime (tournament-time) maximums reaching 13-14 degrees Celsius on average.

Court B

Court B, (12,000)

The newest tennis court to be used in the Salvador Hills Open will be Court B, made solely for the purpose of having the additional cournt needed to host a prestigious NSTT tournament. The investors have been given the incentive of higher returns as the Open progresses, owing to the high sponsorship value that Salvador Hills Open generates. The state-of-the-art facility will see a number of matches, mostly for lower-ranked, or qulaifications, however. This can be attributed to the lack of heritage that the court has, when compared to the other two. The Antane mountains overlook this arena as well, giving a signature feel to the tournament as a whole, with spectacular sunsets at this specific venue, ensuring a full turnout at 12,000 spectators. The weather is forecasted to behave the way it is expected to, with an average of 13-14 degrees Celsius for a maximum temperature reading.

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Practice Courts

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Practice Courts on the outskirts of the City of Salvador

There will be one practice court available for every 8 players in the singles event, and one for every 8 pairs in the doubles event. The practice arenas are a little on the outskirts of the bustling city, to provide a calm atmosphere for the athletes, as well as ensure high security in all situations. The players' hotel is also located close to the training complex for optimised movement, and reduced travelling stress.

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Our Partners

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Draw

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Singles Draw

Qualifying Round

Augusta Björnstjärna (PUG) vs Cole Hodges (CYT)
Kirumi Octavian (SRM) vs Vuss Ewriins (MGL)
Toma Karga (SQR) vs Helios Norwood (KWP)
Neramfa Ghan (JOV) vs Thomas Rodriguez (SOD)

Main Draw

https://challonge.com/salvadorhills6singles

Doubles Draw

Qualifying Round and Main Draw

https://challonge.com/salvadorhills6doubles

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OOC and Scheduling

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• All cutoffs are at 1930 UTC
• Schedule:
  10th September: QF1 - Qualifiers for both Singles' and Doubles' events
  11th September: MD1 - Singles, Round 1
  12th September: MD2 - Singles, Round 2
  13th September: MD3 - Both events, Round of 32
  14th September: MD4 - Both events, Round of 16
  15th September: MD5 - Both events, Quarterfinals
  16th September: MD6 - Both events, Semifinals
  17th September: MD7 - Both events, Finals

[Mercedini]

The Mercedinian Tennis Association presents...

Mercedinian Open IV
The Cortex Centre - Zoloroni Sports City, Mercedini

Welcome to the Mercedinian Open. This is currently the longest running event on the Grass Circuit, currently in it's fourth edition. It is a Tier 1 NSTT event held on grass and is hosted at the Cortex Centre in Zoloroni Sports City, Mercedini. As is usually the case, two events will be held, a singles event along with a doubles event, which will be running in parallel with each other. As previously mentioned, this is the fourth iteration of the Mercedinian Open, for those new to the NSTT circuit or if you just need some inspiration for potential IC posts, then you can view full results and previous RPs here, here and here

Schedule:
(cut-offs will take at the next available opportunity after 2030 UTC (9:30pm UK Time) on the dates stated below)
September 20th: Qualification Playoff
September 21st: Singles First Round
September 22nd: Singles Second Round, Doubles First Round
September 23rd: Round of 32
September 24th: Round of 16
September 25th: Quarter Finals
September 26th: Semi Finals
September 27th: Finals

Cortex Centre

Location: Zoloroni Sports City - Northeastern Zoloroni, Mercedini
Capacity: ~45,000 (across 16 courts)
Tenants: Mercedinian Tennis Association, Zoloroni Tennis Club
Year Built: 2009
Transportation Features:
- Zoloroni Metropolitan Train Service: T2, T9 & TSC
- Zoloroni Metropolitan Bus Service: B9, B16, B19 & SportsCity Direct
- Zoloroni International Airport
- Twenty-five minute drive from Carlsgrunik MetroBullet Station, Zoloroni Central

The prosperous capital of Mercedini is the stage for the Mercedinian Open for the fourth time. The Cortex Centre was one of the first completed complexes in the Zoloroni Sports City, initially hosting the domestic qualifying for the nation's first outing as an international tennis-playing nation. Following that, a successful bid was accepted by the NSTT for Mercedini to host their own tennis tournament, and the rest is history. The MercOpen was the final tournament to be played before the NSTT hiatus last year, with the tournament traditionally hosted in the final quarter of the year, every year for the past four years. It is seen as one of the more stable locations to host a tennis tournament, with Dini also hosting the NSTT World Tour Finals in Shebchetsik a couple of years ago. Dinians turn up in their thousands, and combined with foreign visitors, make for a week-long spectacle of sport. With the NSTT now getting bigger and bigger as the years progress, the MTA are pushing for an upgrade in the Tier 1 status of the Mercedinian Open, potentially to Grand Slam status.

Mercedini has two national languages and both are universally spoken in the nation as children are taught both at a young age. Mercedinian is the native language of all citizens and is based around the Italian language, knowing the language isn't paramount to a tourist's experience but Mercedinians always appreciate a foreigner attempting to communicate in Mercedinian. If learning a foreign language isn't your thing then English is also universally spoken throughout the nation (especially in cities and other metropolitan areas as it is considered the language of business and commerce). It is common for Mercedinians to speak more than one language with some opting for a third if proficient enough in their previous two, Google Translate is also only a couple of clicks away if you need it.

Mercedini's national currency is the Mercede (M) and is used universally for the nation's transactions. Currently, the Mercede is a strong and reliable currency with 1.56 NationStates Dollars equalling 1 Mercede (M0.64 = 1 NS$). Goods & Services in Mercedini are comparably cheap thanks to low operating costs, free-trade deals and low import tariffs for foreign goods, they can be paid for using the common Mercede currency, although visitors can pay with NS Dollars or use their credit or debit cards. Citizens of Mercedini are pretty well-off with average incomes topping M145,000 (226,822 NS$) which means luxury goods & services are as much a part of Mercedinian shopping-culture as the bargains.

Food & Drink is considered a pillar of Mercedinian culture, which means visitors are literally in for a treat when they visit one of the nations many cafes, restaurants, bars or pubs. As previously mentioned, integration has played a large part in the cuisine, but ultimately Mercedinian cuisine has stayed largely close to it's roots. Mercedinian cuisine, like the language, is based on Italian cuisine, with flavourful pasta and rice dishes on offer, along with pizzas and stuffed flatbreads perfect for carnivores and vegetarians alike. For the tourists, dishes from their home nation will always be on offer which means that visitors can always have a taste of home while enjoying the action in Mercedini. If you're a fan of carb crashes, we think you'll love our nosh!

As it is the official capital city of Mercedini as well as the commercial hub of the nation, Zoloroni is large bustling city littered with modern skyscrapers and office buildings. Zoloroni will be at the centre of the action, holding the host arena as well as hosting most of the pre-festival events that will happen in Mercedini. Visitors will not be disappointed as Zoloroni has restaurants, shops and sightseeing trips in abundance, meaning that players and fans have plenty of activities waiting for them on their off-days. Zoloroni's main sporting attraction is the Sports City, which just a small journey away from the city centre.

Mercedinans are generally very peaceful to visitors and will pretty much always help out foreigners. If you need a recommendation for a restaurant or need help finding direction to their favourite tourist spot, someone will always be at hand to give you a point in the right direction. Mercedinians usually keep to themselves out on the street but will converse with almost anyone if approached in a friendly manner, and it always helps to know a bit of Mercedinian first. As a nation, Mercedini welcomes new visitors with open arms and hopes every tourist has a great experience in our nation. Andiamo!

If you want to know more about Mercedini before you visit, feel free to TG me about life in the country

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Courts

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Centre Court (22,000)
As the name suggests, Centre Courts is in the middle of all the action and will showcase the best that the NSTT has to offer, from the highest seeds to big match featuring two underdogs, stories will likely be written in front of nearly 22,000 spectators. With much of the media attention also focused on Centre Court, the eyes of the multiverse will be draw to players featured here. If your'e a seed at this tournament, make sure to book yourself a locker and a seat before you inevitably walk onto the perfectly manicured grass.

Almeronovic Court One (10,500)
Named after Mercedini's most notable Singles' player before the NSTT hiatus, Court One will also be a place where players can make a name for themselves. Like the name would suggest, Court One will stage the 'best-of-the-rest' matches as well as acting as the overflow court for matches which would have taken place on Centre Court. While players from the lower ranks might find Centre Court inaccessible without an unfavourable draw, Court One's earlier matches typically feature those with an outside chance of a run, giving them a taste of the fame that could be bestowed upon them.

Court Two (3,500)
The largest court to be utilised in the qualification rounds, Court 2 is the largest court open to the main public which doesn't require an extra ticket to access (like you need with Centre Court or Court One). This results in the mini-cauldron being jam-packed with spectators for most of the day, as the general public soak up the sun while taking in some of the best of the day's mid-tier tennis.

Courts 3-5 (1,200)
Venturing further out to the outer courts of the complex, Courts Three to Five have all recently seen investment and improvements to the stands and to the infrastructure, which tripled the capacity and added Hawk-Eye capability to the courts for the first time in four editions. Plenty of noise can still be made by the 1,500 or so spectators that can squeeze into these areas, and this will likely be the first port of call for the lower ranked players going through qualification and the opening rounds of the tournament.

Courts 6-11 (400 + Standing Room)
Making your way through the maze of bodies and confusing routes to the outer courts, you will find Courts Six to Eleven all lined up in a row, now made easier to access thanks to a widening of the patch which, before, made it impossible to move through if someone was coming the other way. Former champions have graced these courts on their way to greatness, so players can retrace the steps of the greats in these very intimate areas in front of less than 500 onlookers.

Courts 12-16 (150 + Standing Room)
A favourite of the pensioners as one of the most intimate locations on the NSTT circuit, a spot on Courts 12-16 means you have your very own audience, where you can see the faces and smell every packed lunch in the audience when playing here. These courts are seldom used towards the later rounds of the tournament, but they are a favourite of many former champions due to the intimacy and uniqueness of the courts compared with the multi-tiered cathedrals in other locations.

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Opening Round Draws and Formatting

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Qualification

Singles
Nations who sent all unranked athletes we're awarded one wild card each, through to the first round. This ensures that every nation is represented in the first round of the Mercedinian Open. Following that, the remaining 22 lowest ranked athletes were drawn to enter qualification for the remaining eleven spots in the First Round

(Q) Bobno Davies (JOV) vs. (Q) Eko Ciprani (ETN)
(Q) Hana Kaori (NTN) vs. (Q) Vlad Popa (SRM)
(Q) Heather Severs (NWD) vs. (Q) James Daniels (ETN)
(Q) Jonas Sillian (CMT) vs. (Q) Alistair Dane (ETN)
(Q) Cole Hodges (CYT) vs. (Q) Adam Miller (SOD)
(Q) Frederick Matthews (SOD) vs. (Q) Caledon Holt (CYT)
(Q) May San (JOV) vs. (Q) Evan Hander (NWD)
(Q) Enrique Chambers (CYT) vs. (Q) Helios Norwood (KWP)
(Q) Poroca Hans (JOV) vs. (Q) Christine Nam (NWD)
(Q) Francine Devon (CMT) vs. (Q) Emil Biba (SRM)
(Q) Benji Garcia (SOD) vs. (Q) Jonah Bastion (CMT)

Doubles
Nations who sent all unranked duos we're awarded one wild card each, through to the first round. This ensures that every nation is represented in the first round of the Mercedinian Open. Following that, the remaining eight unranked duos entered the qualification draw pool, where six were drawn at random to enter qualification. The remaining two duos who were not drawn will enter at the First Round stage

(Q) Joakim Estévez/Micha Randal (NWD) vs. (Q) Poroca Hans/Qerroc Sohn (JOV)
(Q) Jan Turovets/Vitaly Rakov (WSN) vs. (Q) Shuichi Alba/Emil Biba (SRM)
(Q) Christopher Sanders/Eleanor Leclair (CYT) vs. (Q) Adam Miller/Thomas Davis (SOD)

Singles
The 11 Qualifiers will join 53 athletes who enter at the First Round Stage. The thirty-two who make it through will join the remaining thirty-two at the second round stage, where the tournament will become a straight knockout.

Tiffany Love (KWP) vs. Qualifier 7
Toma Karga (SQR) vs. Qualifier 1
Daniel Cervantes (AQL) vs. Eva Sarvan (ACS)
Niken Subdula (NWK) vs. Hildebrant Weisgerber (RCN)
Vladimir Mikhailov (WSN) vs. Maria Crown (SPM)
Dorotea Granit (PUG) vs. Qualifier 5
Maximillian Pronichev (WSN) vs. Dariq Ishaqtar (NAZ)
Ken Watanabe-Royalwick (SPM) vs. Davi Malakkar (ACS)
Teegan Sosa (GRU) vs. Niels Alberink (SQR)
Tangeus Falk (PUG) vs. Shuichi Alba (SRM)
Margie Brown (GRU) vs. Harold Crawley (TJU)
Livinia Moore (ETM) vs. Qualifier 3
Philippe Baloui (TJU) vs. Ion Gheorghe Gheorghenescu (NTN)
Kamal Dallas (KWP) vs. Qualifier 2
Emilie Elroy (CYT) vs. Fredrik Stagnelius (PUG)
Carlos Thirdspade (SPM) vs. Augusta Björnstjärna (PUG)
Qualifier 9 vs. Alif Khadarim (NAZ)
Sarah Dinsdale (KRY) vs. Bobno Davies (JOV)
Oscar Holden (NWD) vs. Diệp Van der Hout (SQR)
Qualifier 11 vs. Luke Subdonez (NWK)
Elena Ceausescu (SRM) vs. Nur Irin-Amirana (NAZ)
Qualifier 4 vs. Qualifier 8
James Daniels (ETN) vs. Lucas Parvash (ACS)
Alan Sanchez (NWK) vs. Valery Ushakov (WSN)
Ralph Newkärn (BRI) vs. Karina Gerard (NEG)
Benji Garcia (SOD) vs. Marco Vrient (NEG)
Rog Ion Tralito (NTN) vs. Staci Harris (KWP)
Lucien Le Floch (RCN) vs. Iris Bergadhga (ACS)
Jonah Bastion (CMT) vs. Houston Sawyer (SQR)
Jessica Moreaux (KRY) vs. Qualifier 10
Jeff Skorpinus (SPM) vs. Mihaela Ioana Prisco (NTN)
Qualifier 6 vs. Martha McNeil (GRU)

Doubles
The 3 Qualifiers will join 29 athletes who enter at the First Round Stage. The sixteen o who make it through will join the remaining sixteen at the second round stage, where the tournament will become a straight knockout.

Dariq Ishaqtar/Nur Irin-Amirana (NAZ) vs. Danjiella Zovic/Thierry Garzala (NEG)
Jóna Cabrera/Veronika McPhee (SQR) vs. Leigh Patrick/Ula Strinka (ETN)
Luke Subdonez/Julia Devoningstan (NWK) vs. May San/Bobno Davies (JOV)
Alan Crown/Boskur Najeeb (SPM) vs. Elizabeth Quehall/Leo Garry (BRI)
Wissam Dallas/Helios Norwood (KWP) vs. Riley Dovatin/Melissa Turnface (KHD)
Jo Royalwood/Bob Lightford (SPM) vs. Ana Radkkar/Eva Radkkar (ACS)
Qualifier 1 vs. Mihai Caeso Mihailescu/Márcus Gabriel Alencastro (NTN)
Qualifier 2 vs. Sigrund Dolstottir/Usula Dolstottir (CMT)
Evgeny Kondratenko/Oleg Vlasov (WSN) vs. Oscar Holden/Christine Nam (NWD)
Niken Subdula/Juan Subdula (NWK) vs. Jewel Abe/Dan Cowden (SQR)
Miguel Taberon/Pedro Arrachar (ACS) vs. Qualifier 3
Alif Khadarim/Irina Elinova (NAZ) vs. Ma-Rae Kim/Ryu-Sik Jung (CMT)
Elena Ceausescu/Dementiu Goblinescu (SRM) vs. Everett Wong/Parker Krall (CYT)
Jeff Rogers/Leanne Stewart (GRU/ETM) vs. Carla Tormo/Lara Navarro (AQL)
Vera Di Santos/Fi Richardson (KWP) vs. Edward Hoope/Sarah Benkley (ETN)
Benji Gracia/Samuel Wilson (SOD) vs. Michael Legrand/Juan Ortiz (KRY)

Singles
The remaining sixty four athletes will be placed in sixteen groups of four. Each group will contain once seed, one non-seed and two athletes who advanced from the First Round.

[1] Dominika Lisicki (MTJ) vs. WINNER OF MATCH 7
Indah Susanti (PCU) vs. WINNER OF MATCH 22

[16] Pelissa Giannapolous (ETM) vs. WINNER OF MATCH 9
Stephen Perez (KRY) vs. WINNER OF MATCH 26

[8] Leo Garry (BRI) vs. WINNER OF MATCH 1
Matéu Virxiliu (AQL) vs. WINNER OF MATCH 16

[9] Mattias Burges (MTJ) vs. WINNER OF MATCH 12
Ajla Vesnic (MTJ) vs. WINNER OF MATCH 18

[4] Dewa Putu Adrian Putra (PCU) vs. WINNER OF MATCH 13
Juan Subdula (NWK) vs. WINNER OF MATCH 29

[13] Gaëlle Sellier (RCN) vs. WINNER OF MATCH 14
Jeff Rogers (GRU) vs. WINNER OF MATCH 15

[5] Ricardo Toli (BRI) vs. WINNER OF MATCH 20
Carla Tormo (AQL) vs. WINNER OF MATCH 21

[12] Jean van de Kloor (TJU) vs. WINNER OF MATCH 25
Andrew Baumgartner (KRY) vs. WINNER OF MATCH 31

[2] Bartolo Sabanero (AQL) vs. WINNER OF MATCH 19
Jason Gordon (BRI) vs. WINNER OF MATCH 28

[15] Maria Sophia Lubis (PCU) vs. WINNER OF MATCH 2
Sami Dominikanov (MTJ) vs. WINNER OF MATCH 24

[7] Mindy Waterford (KHD) vs. WINNER OF MATCH 8
Irina Elinova (NAZ) vs. WINNER OF MATCH 4

[10] Danjiella Zovic (NEG) vs. WINNER OF MATCH 5
Joe Katsi (TJU) vs. WINNER OF MATCH 3

[3] Andrew Simmons (ETM) vs. WINNER OF MATCH 11
Janet Riley (ETM) vs. WINNER OF MATCH 23

[14] Bartholomew Pole (KHD) vs. WINNER OF MATCH 17
Theresa Waterford (KHD) vs. WINNER OF MATCH 6

[6] Ngurah Putra Muliawan (PCU) vs. WINNER OF MATCH 32
Rodrick Uppatin (KHD) vs. WINNER OF MATCH 27

[11] Thierry Garzala (NEG) vs. WINNER OF MATCH 10
Abelie Fontana (RCN) vs. WINNER OF MATCH 30

Doubles
The 3 Qualifiers will join 29 athletes who enter at the First Round Stage. The sixteen o who make it through will join the remaining sixteen at the second round stage, where the tournament will become a straight knockout.

[1] Camille Fournier/Inès Fournier (RCN) vs. WINNER OF MATCH 4
Oka Sulastra/Luh Putu Yundari (PCU) vs. WINNER OF MATCH 11

[8] Marko Juvan/Rikard Kampl (MTJ) vs. WINNER OF MATCH 12
Arthur Leloup/Hildebrant Weisgerber (RCN) vs. WINNER OF MATCH 9

[4] Owen Simmons/Perry Walsh (KRY) vs. WINNER OF MATCH 10
Deanne Smith/Sara Zhuo (ETM) vs. WINNER OF MATCH 16

[5] Bartolo Sabanero/Qualo Tabos (AQL) vs. WINNER OF MATCH 14
Martha McNeil/Anthony Kawasaki (GRU/ETM) vs. WINNER OF MATCH 7

[2] Valentina Spetsova/Austin McDanielson (TJU) vs. WINNER OF MATCH 3
Komang Antari/Kadek Andreawati (PCU) vs. WINNER OF MATCH 1

[7] Karina Gerard/Elke Hartung (NEG) vs. WINNER OF MATCH 15
Spencer Kohnhead/Marcus Hathwar (KHD/ETM) vs. WINNER OF MATCH 13

[3] Sonya Gredello/Rosa Levinsky (ETM) vs. WINNER OF MATCH 6
Shinji Makauchi/Felipe de la Rosa (TJU) vs. WINNER OF MATCH 8

[6] Tamara Hucsak/Dominik Lintner (MTJ) vs. WINNER OF MATCH 5
Leone Na/Abi Forrest (BRI) vs. WINNER OF MATCH 2

[Ethane]

The Ethanian Tennis Union Presents The...


Newton-Smith Tennis Centre
Lowes, Ethane

'Welcome to the Newton-Smith Tennis Centre, named after one of our former greatest Prime Ministers, who himself was named after one of our nation's greatest kings of history. Your accommodation is to your left, and the changing facilities, training courts and match courts are all to the right and down the corridor. I hope you enjoy your stay here on the Isle of Lowe. Make sure to leave time to explore our wonderful scenery, as this island, as well as being home to one of the best tennis courts in the country, is also home to a diverse range of wildlife and habitats.

There's 4 main courts in the Ethanian Open.
Diamond Court: Named in honour of our late King's diamond jubilee celebrations, the Diamond Court can sit around 6,000 people. A very open arena, it is one of the main areas in the Isle of Lowe, which is the main hub of Ethanian tennis.
Coastside Court: Near to the coast, Coastside is perhaps the most open of the courts to the elements. Just a couple of minutes away from Diamond Court, the seating has a capacity of 8,000 and is the largest of the courts available.
Lakeside Court: Bordering on the lake and protected national wildlife park, Lakeside court is perhaps the furthest away from the other courts with a 25 minute walk to Coastside. It has 5,500 seats.
Holden Court: Named after a famous Ethanian tennis player of yesteryear, Holden court is perhaps the legacy court in Southern Hampton with all the other arenas having been through a modernisation process recently. This court currently has room for 3,500 people.

Qualification:

Nations whose players were not highly ranked enough to reach the main draw without qualifiers have been granted one wildcard spot, with their highest ranking individual singles player entering the main draw. The bottom 40 singles players enter qualifying for 16 spots, with the bottom 16 ranked players playing a second round of qualifying.

Round 1:
A: Francine Devon (CMT) vs Aoi Kanto (HTK)
B: Hammond Lauren Géroux (ANT) vs Samuel Wilson (SOD)
C: Damion Kester Dunn (ANT) vs Loiue Gardenian (JOV)
D: Corneliu Groza (SRM) vs Jester Roy (HTK)
E: Tara Bellerose (ANT) vs Valerian Codreanu (SRM)
F: Yolena Mingleff (CMT) vs Anton Koshelev (WSN)
G: Sunil Kali (HTK) vs Mikhail Korotkevich (WSN)
H: Yugis Bugis (JOV) vs Nong Fack Choo (JOV)

Round 2:
Winner of G vs Adam Miller (SOD)
Evan Hander (NWD) vs Donovan MacBride (ANT)
Mathew Giovanni (INS) vs Teegan Sosa (GRU)
Ion Victor Amúlio (NTN) vs Winner of H
Kirumi Octavian (SRM) vs Iris Bergadhga (ACS)
Emilie Elroy (CYT) vs Winner of F
Cole Hodges (CYT) vs Winner of B
Kamal Dallas (KWP) vs Frederick Matthews (SOD)
Caledon Holt (CYT) vs Niels Alberink (SQR)
Gregory Huemenn (INS) vs Winner of E
Winner of D vs Augusta Björnstjärna (PUG)
Jeff Skorpinus (SPM) vs Hana Kaori (NTN)
Helios Norwood (KWP) vs Winner of A
Davi Malakkar (ACS) vs Jonah Bastion (CMT)
Justin White (NWK) vs Winner of C
Athena Piper (KRY) vs Stephen Saltswoon (INS)

THE MAIN DRAW
Ethanian Open Singles 2020
Ethanian Open Doubles 2020

Schedule:
29/10/20: Qualifiers 1&2
30/10/20: Singles Round 1
31/10/20: Singles Round 2 | Doubles Round 1
01/11/20: Singles Round 3 | Doubles Round 2
02/11/20: Singles Round 4 | Doubles Round 3
03/11/20: Singles Round 5 | Doubles Round 4
04/11/20: Singles Semi-Finals | Doubles Semi-Finals
05/11/20: Singles Final | Doubles Final

Cutoffs
2000-2300 UTC

[Krytenia]

The AOpen III - The Grand Slam of Atlantian Oceania[/align]

Welcome to the third AOpen, the Grand Slam of Atlantian Oceania! The final Grand Slam on this year's NSTT circuit, it is being held at the Olympic Tennis Centre in Emberton. Those with a long memory may remember the venue from the Seventh Summer Olympics held here in Emberton, the capital of Krytenia; for those who don't...well, it's a chance to make some memories of your own.

The Singles Competition
[*]The top thirty-two players entered in the competition are seeded in the main draw.
[*]The next thirty-two ranked players are unseeded, but qualify automatically to the main draw.
[*]The remaining players will be sorted into main draw and qualifying draw once signups are closed. At least one player from each nation competing will qualify automatically to the main draw.
[*]All matches, including qualifiers, are best of five sets. Sets at 6-6 are decided by tiebreaker; if the fifth set is at 6-6, then play continues until a player leads by two games.

The Doubles Competition
[*]The top sixteen pairs entered in the competition are seeded in the main draw.
[*]The next sixteen ranked pairs are unseeded, but qualify automatically to the main draw.
[*]The remaining pairs will be sorted into main draw and qualifying draw once signups are closed. At least one player from each nation competing will qualify automatically to the main draw.
[*]All matches, including qualifiers, are best of five sets. Sets at 6-6 are decided by tiebreaker; if the fifth set is at 6-6, then play continues until a player leads by two games.

Your Host City - Oxley District, City of Emberton
Emberton is the sprawling capital of Krytenia. Known as the "City of Nations", pretty much all nationalities can be found somewhere in the city limits. The centre of the city is full of gleaming skyscrapers, whilst the outskirts are "garden suburbs" with plenty of parkland. The Olympic Tennis Centre itself is in the Oxley area of the city; expect to see many maroon and navy shirts and scarves, as Royal Emberton FC play about a half mile down the road. Transport is good, with Oxley Hawton Road station on the Emberton Metro the best bet for reaching the venue. If you fancy a bit of a walk, Oxley Park station (on the mainline) is by the football ground, and offers a refreshing (and well-signposted) walk that will take you through the centre of the district, and the bars, restaurants, and cafés therein. Oxley Park Green, next to Oxley Park station, will host a big-screen "fan area" with live music throughout the tournament.

Your Host Venue
The OTC is a rather large venue, set as a venue "in the park". Plenty of landscaping, plenty of space to mingle, and with the competition being held in October, a cornucopia of rich autumnal hues. Free maps are provided. The complex contains twenty-one courts, including five show courts.

The Medal Court - Marked on the map as MC or Court Zero, this is the main court. Nineteen thousand can be seated here, and there is a retractable roof for bad weather.
Olympus Court (Court One) - Seats fourteen thousand. Also has a retractable roof.
Celesta Court (Court Two) - The smallest of the central courts. Seats 7,800. Easily recognisable by its sky blue seats, as opposed to the dark teal of the rest of the complex.
South Court (Court Ten) - As the name suggests, the southernmost court. Seats 3,100.
North Court (Court Twenty) - As the name suggests, the northernmost court. Also seats 3,100.

The remaining courts range from capacities of five hundred to fifteen hundred. General admission tickets give all-day access to non-show courts, subject to available seats. Reserved seating at any non-show court can be requested prior to day's play. Show court seats are available per match or all day, but will cost more of that hard-earned cash.

Schedule
Monday 12 October - Qualifiers (minor courts only)
Tuesday 13 October - Round 1: Singles sections A-D, doubles sections A-B
Wednesday 14 October - Round 1: Singles sections E-H, doubles sections C-D
Thursday 15 October - Round 2: Singles sections A-D, doubles sections A-B
Friday 16 October - Round 2: Singles sections E-H, doubles sections C-D
Saturday 17 October - Singles round 3
Sunday 18 October - No scorination scheduled
Monday 19 October - Doubles round of 16
Tuesday 20 October - Singles round of 16
Wednesday 21 October - Doubles quarter-finals
Thursday 22 October - Singles quarter-finals
Friday 23 October - Doubles semi-finals
Saturday 24 October - Singles semi-finals
Sunday 25 October - Finals

Cutoffs will be approx 2130-2230 UK time on each day. This is 2030-2130 UTC except for the final day, as British Summer Time (the UK's DST) ends in the early hours of October 25. Should any Krytenians reach the second week, those matches will be scorinated by a third party.

[Electrum]

Centralis Herald - Sports Section - Luke Zhang

NSTT restarts with the grass season

It has been a long off-season, but for tennis fans, now is the time to rejoice. The NationStates Tennis Tour has woken up from its hiatus and has stumbled from the slowest surface (clay) to the fastest surface (grass). On the way, several intervening tournaments have taken place, including the Olympic Games, where Electrum won gold and silver in the mixed doubles event on the Istrian clay, and the two tournaments held in Delaclava, the Scott Cup and the WTTC.

Forget the dusty deserts of the Hamilton Open or the urbanised concrete jungle of the Electrum Slam -- the Salvador Hills Open has got to be the most picturesque tournament ever in the NationStates Tennis Tour. The tournament is set within the snow-capped Antane mountain range. For the first time, athletes will have breath-taking views of said mountains and the local architecture while playing tennis inside the various Salvador Tennis Arena show courts. The promotional photos of the tournament do not give the tournament enough justice as to how pretty the overall setting is.

This tournament is actually hosting its second ever edition, but will be the first hosting under its current name. The NationStates Tennis Tour last visited this area in season 3, where it was held as the San Salvador Open, held in the country of San Jose Guayabal. Much has happened in the intervening time between season 3 and now -- the adjoining Gloriax nation fell by the wayside, which was then replaced by the Grearish Union, who then bought the land surrounding San Salvador from a destitute San Jose Guayabal, and renaming the city to Salvador.

Thus, it was no surprise by many tennis commentators that the Salvador Hills Open were awarded the rights to host the grass tier-2 tournament after a contested bid against Northwest Kalactin's Mendez Bay Open. The experience of the local organisers, the history of the tournament, and the surrounding natural beauty were enough to convince the voters to choose the Salvador Hills Open to take the place of the cancelled Handon Open. However, because the NationStates Tennis Tour were impressed by the conduct of both parties during the host bidding process, the Mendez Bay Open was awarded a place in season 7 of the NationStates Tennis Tour, replacing the newly promoted Steinigestrasse Open's place in the schedule as the opening hard court tier-2 tournament.

This Tier 2 tournament provides an opportunity for Electrum's lower ranked players to get a foothold in the rankings. In particular, Jack Ho and Maddison Scott will be raring to go with their experience in the wooden courts of the Scott Cup, another quick surface. Throughout their time in Delaclava, Ho and Scott have really improved their serve-and-volley skills, a technique that is more viable on the fast and slippery grass court surface. Maddison Scott in particular will be expected to go far in this tournament, given her great record in the Scott Cup at Delaclava. She has the reflexes and the fast hands of any good doubles player, and seems to always know the right time to go close to the net, especially when she needs to cut off the angles.

Pelissa Giannapolous and Marcus Hathwar round out the singles team, making up the bottom tier of athletes in Electrum's singles delegation. Meanwhile, Electrum has not submitted any doubles players due to the Electrum Lawn Tennis Association's view that Tier 2 tournaments should be a viable pathway for up-and-coming nations to make it through the rankings. With all of Electrum's players in the top fifty of the doubles, it was decided that Electrum would not send any doubles pairs to Salvador, just like the ELTA did for the Istria Open. Although it was technically possible for Electrum to send doubles players, it would have necessitated creating a partnership with a newly entering nation, which would have been unfair given that the ELTA would have had to choose favourites amongst the new nations.

The Salvador Hills Open begins with the qualifying round, with all Electrumites starting their Salvador Hills Open title run in the first and second round proper of the singles competition.

[Squidroidia]

The Squidroidian Tennis Project

Tennis as a sport is one of the more niche kinds in the country, along with ice hockey and the art of ordinal ranking (Don't ask). However, the sport is somewhat played in high schools and universities as an extracurricular activity for the Inkling population. 2 teams, the Polaris High School Stars and the Inkopolis University Fighting Squids, are the best high school and college teams in the country respectively, hailing from the nation's capital and being magnets for top tennis talent. As part of a united project the 2 schools will both send their tennis teams out for the NationStates Tennis Tour, starting with the Grass Court part of the 6th season and continuing outwards. These are their stories.

NOTE: The positions they play are for domestic play in Squidroidia, all of the players can and will be able to play against a player of another gender should the need arise.

Polaris High School

Male Singles: Houston Sawyer
Species: Inkling
Age: 17
Ink Color: Green
Born: Inkopolis, Polaris District
Current Level: Junior
Tennis Experience: 2 years as a youngster, 1 in high school
Dream Job: Mechanic

Female Singles: Toma Karga
Species: Inkling
Age: 18
Ink Color: Purple
Born: Inkopolis, Kuzuru District
Current Level: Senior
Tennis Experience: 5 years as a youngster, 3 in high school
Dream Job: Hotel Waitress

Doubles: Jóna Cabrera and Veronika McPhee
Jóna Cabrera
Species: Inkling
Gender: Female
Age: 16
Ink Color: Blue
Born: Calamari County
Current Level: Sophomore
Tennis Experience: None
Dream Job: IT

Veronika McPhee
Species: Inkling
Gender: Female
Age: 17
Ink Color: Orange
Born: Inkopolis, Jellie District
Current Level: Junior
Tennis Experience: 1 year as a youngster, 1 in high school
Dream Job: Nurse

Inkopolis University

Male Singles: Niels Alberink
Species: Inkling
Age: 20
Ink Color: Teal
Born: Inkopolis, Tower District
Current Level: Sophomore
Tennis Experience: 1 year as a youngster, 3 in high school, 1 in university
Dream Job: Tennis coach

Female Singles: Diệp Van der Hout
Species: Octoling
Age: 21
Ink Color: Crimson
Born: Octo Valley
Current Level: Junior
Tennis Experience: 2 years in high school, 2 in university
Dream Job: Mercenary

Doubles: Jewel Abe and Dan Cowden
Jewel Abe
Species: Inkling
Gender: Male
Age: 22
Ink Color: Sky Blue
Born: Souraoi
Current Level: Senior
Tennis Experience: 1 year as a youngster, 2 in high school, 3 in university
Dream Job: Taxi driver

Dan Cowden
Species: Inkling
Gender: Male
Age: 19
Ink Color: White
Born: Inkopolis, Highrise Point District
Current Level: Freshman
Tennis Experience: 2 years as a youngster, 2 in high school
Dream Job: Chef

[Kohnhead]

Can Rodrick Uppatin finally prove he's Kohnhead's #4 or will Anthony Powers usurp him

The Kohnheadians competing at the Salvador Hills Open which is the start of the grass season will not include the top three Kohnheadians as Mindy Waterford, Theresa Waterford, and Bartholomew Pole are all ineligible. This puts the spotlight on some of the lower tier players in Kohnhead in Anthony Powers, Rodrick Uppatin, Chad Cilsertin, and Grady Maccay. Of these 4, Uppatin is the only one who participates in the tier 1 tournaments but will he be usurped by an up and coming Anthony Powers.

We first saw Uppatin at the Steinigestrasse Open (the tier 2 of the outdoor hard court season) where he stunned everyone by making it to the quarters which was further than both Pole and Theresa Waterford. Uppatin actually by this point was ranked higher than Bartholomew Pole who had stumbled early on and some thought he could catch Theresa Waterford. Uppatin played well at the second tier 2, this being the clay court one at Istria advancing to the round of 16 to keep up his good form.

Heading into his first tier 1 in Reucen, expectations were high for him. Unfortunately for Uppatin he lost to Taylor Bates in two sets in only the preliminary round which was a far cry from what he had shown in the tier 2 tournaments. Despite this he was still firmly solidified as the third best singles player from Kohnhead and was ready to break out just as the Waterfords had done. We all thought Mattijana the second clay tier 1 would be his time to shine.

Uppatin as the 23 in the tournament once again failed to win a second match losing in the full first round of play to Marth McNeil in an upset. Despite this expectations were still high for Uppatin although dampened a bit as Bartholomew Pole had failed to find his footing heading into the Major. While there were now 8 singles players from Kohnhead, no one thought any of them could challenge for the top 4 spots and the only one with a chance can only play in half the tournaments.

Uppatin won his first match in five sets against a much lower opponent but was tasked with 6th in the World Naim Alex in his second match which resulted in a four set loss. Now no one expected Uppatin to get past Alex however while he has stagnated as a top 50 player, Bartholomew Pole finally had the tournament we know he could have getting all the way to the Semis. This was bad but the emergence of Anthony Powers who is now ranked 106th compared to Uppatin's 43rd could provide a challenge.

If Uppatin fails to go far at the tier 2 tournament in The Grearish Union, he may be replaced by Anthony Powers at the tier 1 tournaments which would be devastating to his NSTT future.

[The Grearish Union]

Quali 1 Cutoff for the Salvador Hills Open!
Updated brackets: Singles | Doubles

Singles Qualifying

Augusta Björnstjärna (PUG)     6   6         [Q1]
Cole Hodges (CYT)              2   3

Kirumi Octavian (SRM)          0   6   3
Vuss Ewriins (MGL)             6   3   6     [Q2]

Toma Karga (SQR)               6   6         [Q3]
Helios Norwood (KWP)           2   4

Neramfa Ghan (JOV)             6   4   6     [Q4]
Thomas Rodriguez (SOD)         3   6   3

Doubles Qualifying

Rowena Yae/Mare Punst (CMT)            6   3   6
Hal Stainthorpe/Holly Gallo (NWD)      1   6   2

Ana Radkkar/Eva Radkkar (ACS)          6   4   6
Wissam Dallas/Helios Norwood (KWP)     4   6   0

Alif Khadarim/Irina Elinova (NAZ)      2   6   8
Vlad Popa/Valerian Codreanu (SRM)      6   4   6

Alan Crown/Boskur Najeeb (SPM)         6   0   6
Jóna Cabrera/Veronika McPhee (SQR)     3   6   2

[Squidroidia]

The Star Sentinel
Polaris High School's Official Newspaper

TENNIS
Toma Karga gets a fabulous start, doubles slip up in Salvador Hills qualifiers
By Aristide Masterson

The first step of the joint effort between the Polaris High and Inkopolis University tennis teams started off today at the Salvador Hills Open in the Grearish Union as the Singles and Doubles qualifiers kicked off the grass court stretch of the Tour. Senior Toma Karga, much like her performances in the Squidroidian High School Open, easily won her series against Helios Norwood of West Phoenicia, 6-2, 6-4. Experience was enough to have the 18 year old kicking and screaming as she celebrated the win, the first in the books of this joint effort for her Stars. Speaking to the Polaris News Crew, she had this to say:

"What did you expect? I should have gone to Q2, but who doesn't need experience on grass? Everyone does need experience. Thankfully I prevailed, and now I have to focus on the road ahead."

On the doubles side, things weren't so rosy for the Polaris High paring of Jóna Cabrera and Veronika McPhee. Blue and Orange were splat down by the Springmont duo of Alan Crown and Boskur Najeeb in 3 sets. Although they swept set 2 6-0, the nature of sets 1 and 3 caused them to bow out early. The 2 of them denied our requests for comments after the game.

Polaris High has 2 players preparing for Q2 of Salvador Hills Singles, with the aforementioned Toma Karga taking on Pemecutan's Dewa Ayu Cintya Dewi, otherwise known by Polaris class clowns as "Da CD", and junior Houston Sawyer taking on Grady Maccay of Kohnhead. For Inkopolis University, sole Octoling Diệp Van der Hout will start her NSTT journey against Neu Engollon's Fayna Topalo, while Neils Alberink's teal hair will take on Sharktail's Ikram Fawz (I Ran Fast to you and me) on the grass of Salvador. For doubles, IU's pairing of Jewel Abe and Dan Cowden will begin their adventure in Round 1, as they face Diana Jansen and Justin White of Sharktail and Northwest Kalactin. It is still everything to play for, as this Tier 2 event has a day in its books.

[Springmont]

The courts of the Ottowelsh Inns Sports Club in Stuart Sound will vibrate to the rhythm of the Ottowelsh Inns Tennis Open from Saturday, September 26. Several categories are registered in the program: U8, U10, U12, U14. U16, U18 (girls and boys), singles and doubles (women and men), +40 years singles and doubles (women and men), +50 years singles and doubles (men) and disabled sports (women and men).

Like the previous editions, this 2020 meeting is open to local and international players. They can register until September 19 through registration forms available at the Ottowelsh Inns Sports Club in Stuart Sound or via the Tennis Association of Springmont (TAS). Ottowelsh Inns Tennis Open 2020 by Ottowelsh Inns Sport Club announces several prizes for the tournament: cash reward in the amount of $T 20,000, plane tickets, hotel stays, gift vouchers, among others. Access to the courts for the public will be free for the duration of the competition.

Montian national youth team will be represented in both categories for both boys and girls. Sebastian Coe, Anne Falcondale, our spearheads in U 16, but also Lee Felix, Sam Royaltriad, Aaron Spoonracks, Anna von Kornbridge and Linda Falcondale in U 14.

[West Phoenicia]

Act 1:

The One With Helios Norwood International Debut

Helios Norwood's international debut ended with a unified facepalm of both player and the West Phoenician Tennis Federation during the Singles and Doubles at the Salvador Hills Open.

Helios Norwood is seen by the tennis federation as a breath of new air in the sport. A younger rising star who is a new face on the tennis scene that has long been dominated by names like Jon Swanston, Tariq Salmat and Renee Richardson who have all retired from international tournaments.

He will now rub shoulders with tennis greats Kamal and Wissam Dallas, Fi Richardson, Tiffany Love and Staci Harris who dominate the West Phoenician Tennis circuit and who make the international roster.

The Federation is now eagerly scouting fresh blood to fill the ranks.

Helios, who until this season, was seen at various West Phoenician junior tournaments was handed the offer by the West Phoenician Tennis Federation recruitment officer to join the international circuit after the official saw Helios backhand work at the West Phoenician Junior Nationals, a backhand stroke with such cutting ease, they successfully knocked out a number of higher seeds to win the junior tournament.

Helios had spent the last few months enhancing his skills at the West Phoenician Institute of Sport where team coaches are impressed with his adaptability and ability to think and act under pressure.

He did miss out on the Olympic qualifiers but if he continues to perform at such a high national level, there is every chance he will be added to future rosters especially with his appetite to winning persona that is emerging.

On his profile page on the West Phoenician Institute of Sport on the social media site Vibr, he is listed as 18, born in the West Phoenician city-state of Helios Territory. He is 6'3 and 84kgs.
His religious affiliation is listed as United Pagan Faith and his political party of choice is the West Phoenicia Empire First Party; the major centrist party in the nation's government. He is also listed as single, which should be a sigh of relief for his female fan base who have become enraptured with his short mohawk hairstyle.

For new eager fans who tuned into his debut international match at Salvador Hills Open, it was a major hurdle for Helios to be savagely knocked out in the qualifying rounds of both the Singles and the doubles.

In the Singles he came up against female inkling Toma Karga of Squidroidia. Who won the game in two sets. Which good job to them, and while he was outplayed in the first set. He did fight back to only lose 6-4 in the second set.

Helios who was paired up with the more seasoned Wissam Dallas, took on Ana Radkkar and Eva Radkkar of Acastanha. The results while they lost, where better for Helios who along with Wissam. Lost the first set 6-4. Fought back in set two to win 6-4 before both were sent back to the hotel to pack when they lost 0-6 in the third set.

While losing in the qualifying round deflated the hype of his first international debut, it was not a bad effort. There are high hopes he will go far in the sport, and West Phoenicians should not judge him too poorly on a underachieving debut. Like a good wine, the federation believes he will become better over time.

[Aqual]

Grass Court Swing Begins After Aqual's Successful Clay Season
SALVADOR, Grearish Union—After Bartolo Sabanero's fairytale run in the Hamilton International, becoming Aqual's first Grand Slam champion, tennis fever has taken a hold across the nation, all in the buildup to the grass swing on the NSTT circuit. Although Sabanero is ineligible to compete in this Tier II event due to an excess in rankings points, hundreds of thousands of Aqualias are fixated on the Salvador Hills Open as some familiar faces compete on the international grass court for the first time.

Rafael Bautista is, perhaps surprisingly, the only Aqualia to play tomorrow in the qualifying round, just missing the automatic entries as the 33rd seed. Despite nominally being the current Aqualian national number one ahead of the country's own grass tournament, Bautista has not met much success on the international circuit, even on his preferred surface of clay in months past, and has as a result been drastically lowered in the Aqualian tennis federation's list of entries to this and later tournaments. Hopefully competing in this earlier round will prepare him well for a deeper run. He faces Neramfa Ghan of the Jovannic tomorrow.

Joining Bautista in the upper half of the draw is Daniel Cervantes, also ranked nominally as the national number two, although he has also struggled to find his best game against international players. However, he excels on faster courts with his thundering serve and could be one to watch in the first grass tournament—and beyond. His first match will be against the winner of Harold Crawley and Augusta Björnstjärna.

One player who was actually vaulted into success on the international rather than national tour is Matéu Virxiliu, whose energetic game seems to have the potential to be adapted to the grass of the Salvador Hills, and his quickness is a valuable asset on any surface. Virxiliu will find out his first opponent tomorrow in the match between Nazri Robert from Sharktail and the Jovannic's Further Singo.

Making her singles debut for this year is Carla Tormo, likely better known for her recent matches alongside Lara Navarro in doubles in the NSTT. However, her signature serve-and-volley game could prove critical to her singles matches during this tournament and later in the grass swing. She will face either Springmont's Maria Crown or Tiffany Love of the Kingdom of West Phoenicia in the very bottom of the draw.

Aqual certainly has its eyes on Salvador as its players gear up for what is to unquestionably yet another tournament and grass court season filled with excitement, drama and brilliant tennis. As always, we invite you to check our website for live results as they come in, with a detailed recap of Rafael Bautista's qualifying match to come in tomorrow's print issue of the Toboso Chronicle.

[Gnejs]

A lady of a certain age
Augusta was sick to her stomach. She used to have a handle on her nerves, but obviously not so today. It felt like someone had tied her insides into a constrictor knot, and now they just kept pulling for shits and giggles. She tried drinking some water, adjusting her headband, retying her shoes, making sure her keys to the hotel room were safely tucked away in her locker, pulling up her socks. Anything to distract from the physical pain in her gut. It didn’t help much. Her coach, and mother, was seated opposite her and kept on reading statistics about Hodges. Augusta blocked her out and focused on a small speck of dust that was dancing across the changing room floor. The pain intensified, as if some secret army of miniature gnomes were waging a war on her bowels. “I can’t do it,” she thought to herself. “I’m a wreck. I’d probably fall over if I tried standing up.” She followed the dust speck’s whirling journey as it softly made its way towards the door leading out to the courts. “This was a mistake. I’m not ready. I’m going to cry. In front of mom. Shit. No. I’m calling it off. I’m done. Julius can get his precious #4 for the rest of the season.” She watched as the speck of dust left the changing room, and all of sudden she was snapped out of her own thoughts.

“Augusta!”

She looked up. “What?” Her mother padded her on the back. “It’s time. They’re calling your name.”

- - -

Her mother was lyrical as they made their way back to the changing room, and kept going on and on about how she was the youngest Gnejsian to compete internationally, how the GTF* had been skeptical when she landed that fourth spot. Inexperienced, they said. “But you kept your cool, baby.” her mother said. Augusta dropped down on a bench, her legs shaking. With great effort she put on a disinterested face and nonchalantly threw her racket on her bag. “Yeah, whatever, mum.”


*Gnejsiska Tennisförbundet (Gnejsian Tennis Association)

[The Grearish Union]

Round 1 Cutoff for the Salvador Hills Open!
Updated brackets: Singles | Doubles

Singles Round 1

Pierre Canari (CMT)              6   6
Anise Milon (CMT)                4   3

Rafael Bautista (AQL)            6   6
Neramfa Ghan (JOV)               3   2

Sophie Bellavie (NEG)            6   6
Joseph Lisande (JOV)             4   2

Jana Aliki (MTJ)                 6   6
Wucki Miskyuli (JOV)             1   0

Lucas Parvash (ACS)              6   6
Fredrik Stagnelius (PUG)         4   1

Komang Agus Artawan (PCU)        6   7
Zalde Pache (MGL)                0   6

Davi Malakkar (ACS)              5   6   3
Dementiu Goblinescu (SRM)        7   1   6

Jack Ho (ETM)                    6   6
Thomas Tewstree (MGL)            3   3

Margie Brown (GRU)               6   4
Jack Brown (NWD)                 7   6

Harold Crawley (TJU)             6   6
Augusta Björnstjärna (PUG)       3   2

Grady Maccay (KHD)               5   6   6
Houston Sawyer (SQR)             7   2   2

Hildebrant Weisgerber (RCN)      6   5   7
Daniel Brown (SOD)               4   7   5

Teegan Sosa (GRU)                7   0   6
Louisa Manning (NWD)             6   6   2

Justin White (NWK)               4   6   4
Emilie Elroy (CYT)               6   4   6

Fayna Topalo (NEG)               7   3   6
Diệp Van der Hout (SQR)          5   6   1

Felice Mareaux (NEG)             7   4   8
Kamal Dallas (KWP)               5   6  10

Cina Flint (CMT)                 3   3
Doug Grisham (NWD)               6   6

Dewa Ayu Cintya Dewi (PCU)       7   3   6
Toma Karga (SQR)                 6   6   3

Nazri Robert (SHT)               3   6   4
Further Singo (JOV)              6   1   6

Alya Elyas (SHT)                 6   5   6
Robert Blaese (SOD)              4   7   2

Iris Bergadhga (ACS)             2   2
Tangeus Falk (PUG)               6   6

Julia Devoningstan (NWK)         6   6
Everett Wong (CYT)               4   2

Jeff Skorpinus (SPM)             6   6   3
Shuichi Alba (SRM)               3   7   6

Staci Harris (KWP)               6   6
Djonky Cyon (MGL)                2   4

Marcos Neadre (CMT)              6   1   6
Lori Phelps (NWD)                3   6   3

Marcus Hathwar (ETM)             4   5
Vuss Ewriins (MGL)               6   7

Ikram Fawz (SHT)                 4   3
Niels Alberink (SQR)             6   6

Nur Irin-Amirana (NAZ)           6   6
Brandon Moore (SOD)              4   0

Eva Sarvan (ACS)                 6   7
Dorotea Granit (PUG)             3   6

Alif Khadarim (NAZ)              7   6
Parker Krall (CYT)               5   1

Ken Watanabe-Royalwick (SPM)     6   4   4
Elena Ceausescu (SRM)            4   6   6

Maria Crown (SPM)                6   2   6
Tiffany Love (KWP)               4   6   3

[Squidroidia]

The Star Sentinel
Polaris High School's Official Newspaper

TENNIS
Singles Q2, and only 1 is left standing
By Aristide Masterson

In what is a disappointing day for Squidroidian tennis, 3 of the singles players are dumped out of the 2nd qualifying round, and heading into the main rounds only Neils Alberink of Inkopolis University remains for the joint effort.

Polaris star Houston Sawyer's 1st set against Grady Maccay was a win for Squidroidia and the Junior, even though it was only a 7-5 nailbiter. Getting it into his head that he could make a run to the first round, the Kohnhead tennisite drilled in a 6-2 set, before winning 6-2 again for a game, set and match. Speaking with the Polaris News Crew, Grady said that he was "Disappointed but not surprised" and that "It was just a start to his journey". Toma Karga did not fare well either, as Da CD played on its tennis tunes even though beats were skipped in the 2nd set, where Karga tied it up.

Moving over to Inkopolis U, and sole Octoling Diệp Van der Hout was sent plummeting out of the Salvador Hills Open after 3 sets against Neu Engollon's Fayna Topalo, 7-5, 3-6, 6-1. The third set was reportedly so bad that the university's television network had to cut to the school's news programming in order to distract viewers from the demolition derby happening on Court 1. However, the day was salvaged for the school's tennis program, as Niels Alberink ran faster than Ikram Fawz of Sharktail and won both of his sets 6-4, 6-3.

Heading into the first rounds proper, and only Inkopolis University remains for the Squidroidian tennis program. Neils will start his first round journey against another Springmontian, this time being Carlos Thirdspade on Court 2. Doubles remain the same, as Jewel and Dan will take on the Sharktail/NWK pairing of Diana Jansen and Justin White. Due to the anarchy brewing in Northwest Kalactin, the players will be wearing light blue wristbands to raise awareness to the ongoing issue in the Atlantian Oceanian nation.

[West Phoenicia]

Act II:

The One Where Tiffany Love Loses in Round 1

Donning her lavender purple sports visor and similar toned skirt, Tiffany Love took to the court at the Salvador Hills Open to her round one match against Maria Crown of Springmont.

Dubbed the "sweetheart" of West Phoenician tennis, fans in the stadium donned purple sport visors and cheered her name as she entered the courts looking fresh, angelic and energised.

Tiffany Love soaked in the fan love, waving to fans and posing with her racquet in a number of tennis stroke positions, especially the forehand and the lob; two of her favourite shots.
She strode over to her seat, blowing a kiss at her coach she spotted in the stands. She positioned her towel and drink bottle for all to see. Something her sponsors continued to drum into her head. Tiffany was sponsored by Tudor Organics, a well-established company that supplied organic produce to a slew of supermarkets nationally and internationally. If she kept wanting all that lovely money, she needed to ensure their brand was seen as much as possible. As a token gesture, she tossed her spare water bottle at a number of children who were in the stands.

Tiffany had barely turned her key into her front door back home in West Phoenicia, after a shattering defeat at the XIV Olympiad in Liventia and Banija when she jet-setted off again for this Open.

The flight allowed her to ponder that her shock singles exit at the Olympics in the round of 64. And her losing streak continued with her quarterfinal exit in the women's doubles, where she teamed up with Renee Richardson, the West Phoenician Tennis drama queen who announced her retirement just prior to the Olympics.

Tiffany knew she had a lot of weight on her shoulders. Helios Norwood had been knocked out in the qualifying stage. Her teammates Kamal Dallas and bestie Staci Harris had already hit the courts. Both had won their first-round matches. Staci is two clean sets, while Kamal had dragged out his court time into 3 sets, where the third set dragged onto a 10-8 win which delighted the spectators who definitely got their money worth selecting that game to watch, as it ate into much of the afternoon.

It was now her time to play and wow the crowds with an amazing performance. She learnt early on in the first set, this was not going to be a cakewalk. Her opponent was fierce with edgy serves. The first set was evenly matched with each giving it their all, Maria Crown got the edge through some beautiful hard-hitting aces and a handful of timed slices causing Tiffany to stumble to get low to return the ball sealed her fate when her opponent returned the ball at a fast rate she struggled to return to Her recovery position.

One set down, Tiffany clambered back in set two to take the set, by placing her opponent in the defensive. Tiffany flipped her tactics to hit a number of low and deep shots followed by hitting the ball in opposing corners to get her opponent to run back and forth in a mad frenzy to reach the cross-court hits. The plot to tire her out hopefully had some effect on her second set success.

The third set was the deciding factor, a set where once again her opponent reigned supreme. Her own tactics were used against her, her opponent hitting the ball in opposite directions causing Tiffany to run to reach each ball, just as Tiffany secured a return from the passing shots and anticipated the next move her opponent would show no mercy in performing a timed drop shot that Tiffany failed to reach in time.

Maria Crown (SPM) 6 2 6
Tiffany Love (KWP) 4 6 3

[Springmont]

The third Congress of Tennis Association of Springmont (TAS) today went well and at the end of the congress, Roland Ghaffur was re-elected as manager of TAS for the second season, and for the first time, the post of deputy manager of TAS was created and filled by Dr. Efrain Lipskar, former Port Wadethorn MP. Claude Pauly, MP remains the honorary patron of TAS.

TAS congressmen also agreed to endorse the Salvador Hills Open, Mercedinian Open, Ethanian Open, and AOpen (Grand Slam) championships as TAS-recognized international championships as well as several domestic level tournaments such as the Ottowelsh Inns Tennis Open and Woolchurch - Stendford Bank Open.

TAS has also acquired several business companies as sponsor partners such as van Gopp Pharmaceutical, and Ruxtenberg Beverages.

[Electrum]

Centralis Herald - Sports Section - Kimiko Shigaraki

Marcus Hathwar exits early from the Salvador Hills Open

It wasn't the new start that Marcus Hathwar had hoped for the grass season. Instead of a deep run facilitated by easy victories over lower ranked athletes, he was thoroughly stunned by newbie athlete Vuss Ewriins from Mologiland. All throughout the match, Hathwar was very lethargic in his movement, and had failed to on the many break point opportunities that he received in both sets, with his shot selection scratching heads amongst the Grearish audience. Even his usually reliable serve suffered -- he just wasn't getting enough rotation from his shoulders or using his hips to generate the power he needed to have both fast and accurate serves. Meanwhile, Ewriins had the presence to remain calm and collected on the important points and managed to steal the match, even despite Hathwar's gamesmanship by calling for an injury timeout to halt Ewriins' momentum.

Meanwhile, Jack Ho, who has ditched Hathwar altogether as a doubles partner, had an easy straight sets victory over Mologiland's Thomas Tewstree. He's really improved with the additional hours of playing with Maddison Scott on the wood courts of the Scott Cup paying off. As die-hard tennis fans know, wooden courts are some of the fastest courts available, which means the skills he's learnt over Electrum's deep run in the Scott Cup are easily transferable over the quick grass. He's served-and-volleyed a lot more than usual, taking advantage of the grass surface to end points quickly and to conserve energy instead of his usual strategy of hanging around the baseline (a less viable strategy on grass because how fast and high the balls can come - less time to time shots).

Up next for Ho is twenty-fourth seed (and world number 77) Maria Julenic from Mattijana. Julenic hasn't had a great season so far, being unable to climb up the rankings despite six tournament appearances (second highest out of all Mattijanans). She's been unable to live up to the expectations that the Mattijanan tennis authorities have set for her, with early exits being the norm for her. Even despite the natural advantages that the Mattijanans have on clay, Julenic only had deep runs earlier this season on the hard courts Steinigestrasse and Kinterten. In all other tournaments, she has been bowled out in the first round. Ho will be looking for a victory here to rack up those ranking points to one day make the top tier of the Electrumite athletes.

In this next round, Pelissa Giannopolous (as eighth seed) and Maddison Scott (as sixteenth seed) will start their tournaments. Giannopolous will be wanting to prove herself after being dropped from the top tier of Electrumite athletes, being replaced by Livinia Moore, and will only play in this tournament and the AOpen. If Giannopolous can prove herself however, with a great run in this tournament, she will make the case to be promoted back to her rightful position. It will be an uphill battle however due to Giannopolous' status as Electrum's oldest singles player, however she is a natural serve-and-volleyer and is playing on her favourite surface. Meanwhile, Scott will be looking to apply some of the skills she learnt with Jack Ho on the wood courts of the Scott Cup against Neu Engollon's Sophie Bellavie.

[Aqual]

Bautista Joins Aqualias in Main Round of Salvador Hills
SALVADOR, Grearish Union—The first Aqualia to play in an international grass court tournament was none other than Rafael Bautista, who delighted fans at home and in the crowd of the Salvador Hills Open with a relatively comfortable victory as the other three Aqualias in the singles draw learned who they would be matched up against tomorrow.

Rafael Bautista (AQL)            6   6
Neramfa Ghan (JOV)               3   2

Rafael Bautista looked strong to start the grass swing in this Tier II event, using a stronger than usual service (getting more than 75% of first serves in, of which he won nearly 80%) to open up the first set before breaking with a visibly improved slice shot and volleys since the clay season. The rest of the set went predictably on serve, 6-3 to Bautista. He again broke Neramfa Ghan's serve early in the second set, continuing to serve well, winning two of his service games in the set to love. The Aqualia managed to break the player from the Jovannic a second time in the final game of the match at 30-40 to seal his spot in the Round of 64 by a 6-3, 6-2 margin. He will face a strong challenge in Alex Rivera, the 32nd seed from Northwest Kalactin.

The three other singles players will also face their first opponents on grass tomorrow, with Daniel Cervantes taking on Harold Crawley from TJUN-ia, Matéu Virxiliu going up against Further Singo from the Jovannic and Carla Tormo debuting opposite Springmont's Maria Crown. It is sure to be an exciting day, and we'll have you covered here at the Toboso Chronicle with live updates and a full recap to come in our next print edition.

[The Grearish Union]

NOTE: This matchday will be a singles-only Round 2, with the doubles commencing simultaneously from the Round of 32 next matchday.

Round 2 Cutoff for the Salvador Hills Open!
Updated brackets: Singles | Doubles

Singles Round 2

Abelie Fontana (RCN)            3   6   6
Pierre Canari (CMT)             6   2   3

Alex Rivera (NWK)               4   6   4
Rafael Bautista (AQL)           6   4   6

Maddison Scott (ETM)            6   4   3
Sophie Bellavie (NEG)           4   6   6

Martha McNeil (GRU)             5   6   6
Jana Aliki (MTJ)                7   4   3

Pelissa Giannapolous (ETM)      2   6   7
Lucas Parvash (ACS)             6   3   5

Austin McDanielson (TJU)        7   4   6
Komang Agus Artawan (PCU)       5   6   2

Jeff Rogers (GRU)               4   6   7
Dementiu Goblinescu (SRM)       6   3   5

Maria Julenic (MTJ)             1   2
Jack Ho (ETM)                   6   6

Ajla Vesnic (MTJ)               6   5   6
Jack Brown (NWD)                2   7   3

Daniel Cervantes (AQL)          6   5   2
Harold Crawley (TJU)            3   7   6

Derek Dubrovnik (BRI)           6   3   6
Grady Maccay (KHD)              4   6   4

Elizabeth Quehall (BRI)         6   6  10
Hildebrant Weisgerber (RCN)     4   7   8

Juan Subdula (NWK)              7   5   7
Teegan Sosa (GRU)               6   7   5

Dariq Ishaqtar (NAZ)            6   2   4
Emilie Elroy (CYT)              2   6   6

Ralph Newkärn (BRI)             3   6   6
Fayna Topalo (NEG)              6   4   1

Lucien Le Floch (RCN)           6   7
Kamal Dallas (KWP)              1   6

Irina Elinova (NAZ)             3   6   5
Doug Grisham (NWD)              6   4   7

Anthony Powers (KHD)            4   6   6
Dewa Ayu Cintya Dewi (PCU)      6   2   8

Matéu Virxiliu (AQL)            6   6
Further Singo (JOV)             2   4

Arthur Leloup (RCN)             7   6
Alya Elyas (SHT)                6   1

Rodrick Uppatin (KHD)           6   6
Tangeus Falk (PUG)              3   4

Chad Cilsertin (KHD)            6   6
Julia Devoningstan (NWK)        3   0

Sami Dominikanov (MTJ)          6   6
Shuichi Alba (SRM)              2   4

Leone Na (BRI)                  6   3   4
Staci Harris (KWP)              3   6   6

Indah Susanti (PCU)             6   4   5
Marcos Neadre (CMT)             1   6   7

Lucy Muneer (SHT)               6   7
Vuss Ewriins (MGL)              4   5

Carlos Thirdspade (SPM)         5   7   6
Niels Alberink (SQR)            7   6   2

Felipe de la Rosa (TJU)         7   6
Nur Irin-Amirana (NAZ)          6   4

Ayu Ratih Kemalasari (PCU)      6   6
Eva Sarvan (ACS)                0   3

Philippe Baloui (TJU)           6   6
Alif Khadarim (NAZ)             2   1

Dietrich Cassarro (NEG)         6   6
Elena Ceausescu (SRM)           0   4

Carla Tormo (AQL)               7   2   6
Maria Crown (SPM)               6   6   4

[Squidroidia]

The Star Sentinel
Polaris High School's Official Newspaper

TENNIS
Third set lucky for Thirdspade, Alberink crashes out
By Aristide Masterson

On a mild afternoon on Court 1 in the Salvador Hills Open, Inkopolis University's Neils Alberink had a rude awakening in Singles Round 1 (Round 2 to everybody else). Playing against Springmont tennis player Carlos Thirdspade, the teal Sophomore showed signs of attrition against his higher ranked opposition early. Set 1 saw Alberink win 7-5 over Thirdspade, the highlight being a sprinting play to keep the ball off the double bounce in Game 11, giving him a 6-5 lead before winning Game 12 and Set 1.

Thirdspade would bite back in the 2nd set, as it went to Game 13 with both players tied 6 all. The Springmontian would edge over Alberink due to a dominant performance in that game, and in his traditional fashion, Thirdspade's third and final set ended up with a 6-2 dub. With all Squidroidian singles players out of Salvador Hills, the Polaris News Crew had time to catch up with Neils. Alberink says that the match "Basically came down to the second set, really". Thirdspade has a common thing with third sets in tennis... Hence his name. Would you be willing to go to the AOpen if it meant you had to get a 3rd set with this guy? If I were you, I'd say no. He's too good to be beaten the third set. Now if only there was a Secondspade around...

As TJUN-ia's Felipe de la Rosa will take on Thirdspade in the next round, Squidroidia's final hope comes in the doubles, as Abe and Cowden will, along with their opponents Jansen and White, aim to remind the world about the situation in Northwest Kalactin. At the doubles round 1 press conference, the duo raised their arms high and revealed the light blue wristbands, the symbol to be used during the match by both sides. No special shirts would be worn by both sides, but the message is clear. Stay Strong Northwest Kalactin.

[Gnejs]

NOTE: The following story takes place before, during and right after Round 1.

The dissatisfactions of a travelling bureaucrat

At work
Ingrid had just finished up reviewing her colleague’s suggested revisions to a paper on recommendations for the conservation status of a set of subspecies of the merluccid hake, when she heard the customary shout ushering in the start of the afternoon gathering. “Already?” she thought to herself and checked her watch. Sure enough, it said 15.00, so she saved her comments and sent the note on its way through the ministry’s case management system. Today was Wednesday, so there’d be more pastries than usual, and homemade no less. A welcome break from the stale buns the ministry usually supplied for regular afternoon breaks.

She picked up her mug and started making her way between the stacks of files, reports, hearings and other miscellaneous papers cluttering almost every centimetre of her office. While entering the corridor she was deep in thought. “What team is doing the break today? I hope it’s ‘Analysis’; maybe Gunnar made that Swiss roll with blackberry jam. I love that roll.” As she walked down the long corridor, Ingrid noticed her friend Karsten shuffling along a bit further down the hall, and shouted “Hey, Kar, what team’s doing the break?” Karsten called back “Communication and Shared Services” in his characteristic southern drawl. Ingrid frowned, thinking “Ok, could be worse.”

All the good spots were taken when Ingrid finally got to the break room, and she had to settle for one of the uncomfortable footstool-like pieces that someone had installed a year or so earlier. As she was starting to survey the room, her friend Torgeir from ‘Quotas’ sat down heavily on the ottoman next to her and said in a hushed voice “Have you heard? There’s no cake.” Ingrid studied his features, looking for signs of mischief but finding none, and replied “What do you mean there’s no cake?” Torgeir looked at her with a stern face and said “I mean there’s no cake.” The room was starting to fill up, and soon most of the department was seated, with a few unlucky ones hanging about by the windows. “How can there not be cake? It’s Wednesday.” Torgeir shrugged and answered “Both Emilie and Jonas are home sick apparently, and Bjørn botched it all by not getting anyone else to do it. We might get ice cream; Karl said Stine was rushing down to the corner, but who knows.” Ingrid’s mood soured even further. “No cake.” she muttered. “What’s the point then?” Torgeir smiled and said “You can’t leave, what if you win the raffle?” “Meh,” Ingrid said sullenly, “It’d better be cake.”

After a few minutes Karsten managed to switch seats and joined Ingrid and Torgeir. “Plans for the weekend, Ingrid? Are you watching the games? Do you and Dan want to come over? Torgeir and Kjersti are coming and I was thinking of making a bouillabaisse.” Torgeir nodded and smiled. Ingrid sighed. “I don’t know, Dan’s off on one of his Interior-treks.” Karsten and Torgeir exchanged glances. “Perfect reason for you to get out of the house then,” Torgeir said and patted her on the back in a manner way more condescending than he had intended. “Yeah, maybe,” Ingrid muttered.

About five to ten minutes later the communications officer Stine was hurrying around the room and offering strawberry cones to all the employees in attendance. Ingrid accepted her cone with little joy, and was contemplating leaving early when the Director General (DG) of the department got up and started speaking. “It’s Wednesday, and it’s raffle day. This week’s a little different though. The big prize is different, and none other than the Minister for Fisheries and Coastal Affairs himself will announce it. Alright, settle down, curb your enthusiasm comrades,” he said to the silent crowd. “Minister Andersson will be here shortly. Now, do continue enjoying your break; you all deserve it.”

They waited a good twenty minutes before Minister for Fisheries and Coastal Affairs Lennart Andersson finally arrived. The dour man positioned himself in the middle of the room and spared no time to get down to business. “It’s raffle day and the Ministry is giving away a free ticket to the game between our own Dorotea Granit and someone from somewhere south, I forget who and where.” He stood in silence for a few seconds, overlooking the crowd with his stern grey eyes, before continuing. “This is not my doing. Apparently the Minister for Culture, Sports and other Charitable Activities has succeeded in convincing our good Prime Minister that a lack of Gnejsian ‘fans’ at the festivities down there would reflect badly on us.” He paused again, scanning the faces of the bureaucrats in front of him. “Tickets like these are being distributed all throughout the public sector as we speak. I’ve already been down at ‘Coastal’ and Jensen won there. It’s ridiculous, I know, but what to expect from the MCSCA. Should you win, you’ll get up to three days with paid leave. A lot of days and money when you add all the winners up, that is. Bloody poppycock. Alright, let’s get this over with.”

Andersson gestured towards the DG, and the other man quickly got on his feet and scurried to the minister’s side, clasping a small colourful basket in his hands. Minister Andersson shoved his hand down the basket and fished out a small pink piece of paper. “Pink W-236. That’s W for waffle, and 236. The colour is pink.” The room was quiet apart from the rustle of 40 or so bureaucrats fiddling with their ticket stubs. After a good few minutes, Andersson started losing his patience. “No one? Would pink W-236 please make themselves known. I have other places to be.” Ingrid was lost in her own thoughts as Karsten kicked her leg lightly and whispered “Didn’t you pick a pink ticket?” Ingrid snapped out of it quickly and mumbled “What? Pink? Yeah, what did he say? What’s the line?” She and Karsten studied her ticket stub, and Karsten exclaimed “It’s you, you won, Ingrid!”

In transit
Ingrid awoke startled. She'd had that dream where she laughingly strangles an octopus with its own tentacles while wearing a bowler hat again. That was rarely a good sign. She turned around and saw that the person in the seat next to her was sleeping blissfully. She looked at her watch and quickly realised she was no way near arrival. She rummaged through what was left of her dinner in the small plastic container on her foldout table, but that only made her feel queasy. She leaned back as much as she could and tried to go back to sleep. After five minutes she knew that it was a lost cause, and she started looking out of the window into the night sky instead. "I don't even like tennis," she thought to herself.

Arriving at the hotel
Grey clouds seemed to encapsulate the entire world as Ingrid got out of the car outside the hotel. The bleak weather was haunting and the creeping evening cold unrelenting. While the contrast from the snuggly inside was jarring, Ingrid was not unprepared, and she quickly hauled out a thick scarf and a small beanie from her backpack. Other people departing scattered and seamlessly disappeared into a dense fog that was dancing languidly just above the surface. She made her way into the hotel and after checking in she decided to head for the bar for a night cap.

She sat down at the counter and ordered. Next to her was a man wearing a knitted wool cap and a backpack. She studied him briefly, and then said in the native Gnejsian tongue "North, west, east or south?". The man looked at her in silence for close to a minute, and then replied in the same tongue "West. What gave it away?". Ingrid shrugged and said "Cold eyes and yellow teeth." He gave a snort and smiled. "That's a good one." Ingrid smiled back at him and pointed at the logo on the man's backpack, "You're DPSCP*. And I haven't seen too many woollen caps around either." The man smiled again and removed his cap. "Force of habit, I guess. I'm Nikolaj. And you are?" Ingrid shook his hand and replied "I'm Ingrid. MFCA. So I guess you also won the raffle at work?" Nikolaj shook his head. "Nah, I'm here of my own accord. I like tennis. What game you got tickets for?" Ingrid rummaged through her coat pocket and picked up a piece of paper. "Dorotea Granit against Eva Sarvan. From ACS, whatever that means." Nikolaj laughed and took a big gulp of his drink. "That'd be Acastanha. You're in luck though, Granit is our strongest player. You'll be in for a good game. I'll be watching Tangeus Falk." Ingrid's face furrowed. "Tangeus Falk. Why do I know that name?" Nikolaj emptied his glass and started collecting his things. "He's something of an eccentric that gets a bit of traction in the media; he's the one who plays according to a 'Philosophy of Flow' that his shaman-turned-tennis-coach pioneered. He's uneven, but he when he shines, he shines. Anyways, better be off; long day. Good night."

Game day
Ingrid was seated in the stands as Granit and Sarvan just finished up the last point of the last game in the first set. While Ingrid by no means was a connoisseur of tennis, even she could tell that Granit was struggling to keep up. The stadium was uncomfortably packed and the heat was taxing, but as the second set commenced Ingrid had nonetheless started enjoying herself somewhat. It had seemed entirely pointless to begin with. A strong serve, a few quick rebounds with enormous intensity, and then it all stopped. The same thing, over and over again. It was all to jerky to be enjoyable. In truth, she had enjoyed the initial warm-up more than the game itself. There was a certain je nais quoi to watch that little yellow ball being bounced back and forth in something akin to an infinity loop. Ingrid started looking at the game differently a few games into the second set. There were nuances here that she could appreciate. To begin with it had all seemed like ferocious beating, but after a while she could see that the players were different types. For Granit it was all about returning the ball and counting on Sarvan to make a mistake. There was a consistency and precision to her shots, but they were never fired with the same killing intent as those from the opponent; the point was always just to get the ball over the net, and making her opponent run for it. It hadn't been working in the first set, but it was working now, to a certain extent. Sarvan was making more mistakes, and as the game went on she seemed a lot more frustrated. Ingrid didn't like to admit it, but she was slowly becoming more and more invested in the game. She started believing that Dorotea Granit actually had a chance at turning this around, and for some reason that prospect also started feeling important to her.

Postscript. No cake
"Typical," Ingrid thought to herself as she was standing in the corner of a big room where the MCSCA and the GTF were throwing a big party to celebrate the Gnejsian athletes competing in the Salvador Hills. "You start caring, and it just blows right up in your face. I didn't care this morning, and I felt fine. Good, even. And now all of a sudden I'm miserable." She looked around the room. She could see a solemn Dorotea Granit conversing with the Minister, a young girl with a stern face and a headband in a heated discussion with what could only be her mother, and a weird man in green robes and an antlered hat that she assumed must be Tangeus Falk's coach. After a while Nikolaj spotted her and came over to her side. "I heard Granit played a fair second set. And Falk actually won! Great game, I'm glad I was there. What did you think? More of a tennis fan now?". Ingrid sighed and shaked her head. "Nah, I'm really only waiting for them to bring out the cake. I was told there'd be cake." Nikolaj looked at her seriously. "There's no more cake. They started with the cake; it's gone now." Ingrid sighed again. "Of course it is."

*Directorate for Public Security and Civic Preparedness.


NOTE: The following takes place before, during and after round 2

Two men, one boat
“Good omen, that,” shouted Svein, nodding towards the crashing waves as he was cleaning the bowl of his pipe and spitting tobacco flakes on the flooring of the small smack. “Ye, remember the regionals?” his friend Karl replied over the wind. The ship was reeling violently, but Karl was maneuvering with ease as he made his way by the cutter rig. “Almost had us one with the drowned men she did, and sure enough, he pulled through, Falk did.”

After the two men eventually managed to get the smack more upright, and on a course towards their home port, Karl brought out his old radio. While fiddling with antenna and knobs, he said “Never knew what hit’em.” As voices engaged in pre-game commentary faintly began breaking through the static, Svein had his eyes on the tempest while he sat down and said “The sea was angry that day.” Karl nodded in agreement.

Karl started preparing his own pipe while they were listening to the GPR Salvador Hills-broadcast, and before lighting it he said “Southron cup this one, places you nearly couldn’t place on the map like.” Svein spat on the floor once again and answered “Falk is North though.” Karl nodded in agreement once more as the match between Tangeus Falk and Rodrick Uppatin began.
...

The two men sat in silence as the the game came to an end. Summer hail had begun falling and was hammering into the flooring as the ship slowly made it into the port of Segeltorp on the Northern coast of Gnejs. “Fool’s errand playing Uppatin on a tempestuous sea, anybody with half their wits could’ve told you,” muttered Svein. Karl nodded in agreement.

[Springmont]

As the oldest and foremost tennis club in Springmont, Kingfisher Tennis Club recently held a new Board of Directors election, and they are eager to formulate a short-term and long-term plan to further develop the club and market tennis in the country. Among the newly selected are Dr. Ivan Bonerich was elected Vice President of the club, and this is the essence of our interview with him.

Kingfisher Tennis Club fulfilled the specialized and regulatory perspectives related to its coordinates program in tennis administration in participation with pros and professionals in creating and overseeing such programs. The program points to draw a roadmaps for the specialized and authoritative work of the club, to create the specialized and authoritative work within the club, in expansion to occasional follow-up and assessment based on logical establishments and methods, in order to realize victory within the organizational aspect as well as in assessing the execution of players and specialized gear within the field of tennis action and authoritative work in it for all introductory stages.

For his part, Dr. Ivan Bonerich, Vice President of the club, confirmed that the integrated tennis management program was his thought since the current board of executives took over the regulatory work of the club and long term viewpoint was clear to everybody in arrange to crystallize the thoughts and suggestions that were talked about for a concrete commonsense reality that yields positive comes about.

The Vice President of Kingfisher Tennis said that the successes achieved in the administrative work are nothing but the result of the administrative thought stemming from the keenness of the Board of Directors of the Kingfisher Tennis Club, headed by Alfred Fields, who took it upon himself to provide everything that would achieve successes and elevate the name of the club Kingfisher is held high through a management thinking that stems from the spirit of one team and teamwork.

Dr. Bonerich added: "We start the first practical steps after the competent team has developed all the perceptions, goals and visions for this program, which it is hoped that after its launch in the near future, a clear road map will be developed for administrative work on sound scientific grounds, as well as there are many technical aspects through this. The program facilitates for us how to deal with technical options and tennis schools that can be dealt with and selected, whether in the technical apparatus or in the contracts of players belonging to these tennis schools.

He also commended the efforts of the technical committee and the team assigned to study, evaluate and implement this program, which worked during the last period under the chairmanship of the former Kingfisher club player and coach, Rafeal von Netter, and the team working with him for their sincere efforts to develop a work plan and a clear technical and administrative vision that will benefit the work Administrative and technical staff of the club and its members wishing everyone success in serving this ancient club.

It is noteworthy that the Kingfisher club, under the current administration, adopted a set of ideas and proposals that saw the light, including recently the implementation of the idea of the media center in the club, which provides its media services and everything related to the sports aspect, and at the present time the integrated tennis management program has been completed, in addition to the investment projects that the club relies on a lot in the coming period for the sake of the continuity of administrative work in an orderly manner at the highest level.

Singles Round 2

Carlos Thirdspade (SPM)         5   7   6
Niels Alberink (SQR)            7   6   2

Carla Tormo (AQL)               7   2   6
Maria Crown (SPM)               6   6   4

[Socialist People Republic of Romania]

An article from the Ceausescu Sport, 12.9.1970

COMRADE NICOLAE CEAUSESCU BEING FURIOUS, THEN HAPPY AND THEN FURIOUS AGAIN WHILE WATCHING SALVADOR HILLS OPEN

Recently started tennis tournament Salvador Hills Open became the most talked about event among Romanians, as 6 our players took part in it. Dementiu Goblinescu, Shuichi Alba, Kirumi Octavian and Elena Ceausescu competed in singles tournament, while Vlad Popa and Valerian Codreanu joined our team in pairs competition.

On the day of qualification, 10 September, Romanian tennis fans got nothing but sadness and despair as our players lost both of their matches: Vlad Popa and Valeian Codreanu failed to qualify into main pairs competition and Kirumi Octavian didn't qualify into singles tournament.
Comrade Nicolae Ceausescu, who watched both matches, was really furious cause of shameful performance of our players, and on the next morning he had a speech in a parliament, criticizing our sportsmen (and women):

What the hell was that? Why are you made such a terrible performance?! You are not proud Romanian citizens, you're traitors! Capitalist scum! Don't bother to come back!

But on the day of the games of 1 round, 11 September, situation was clearly opposite. All our sportsmen (Dementiu Goblinescu, Shuichi Alba and Elena Ceausescu) defeated their opponents and advanced to the round 2. Many Romanian sports fans didn't expected that result, remembering hilarious performance they saw on the previous day. But despite of that, tennis players made our people happy. At least for one day.
As like on the previous day, our tyrant Leader Comrade Nicolae Ceausescu watched all three matches and shortly after they ended, he had reacted to their results:

Well done! You're true patriots of Romania! Our country is proud of you! Keep it up and defeat all those liberals and capitalists!

On the next day, 12 September, our participants played on Round 2. And again, like on Thursday, Romanian tennis fans experienced only despair as all 3 our tennis players were shamely defeated.
Our Comrade Nicolae Ceausescu still haven't reacted to that. Maybe he is too angry to talk.

Anyway, Don't be upset! On tomorrow, 13 September, we would see Round of 32 of pairs competition and our another pair (Dementiu Goblinescu and Kirumi Octavian) would play here. We wish them victory and good luck!

INTERVIEW: SHUICHI ALBA

Just after the matches of the 1st round have ended, we managed to get an interview from one of our tennis players: Shuichi Alba.

Pahomiu Hohol (reporter): Hello, Shuichi! Congratulations on your winning! Well done!
Shuichi Alba: Thank you very much! I appreciate all your support.
Pahomiu Hohol: So, how did you match go? Was it hard or not?
Shuichi Alba: Well, the first set was really tough. Jeff Scorpinus made really good performance here and I lost it. But on the next two sets, I finally managed to get control of that match and defeat my opponent. Damn, that was a real battle.
Pahomiu Hohol: You were moving really fast, Shuichi. Tell us please, how did you do that?
Shuichi Alba: Heh, that was really simple. I just imagined that I'm escaping from that commie Ceausescu Romanian hell and running from Securitate butchers... Oh damn, did I really said that to you? Oh crap. I'm fucked up... They will kill me...