[Tennis/NSTT] Outdoor hard court season 7 [RP/Results]

[Sharktail]

Princess Karina diary

After participating in the royal afternoon tea party, Princess Karina headed to her room to relax. A rather tiring day. Princess Karina tried to close her eyes, but kept rushing to get up a few seconds later. She just remembered something. She hurried out and looked for his sister, Princess Alia. Luna, Princess Karina's personal assistant was shocked when she almost collided with Princess Karina. Did not have time to open the mouth of Princess Karina has already circulated. Worried that something was being planned by Princess Karina, she continued to follow her. After searching the entire room, she was still stunned and did not know where Princess Alia was.

Luna: Princess Karina, wait a minute ... (takes a breath) .. Sorry, why in a hurry. Is there a surprise job or task that needs to be done?

Princess Karina: Do you know where Princess Ali is? I was looking for it from earlier. If followed, she should have been in the palace and had no outside assignments but I did not find him.

Luna: Princess Alia. Yes, if he was included she should be in the Palace now but...
(before he could finish his sentence, Prince Robert suddenly appeared in front of the door.)

Prince Robert: Hmm, What's wrong? I heard Princess Karina suddenly run to almost one castle. Training to join a marathon?

Princess Karina: No. Hmph.

(Prince Robert laughs)
Prince Robert: Ok, what's up?

Princess Karina: Did you see Alia? I havent found her?

Prince Robert: Hmm, (looking at the date on his phone) is it have anything to do about tennis? (Princess Karina is silent and tries to make excuses)

Prince Robert: Hmm I expected, but no. If you want to ask about tennis, forget it.

Princess Karina: Wait, I havent said anything about that yet.

Prince Robert: No. And also, remember, the date is near you know. So, just focus on that?

Princess Karina: What date?

Prince Robert: Oh you dont know yet ... hmm just wait.

Princess Karina: What all of this, i dont say anything yet. What date?

Although it seems that the main reason Princess Karina is looking for Princess Alia is already known, but what exactly does Princess Karina want from Princess Alia, and what is the date Prince Rober meant?

To be continued...

[Pemecutan]

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Wednesday, 6 January 2021 (Buda Pahing Wuku Wayang, Pawukon 1780)

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A Domestic Pride

Pemecutan Puri, Pemecutan - Today the PTA officials together with clubs managers are holding a meeting for finalization of Pemecutan Domestic Tour. The meeting is formulated the course of the tour including tournament numbers and host possibility. The idea of holding a domestic tour have been mention in early 2020 as the result of NSTT long hiatus. But with the beginning of the 6 season in April, the idea was abandon for a moment. Now, the idea is being consider again.

"The establishment of domestic competition is one way to seek a potential athletes that can be promote further," says PTA spokeperson.

PTA confirmed that the establishment of domestic tour is not only to seek potential athletes but also to create an organized tournament for tennis. Tennis as one of the most popular sports in Pemecutan (third behind football and basketball) have not have it's own domestic competition. While football already have PFA Domestic League and basketball have PBA National League.

"We are very excited when PTA called us to be here for the meeting. This have been our dream for so long to have our own tournament. It is a good thing for our kids to have a decent competition. Not just to win but to also showing everyone what they have been practicing the whole time," says Wira Darmayasa, Jambe Tennis Club's manager.

It is decided that PTA Domestic Tour will be consist of 12 tournaments which will be held in 4 surfaces. There are only 2 tiers tournaments in the Tour and a possibility of the 13th tournament, the Tour Final. Many clubs have shows their interest to host the tournaments. The complete schedule, tournament names and hosts will be reveal in the next meeting.

[San Ortelio]

With a subtle touch, Fiorenzo placed the ball just over the net, making the effort from Andrea to catch up hopeless. There might be well-paid fitness instructors out there who construct relentless routines as post-match cooling down, but for Fiorenzo Tartoni, they could all take a hike. Just a calm friendly set of tennis without sprinting but with a focus on good touches was all he needed, especially after a smooth opening round victory. Cervantes was an experienced player, but grabbing that breakpoint in the second set had given Fiorenzo wings. Some would think that it helped that Andrea Vergnani, his doubles partner and as such commandeered as willing volunteer for that set, was out of touch - making it an easy win. But that was not the point of the game and it annoyed Fiorenzo.

“You’re barely trying now,” he complained.
“What’s the use?” Andrea lamented, “I’m up against the third seed tomorrow whilst all those big names win with ease and Giannapoulos will not- “

Fiorenzo turned around, away from the net, indicating they would start their next game. He had opted for Andrea as doubles partner for the simple reason that he considered him the second best player in San Ortelio, but this whining almost made him regret getting rid of Crepaldi during the off-season. All in all, Fiorenzo wanted Vergnani to be confident. Not necessarily because he cared that much about Andrea’s feelings – he had chosen him on merit, not on sentiment after all – but rather because the opener of the doubles tournament loomed at the horizon. With an opponent from the qualifiers at the other side of that net, he wanted nothing but victory. But a moping, hesitating companion stood between him and triumph, simple as that.

“Look, you need to change your focus,” Fiorenzo explained after that game, “She’s a better player. Of course she’s a better player. But she’s under pressure – a lot of pressure. I mean… Once people start to see you as the one that loses finals, it becomes a thing. A curse, if you want. AOpen, Ethanian Open, NSTT Finals, agonizingly close to but not the number one, … The Electrumites must start to think that she might not be that one. The one that brings the triumphs.”

When he said it out loud, it sounded like utter nonsense to Fiorenzo, but Andrea slowly nodded.

“So that’s bits and bits of pressure. Whilst her compatriots take win after win… And she’s aging, she knows that as well. Pelissa never was fast and it will not have gone better during the offseason, so how will she reappear? She has to crack at some point. So why not against you?”
“Why not,” Andrea agreed, more towards himself.
“And, maybe apart from Sabanero and Poole, who of the title candidates had it easy? Luciano took a set of Andiam – not an easy thing – and Simmons wasn’t flawless either. And that’s even good compared to Putra and van de Kloor, they just stumbled through. A big name will fall in the opening round, that’s for sure.”
“Yeah, yeah, you’re right,” Andrea nodded, “Ok, good. All right, it’s possible indeed. Another game, just to get things going?”
“No, let’s call it a day. Save your energy for tomorrow, for the game… Or the post-match interview.”

Fiorenzo thought he had pushed it with that remark – he knew Giannapoulos and she would tear apart Andrea – but as the latter skipped off happy like a puppy, it felt like the right thing to say.

[TJUN-ia]

Season 7 of the NSTT is officially underway after opening day her at the Cenian Open in Cenial, Ceni! The first half of Singles Round 1 fixtures provided all the drama and action you expect of the NSTT and then some, so let's see how 6 of our 8 Singles players got on today...

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The Good
Section 1: Shinji Makauchi (TJU) bt Goran Bogdanovic (BPE) (6-0, 7-6(10-8), 7-6(6-2))
Section 2: [11] Jean van de Kloor (TJU) bt Luke Subdonez (NWK) (6-2, 6-3, 4-6, 4-6, 6-3)
Section 3: [25] Valentina Spetsova (TJU) bt [WC] Volke Unzes (UPD) (3-6, 7-6(12-10), 7-6(8-6), 6-3)
Section 4: Philippe Baloui (TJU) bt Jaxton Monty (QAD) (6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4)

All 4 sections in action toady saw a TJUN-ian winner. That's a nice way to start, isn't it?

You could say Samurai Shinji's matchup with Goran Bogdanovic of Beepee was certainly an interesting affair. Makauchi shut out his opponent in the first set but then Bogan woke up and took the next two to tiebreakers which the Samurai would win eventually. It was a straight-sets win but a weird one at that, so Bogan may be a player to keep an eye on in the future for Beepee. Now, Samurai Shinji will have to play two games in two days time: his date with de la Rosa against wildcards in the doubles and now a matchup with the 13th seed in the singles: Ceni's own Andy Amada.

Section 2 saw De Kloor of Toropo play out an entertaining 5-set thriller against Luke Subdonez of Northwest Kalactin with no tiebreakers and breakpoints being the main decider in all sets. The first 2 went to de Kloor convincingly before the opposition found some key plays within his system and turned a potential 3-set game to a 5-set game with great tennis play. Jean did win that final set 6-3 but Luke had certainly scared TJUN-ia and De Kloor for a while and that will be something to improve on. Who will De Kloor play in Round 2? Another player from Northwest Kalactin, this time Julia Devoningstan.

If De Kloor's 5-set match in Section 2 got TJUN-ia scared, Scarlet's 4-set thriller with Wildcard Volke Unzes of debutants Uponda was certainly a frightener! Spetsova was certainly a bit rusty in that first set, which saw Unzes take it 6-3. The next two sets both went down to tiebreakers which Scarlet did win after a long time, 12-10 in Set 2 and 8-6 in Set 3. That much tennis must've tired out the wildcard as Scarlet would put him away 6-3 but I'm sure Volke can take something out of that encounter. Many will hope that Scarlet will do as well, as she takes on Margie Brown of The Grearish Union in Round 2.

And finally to Section 4, where L'artiste took on the returning Jaxton Monty of the returning Qasden. If Jaxton is supposed to be a great player of seasons past, then Baloui certainly took him down by winning 3 out of 4 by 6-4. It certainly looks like he is getting on the right track, a carryover from the end of Season 6, but he may need some luck if he wishes to take down the 30th seed in Round 2: Carmichael Brown of glorious Electrum.

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The Not So Good, But Understandable
Section 1: [32] Janet Riley (ETM) bt Austin McDanielson (TJU) (2-6, 6-4, 6-7(4-6), 6-2, 6-3)
Section 2: Ayu Raith Kemalasari (PCU) bt Harold Crawley (TJU) (7-5, 4-6, 4-6, 6-4, 7-5)

These players may have lost, but they can certainly put their heads up high. Why?

1) Janey Riley is a seed for a reason and The Cowboy taking her to 5 sets on his own must surely be a sign of improvement in his singles luck. The 32nd and final seed from Electrum looked weak in the first set and was taken down in the third on a tiebreak, but her experience got her over the line here today. Still, The Cowboy did well in this tie and can take some good thoughts into his Doubles campaign from here on out.

2) The Crawler just played one of the games of his life against a really good player from a really good tennis nation. It may not seem like much, but there were moments in this match you'd though Crawley would actually beat Pemecutan's Ayu Raith Kemalasari - especially after winning back-to-back sets 6-4. He certainly tried his best out there but in the end, Ayu just about got the job done in this tight affair. But The Crawler can certainly watch his teammates on with pride: he certainly did well today in Cenial.

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Scheduled Matches

SINGLES - Round 1
Section 6: [24] Ty Kanelious (QAD) vs Felipe de la Rosa (TJU) (07/01)
Section 8: [31] Orsola Szabo (GGY) vs Joe Katsi (TJU) (07/01)

SINGLES - Round 2
Section 1: [13] Andy Amada (CEN) vs Shinji Makauchi (TJU) (08/01)
Section 2: [11] Jean van de Kloor (TJU) vs Julia Devoningstan (NWK) (08/01)
Section 3: [25] Valentina Spetsova (TJU) vs Margie Brown (GRU) (08/01)
Section 4: [30] Carmichael Brown (ETM) vs Philippe Baloui (TJU) (08/01)

DOUBLES - Round 1
Section 2: [13] Shinji Makauchi/Felipe de la Rosa (TJU) vs [WC] Eloise Mclean/Phoenix Ward (SIL) (08/01)
Section 3: [2] Valentina Spetsova/Austin McDanielson (TJU) vs Carrol Water/Cherrie Kane (SHT) (09/01)
Section 3: Vanessza Pataki/Armin Miksa (GGY) vs Vuyani Rabada/Kaui Kamakawiwo'ole (TJU) (09/01)
Section 4: [16] Kim Li Bo/Mei Li Bo (TJU) vs Val Korekal/Luciano Crepaldi (CEN/SOR) (09/01)

[Flexanewmega]

An eventful first day of the round of 128 saw a rollercoaster of emotions for Flexanewmegan tennis stars and fans at the Cenian Open.

The night started off with one of FSPN’s dubbed marquee matches of the round as Kobie Laing who received a bye in qualifying looked to avenge his fellow countrymen Tymon Barnard in a revenge match against Mikhail Korotkevich of Waisnor. Korotkevich defeated Barnard convincingly in the first qualifying round in two sets and his countrymen’s defeat was definitely on Laing’s mind.

“You know we take it personally” Laing said before his match against Korotkevich, “We have that attack on one is an attack on all mentality, but at the end of the day we’re also here for ourselves and if I can get a win tonight and maybe even the score against Waisnor then hey that’s just icing on the cake.”

And it appears the Laing did indeed take it personally with a convincing first set victory of 6-1. However Laing let his opponent creep back into the match with Korotkevich picking up the next set 6-4. But it was smooth sailing fro Laing from there on out as he managed to beat Korotkevich in back to back sets 6-2 and 6-3 respectively. However, Laing seemed set on this revenge win not being the only noise he makes in the competition.

“You know it’s an amazing feeling” Laing said beaming “He put up a hell of a fight and it’s an awesome feeling to put that kinda performance on against a class opponent not only for myself but for Barnard too.” When asked how he saw the rest of his tournament going Laing was optimistic, “You know we plan to take it day by day win by win and this victory puts me in a position to do just that, at the end of the day I live to play another day and that’s all I can ask for.”

Unfortunately one Flexamegan who can’t say the same thing is Franciszek Sloan who bows out after a hard fought last that culminated in 6-8 defeat in the 5th set. The usually unpredictable and and fanatical Sloan was surprisingly cool,calm and collected when asked about his defeat to Elizabeth Quehall of Britonisea.
“That was awesome” Sloan said smiling “these people are way crazier then the circus folk i used to work with before I love it.”

Sloan will still be in doubles action at the Cenian Open as he teams up with Frederic Mccallum to take on Toma Karga and Dan Cowden.

[Ferret Civilization]

It would be a double whammer of a bad night for IllusiveTramp, on top of a just general not being able to get comfortable no matter how many times she could and did reposition herself in her room she also had to worry about being the only one that was going to play tomorrow and that was against a player that had managed to prove themselves to be generally the best out of everyone in the last season that the Salmagundi had to miss out on. Thus Bartolo had major advantages over her and it was pretty much looking to be a guaranteed loss, a mind set sure to end up becoming a self fulfilling prophecy. It took forever for morning to arrive and once it did it seemed like it was not a long enough night to do nothing with that duration. At breakfast all her teammates kept their doubt as well hidden as possible behind an optimistic cheery attitude of there is a tiny possibility no matter how low the probability.

When it came time for the match to take place against the player from Aqual she faced her own inner dialogue that shifted between being for and against her, ‘What is the worst that could happen.’ started things off as the ball was served, ‘You lose.’ the ball was now making its way across the court after a successful serve. ‘Then you go home, probably,’ IllusiveTramp paused that thought to focus on hitting the ball and then repositioning herself for a return, ‘probably to never come back.’. It was then that Bartolo managed to return the ball in such a way that the Dogtaur could not respond in time and thus lost the first game in the set, ‘Lovely.’ ‘One year experience can’t be that much.’ she started to figure getting into the second game, ‘Can’t be that wild,’ back to focusing on the ball, ‘Has to have been beaten before.’ The game point ended up going in her favor that time, ‘Just going to be tricky.’ she messed up the serve, ‘If I don’t mess it up for myself first.’ With a slight correction she ended up getting a second point to temporarily take the lead. ‘Just like any other match.’ IllusiveTramp tried to get some internal confidence going before Bartolo not just managed to tie the score again but take the lead with another game in his favor. Five games in, ‘Two mine, three his, not so bad.’ The Dogtaur ended up getting a lot of real time practice that game working her way swinging her way around the court with mixed results. ‘Keep the score tied.’ her inner voice told herself as that was the best possible outcome for this first set to go down as. ‘Just like that.’ it continued as Bartolo was not able to catch her return to tie out the score. The back and forth both on the court and in the internal monologue continued until the score for the first set was at six and six. ‘All the work for this,’ she would have eventually tried to boost herself up but was cut short with Bartolo spiking to take the game and the set, almost as if they were teasing her the whole set.

She looked rather worryingly at her teammates watching from the stadium, ‘Least they are still willing to humor me having a chance.’ The second set went much the way of the first, though during the course of the games it was clear that whatever fight that she could put up was being slowly diminished after that first set loss and the second set being set up in much the same way, ‘What luck.’ IllusiveTramp humored herself, ‘Bet that Vin fellow would have won.’ That brought the equivalent of a smile across her muzzle as she was losing now by a growing margin, ‘Probably fuming’ pause to hit the ball, ‘Probably knowing they would be winning this.’ She missed the ball when it came back, ‘But was upset by me, earning this loser's spot.’ The third set came after a back to back Aqual wins despite a hard effort to be an upsetter failed big time. With that over with there was not much effort to be had in the third set, ‘Putting it in now just drags out the match.’ was the logic being used here. Winning would just mean another series of games to lose and then lose the match or somehow win and still have to go through another series of games for a tie breaker set, something that the Dogtaur was not doing too well on trying that tactic in the sets with keeping the games tied. With that out of the way Bartolo ended up having a way easier time on top of the already easy time they had with this match to win even more decisively in the third set to take the match with a possibility they barely put any sweat into it. ‘Hopefully they have a better tomorrow.’ She thought looking at her supportive teammates even after she just lost while leaving the court.

The group decided not to stick around to see how the other matches were going, not much of a point after losing and not having a foot in the top half of the section anymore. That was on top of the reasoning none of the bottom half players would even probably end up seeing the top half winner near the end of the overall tournament. Least there was still the doubles side to look forward to after they probably all lost the singles side, maybe there would be better luck there, maybe not, but at least that was a couple more days away to stay around and say that they were still in the tournament. “Suppose we should go to that lake centre.” Odelia brought up, knowing that technically they were all still in the tournament to have a reason to keep practicing.

“No, I have a better idea.” Milo answered.

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“All you have been doing is supporting the local arts.” Ceallachán half heartedly complained.

“And what is wrong with that.” Dagmar quipped back.

“Nothing but we keep coming back to see the same thing that we saw yesterday. It would be more wise to spread that money around a bit more.”

“Which I do, besides there is always something more to learn.” Dagmar said, stopping besides yet another piece of artwork at the National Cenian Museum, specifically the part that housed the more modern stuff. “Remember seeing this.” She gestured at it looking at her Ferret partner.

“No.” Ceallachán said as if admitting to some sort of crime and was embarrassed by it.

“Well look at that,” Dagmar started, Ceallachán figuring that she was looking at another piece of artwork and found something new about it but was quickly caught off guard when she added, “Is my eyesight going bad or are those Ferrets.”

Ceallachán looked to where she was looking and indeed, there were two younger Ferrets in accompaniment with two others from the other Salmagundi nation. The now local and nationalized Cenian Ferrets had given the news from their homeland a brief passing considering that the return to isolationism would be the end of that brief stint in trying to be more international. It also reminded Ceallachán just how old they were getting, with their fur nowhere near as vibrant as their younger counterparts and the slow graying around the edges that were starting to show.

“What a surprise this is.” Dagmar greeted as she approached the strangers from the same homeland that they hailed.

“Wow.” Was the surprised answer out of the group when they saw who was talking to them. While Dagmar needed no introduction Ceallachán needed a reminder about his name much to Dagmar’s amusement, “Not much of a Birger or Hermanni is he, Alwyn probably has a more lasting legacy and I doubt he is much remembered either.”

Milo and Odelia got the almost standard greeting while there was a lot of catching up to do with ProudSmith and IllusiveTramp and the state of affairs leading to this moment. “So are we getting back to being international?” Dagmar inquired at the end of that.

“No, probably unfortunately, we are just here to. Well probably to just lose.” Milo answered which got a laugh out of Ceallachán, “Despite what history has forgotten that is what most of us did back then as well. Our big exception here being the one that gets remembered.”

With a nice surprise in the middle of the day the loss at the start was easily forgotten with two old timers giving them a lesson on the past and being para-historians on Ceni which allowed for the rest of the day to just fly by and end up being a pleasant memory.

[Squidroidia]

Sephora Calabrese's Diary

Cenian Open, Entry 1

Dear Diary,

What a weird way to start off a tennis career! What even is this place, Cenial? Denial? Anyway, first few games on the
Tour with the Polaris crew... Let's see here... Got through the qualifying match against Juno easy-ish. He did really
try to win the second set, but for some reason the tennis gods want me to succeed. Hmmph, anyway, I've been afforded
the time to actually meet with my teammates between this and my first round game! Houston Sawyer looks attractive all
the way from here... He could be my mentor, I swear he's that good. But to be honest, Cabrera and McPhee are my picks of
the bunch. Even though they weren't participating for a bit, they still had their charm, I swear!

Now, about that first round game. I was up against this guy named Naim Alex. He's from this nation named Sharktail, and to
be honest I'm not fond of sharks. Maybe it's because of how the guys at school always had shark gear, but something about
Sharktail... Hmm. Anyways, the game actually started off good for me! I actually won the first set 7-5. That isn't something
you see every day! As for the second set... That was me having an off day. 3rd set and 4th set? Yeah, that was me being my
normal self, casually just BEATING THE HELL OUT OF NAIM ALEX. Round 2 it is!

Everybody else was just minding their own business... Alberink and Sawyer lost their games pretty badly compared to me.
These Iván Flanagon and Ailbhe O'Hannagain guys? Minding their own business. They aren't from IU or Polaris, or at least
I know, but they look like doing something in doubles. I wonder how I will do against a guy like Komang Agus Artawan.
Kaa as I like to call him... For some reason.

Sorry that I have to cut it short, Houston wants me to play an exhibition game! TTYL!

-Sephora <3

[Kohnhead]

A decent 2-1 day as the main draw opens

Some of the best athletes of the sport in the Multiverse came onto the courts at Ceni and there were three Kohnheadians here including world number 15 Bartholomew Pole. It was only half of the singles draw and the doubles have yet to even start but already you can feel the anticipation is building as season 7 gets underway here in Ceni.

Teegan Sosa (GRU)                1   6   6   2
Rodrick Uppatin (KHD)            6   3   7   6

Taking on 128th ranked Teegan Sosa, the 26 year old Uppatin who is ranked at 42 was clearly the favorite. In four sets he showed why with a big win against Sosa who is representing The Grearish Union. Uppatin was the first of three Kohnheadians on the day and he certainly disappoint, Uppatin's weakness has always been an inability to get it done in anything but the tier two tournaments and he has a great chance to change the narrative here in Cenial. In the next round Uppatin has a great chance to prove himself as he takes on world number 19 but the 17 in this tournament Kika Dovan from our Cenian hosts. Uppatin will certainly have a difficult time especially with the Cenian crowd sure to play a major factor and I have doubts Uppatin can pull it off, one can certainly hope though.

Bartholomew Pole (KHD)           6   6   7
Armin Miksa (GGY)                3   1   5

Bartholomew Pole the number 15 in the World was on later during the day taking on number 93, Armin Mitkas out of Gergary and Pole showed why he is in the top 15 of the rankings. He won the first two sets a combined 12-4 and while he only won the third set 7-5 it was still a three set rout of Armin Miksa. Pole has the best ever finish of a Kohnhead singles player at a major with his semifinal run at Hamilton last year, can he replicate that success. Pole will take on 139th ranked Davi Malakkar out of Acastanha who got by 162nd ranked Niels Alberink in four sets. Pole is definitely the favorite and he will be glad to learn that 24 in the World Donat Kis out of Gergary who was a potential round of 32 opponent was upset however now he needs to focus on his match with Malakkar.

Marisa Maradona (CEN)            3   6   6   6
Anthony Powers (KHD)             6   3   2   4

Anthony Powers was taking on World number 12, Marisa Maradona in this one and was definitely a large underground especially considering the home court advantage that the Cenians all possess. The young Powers even managed to win the first set 6-3 which is a pretty good margain but he faded in the last three only managing nine total games as opposed to Maradona's 18. Powers will be back for the Mendez Bay Open where he is expecting to do a lot better than he did here.


Tomorrow we will see the Waterford sisters for the first time in the tournament along with Cilsertin and Grady Maccay. We will not however be seeing any of the doubles pairings as the doubles tournament has yet to start but will be starting the day after.

[Beepee]

Dutzee awoke early for his match and headed down to the Eos lounge for a nice continental breakfast, of grapefruit, croissants and pain au chocolate together with a nice glass of freshly squeezed orange juice.  It was as glorious as the 5 star Orion hotel in which he was staying.

Then Dutzee headed over to the Lake Cenial Tennis Centre for a knock about with Ivo Dhjukharevic, who was also due to play today.  They practiced their lobs and their serves,their forehand and their net play.  Before moving onto sprints and the weightrooms.

After the weights, Dutzee did a YouTube search for any matches with Arlo Daniels from Bucklin. 

Dutzee felt prepared for the forthcoming match.

Dusan Ventaromovich headed back to the National Racquet Centre, to await for the call for the match to start.  He was a little bit nervous but he waited for the organisers to invite him to court.

[Ceni]

This is your (second) first-round cutoff!

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Singles — First Round

Section 5
Dewa Putu Adrian Putra (PCU)     2   6   6   6
Diana Jansen (SHT)               6   3   2   3

Martha McNeil (GRU)              6   4   6   2   3
Valery Ushakov (WSN)             2   6   3   6   6

Ivo Dhjukharevic (BPE)           3   3   7   6   6
Justin White (NWK)               6   6   5   4   3

Grady Maccay (KHD)               6   6   6   4   8
Zunaira Hardy (BUC)              3   3   7   6   6

Syamim Kevin (SHT)               7   5   4   6   3
Ben Musjox (UPD)                 5   7   6   0   6

Graziano Giunti (SOR)            6   5   6   6   6
Lucy Muneer (SHT)                7   7   1   2   2

Jeff Rogers (GRU)                6   6   6
Ralph Henschel (GGY)             3   1   1

Dusan Ventaromovich (BPE)        4   4   4
Arlo Daniels (BUC)               6   6   6


Section 6
Ricardo Toli (BRI)               5   3   6   6   3
Niken Subdula (NWK)              7   6   1   3   6

Alya Elyas (SHT)                 6   3   6   6
Leone Na (BRI)                   4   6   1   4

Theresa Waterford (KHD)          4   6   3   6   4
Maddison Scott (ETM)             6   4   6   1   6

Iris Bergadhga (ACS)             6   2   4   4
Peter P Larry (BRI)              4   6   6   6

Mindy Waterford (KHD)            7   4   6   6
Derek Dubrovnik (BRI)            6   6   3   2

Carla Tormo (AQL)                6   6   6
Eva Brandt (GRU)                 2   2   3

Ty Kanelious (QAD)               4   6   0   7   7
Felipe de la Rosa (TJU)          6   1   6   5   5

Nazri Robert (SHT)               5   5   3
Grayson Norris (GRU)             7   7   6


Section 7
Pelissa Giannapolous (ETM)       6   3   4   6   5
Andrea Vergnani (SOR)            3   6   6   2   7

Diệp Van der Hout (SQR)          6   4   6   4   3
Livinia Moore (ETM)              4   6   2   6   6

Matéu Virxiliu (AQL)             6   4   6   3
Abdallah Rees (FLX)              2   6   7   6

Vanessza Pataki (GGY)            6   5   4   6
ProudSmith (SSI)                 3   7   6   7

Juan Subdula (NWK)               4   6   1   7  10
Milo Ealdræd (SSI)               6   2   6   6  12

Zenfed Suilo (UPD)               6   7   6   3   4
Kaelan Day (FLX)                 7   5   1   6   6

Ardil Navsal (CEN)               7   6   6
Vladimir Mikhailov (WSN)         6   3   3

Carlos Márquez (AQL)             6   7   5   3   5
Marcus Hathwar (ETM)             2   5   7   6   7


Section 8
Lonus Varalin (CEN)              6   7   6
Frederic Mccallum (FLX)          1   6   2

Eva Sarvan (ACS)                 6   7   4   1   4
Alan Sanchez (NWK)               4   6   6   6   6

Orsolya Szabo (GGY)              6   6   7
Joe Katsi (TJU)                  4   3   5

Alex Rivera (NWK)                7   6   6   7
Haikal Jansen (SHT)              5   4   7   5

Johmer Vales (CEN)               6   6   6
Ralph Newkärn (BRI)              3   2   2

Dewa Ayu Cintya Dewi (PCU)       7   6   1   6
Joel Kaplan (SIL)                6   1   6   1

Leo Garry (BRI)                  6   6   2   5   3
Chad Cilsertin (KHD)             3   4   6   7   6

Sameer Cook (FLX)                6   0   6   3
Odelia Ayers (SSI)               7   6   3   6

[Acastanha]

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Good Job Malakkar

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The intensity of first day Cenian Open is quite high. Three seeded players are out of the competition in the first day. They are 26th seed Maria Sophia Lubis, 21st seed Donat Kis and 22nd seed Naim Alex. Naim Alex from Sharktail is shockingly being defeated by qualifier from Squidroidia, Sephora Calabrese. This result shows that anything can happen in the competition.

And how about Acastanhada players? In this first day, there are two players that competing. They are Lucas Parvash which is Acastanhada highest ranked player and Davi Malakkar. Facing 18th seed Dioro Hansil of Ceni, Lucas Parvash seems to have work hard to just win a game. Although it is Hansil's first game after his long hiatus but his playing still very good. Parvash is seen to be struggling to keep his pace with Hansil's movement. Parvash losing the first 2 sets in quite a tight match. H is able to steal the third set taking advantage of the decrease performance of Hansil. But the fourth set is seeing the comeback of Hansil which makes Parvash surrender easily. With the result, Parvash is out of the competition.

On the other hand, Davi Malakkar is facing Niels Alberink of Squidroidia. Win easily by 6-1 in the first set, Malakkar have to work harder to grab the second set as they finished the set in tie-break session. Malakkar making a slight mistakes in the third set which makes Alberink is able to take the seat. While Alberink is trying to tied his set win in the fourth set, Malakkar is being so comfortable with his playing style. This situation makes Malakkar slightly in control while Alberink is keeping his pace to grab as many games as possible. Finally, Malakkar able to win the set and advancing to the next round.

In the second match day, another two single players are playing their match in the First Round of the competition. They are Eva Sarvan and Iris Bergadhga. Facing Alan Sanchez of Northwest Kalactin, Sarvan truthfully have a chance to win. She has manage to win the first two sets in a tight match of 6-4 and 7-6. But Sanchez is able to turn the table in the third set by taking it with 4-6 score. Losing her confidence, Sarvan is playing badly in the fourth set. This situation makes Sanchez easily take the set with Sarvan is only winning 1 game. Sarvan try to make her comeback in the fifth set. But Sanchez seems to controlling the match. Even though Sarvan is able to pushed further but she eventually defeated by 4-6. A similar situation happened to Bergadhga as she is facing veteran player of Britonisea, Peter P Larry. Winning the first set by 4-6, Bergadhga is losing her focus in the second set which cost her the set. Larry who is gaining confidence is giving difficult to Bergadhga as they are struggling to control the third set. Ultimately, Larry is able to take the third and fourth set to secure one spot in the Second Round.

With the result, Davi Malakkar become the only single player that Acastanha have in the competition. The third match day will see Davi Malakkar playing a match against 14th seed Bartholomew Pole of Kohnhead. It will be a hard match for Malakkar as Pole have been considered a great player after he was shockingly defeated Bartolo Sabanero in Ubung Open. The third match day also seen the beginning of Double Competition. Although it is quite an upset for Acastanha. In the First Round of Double Competition, the drawing have been a tricky result for Acastanha as both of their double will be facing each other. Yes, that's true. Miguel Taberon/Pedro Arrachar will be facing fellow Acastanhada, Ana/Eva Radkkar. Even though it can be said as a tricky drawing but whoever win will ensure one place for Acastanha in the second round.

[Waisnor]

Here is the joy of victories and the bitterness of defeat...

On the previous game day of Cenian Open two more Waisnorian players joined the fight. The results of the day were half-hearted.

Martha McNeil (GRU)              6   4   6   2   3
Valery Ushakov (WSN)             2   6   3   6   6

Valery Ushakov became the first Waisnorian to play the match today. His rival was Martha McNeil from The Grearish Union. The start of the match was clearly not in favor of Valery - the first set was lost to him with a score of 6-2. This could have a sobering effect on Ushakov, since Valery won the second set with a score of 6-4. However, Martha was not going to give up and responded to her defeat in the last set, beating Valery in the third set with a score of 6-3. Ushakov, apparently realizing that if he lost again, he would be eliminated from the tournament, began to play much more aggressively. This paid off, Valery won the next sets with a score of 6-2 and 6-3, respectively, and moved on in the tournament.

Ardil Navsal (CEN)               7   6   6
Vladimir Mikhailov (WSN)         6   3   3

One of the representatives of the host country of the tournament became the opponent of Vladimir Mikhailov - it was Ardil Navsal. Both were clearly not going to lose to each other, which was confirmed in the first set, where both rivals were in a very tense struggle, in which Ardil prevailed, winning the set with a score of 7-6. Most likely, this victory gave Navsal confidence, and Mikhailov remained rather tired after the last set, which allowed Ardal to win the next two sets with the same score 6-3.

[San Ortelio]

“Game and set to miss Lucy Muneer. Nil versus two in sets for miss Muneer.”

The umpire called it with the liveliness of a railway announcer, but it did feel as if a train had hit Graziano Giunti. He had not come all this way, survived the qualifiers just to get swayed away now he reached the main tournament. Seeing another newcomer, Musjox, upend Syamim Kevin just before his own game had told him that everything was possible but in this confrontation, he struggled to find the right rhythm. Or rather, he played well enough but it didn’t do him much good. He lost just a single service game so far and fell in the narrowest of tiebreaks, but his Sharktailian adversary still kept the upper hand with seeming ease.

Taking a swig from his water bottle, he looked across the court. With a few big Cenian names in session, he and Muneer were playing on one of the outfields and even if the locals were exceptionally enthusiast over the tournament, only a limited few had found their way to this court – most of them just hanging around after the Kevin/Musjox upset and witnessing a very conservative confrontation. Some strong service play followed by tedious rallies, with neither eager to take a risk. The road to the third round and an interesting game against Rogers looked viable – by now, Muneer could see it looming in the distance already.

As they paused, the stands thinned a little further. 3-0, a polite applause and going back home with fifty ranking points and a participation sum… Was that going to be it?

No. No. He wasn’t going out like that.

At the very least, he was going to earn himself a proper, well-deserved applause. Ruffling through his pack, he picked out his oldest racket. It was worn at the edges and the single-throat design looked like an anomaly at this level, but using it for years had turned his hand and the handle into a single unit – he loved to train with it. As he walked past Muneer towards his position for the third set, she looked a little strange to him, maybe even weary. How desperate was that oldtimer to go and try that? Quite desperate – but it was better than nothing.

“Game and set to miss Pelissa Giannapoulos. Sets – two each.”

As the announcer proclaimed the end of the fourth set, Andrea Vergnani fell to his knees and bounced on the surface, a dull sound which could be heard across the Adio Zevael Stadium despite the thousands of supporters packed inside it. High in the second ring and among excited fans, Fiorenzi smiled a little inside – a bit of pathos was not lost on Andrea but it was good to establish his name. In so far as he had not done it yet with his tennis. Much to everyone’s surprise, including Tartoni’s, the newcomer had pushed Giannapolous to a five-setter. This was quite a feat considering her track record, even if it seemed that Vergnani had ran twice the distance of the Electrumite household name to reach the same number of sets.

It pleased Tartoni to see the grit with which Vergnani had recovered from the opening set. It was the kind of guts they would most definitely need in the doubles, whilst pushing him physically formed a decent training for that confrontation. Giannapolous, on the other hand, looked a bit distracted, possible related to the black ribbon around her upper right arm - a gesture to which Vergnani had responded to after the warm-up, by quickly putting a bit of black tape around the end of his racket. She appeared out of touch and Vergnani, enthused to the bone, scraped two sets of her. But in the fourth set, with the upset nearing, her class broke through and she showed a tiring Vergnani all corners of the court. Andrea, playing the scruffy underdog role with some quality, earned himself the love of the fans, chasing impossible balls and even grandstanding over the barrier once to go and find a brilliant slice from Giannapolous.

All in all, this was the perfect scenario for Fiorenzo. In the next set, Pelissa would bulldozer right over her opponent and he would have a confident doubles partner who nonetheless could keep his full focus on that tournament after his singles elimination. And would be well-rested as a second round would have clashed schedulingwise. It was better like this, especially as Tartoni himself faced a difficult cliff tomorrow in home favorite Dioro Hansil, an archetypical serve-and-volley player with a cannon service. He wouldn’t have the fans behind him as Andrea experienced right now but that didn’t matter too much to Tartoni – he would try to win their hearts with results, not with clownish behavior.

And so Fiorenzo must have been the only person who left the Zevael Stadium ahead of the fifth set, a fine smirk across his face.

[Pemecutan]

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Thursday, 7 January 2021 (Wraspati Pon Wuku Wayang, Pawukon 1780)

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Exclusive Interview with Maria Sophia Lubis

Cenial, Ceni - Today we have a special segment during the running of Cenian Open. We will have an intimate talks with Pemecutan best female player, Maria Sophia Lubis. And this interview is carried out by Siska Prajnawati.

SP: Good afternoon, Maria. It's nice to have you here.
MSL: Good afternoon too (she's smiling while shake Siska's hand)
SP: So how are you today?
MSL: I'm good although a bit upset.
SP: For the match?
MSL: Yeah. But that is game. Sometimes we win and sometimes we lose.
SP: Couldn't agree more. But you have been in this field for quite sometimes.
MSL: I'm starting it in 2015. It's been 5 years already.
SP: You are one of the first team to send by PTA.
MSL: Yeah. Together with Adrian and Muliawan. Oh and Bli Wiranatha too. (She's laughing) It's a great memories.
SP: Tell us more.
MSL: My first tournament was on Astyrian Series, Paradise Open. The situation was quite different as we were drawn into groups before advancing further.
SP: That's something different.
MSL: Yeah, but it's a nice experience. I ended up being a runner up in the group and losing chance to advance.
SP: Oh That's too bad.
MSL: Yeah. But I like the experience.
SP: What's your best result during the series.
MSL: Hhmm. Santa Maria Open I guess. I reached semifinal in that tournament.
SP: Wow, that's impressive.
MSL: Thank you. Although I've never win any tournament so far.
SP: But your performances are quite stable.
MSL: Thanks. I try my best to keep my performance. But sometimes something happened. Just like what happen in Ceni Open.
SP: Yeah. It is quite sad that you have to be out of the competition so soon.
MSL: That's what a game is. And I'm quite impressed with this new season. We can't predict who the winner is.
SP: You've got a point there. This season is very competitive.
MSL: True. And that's makes me very excited everytime I enter the court.
SP: An energy boost I guess.
MSL: Hahaha. Yeah that's true.
SP: So what's after this?
MSL: Next maybe I will focus to Steinigestrasse and of course the second Grand Slam.
SP: Ah yes the Electrum Slam.
MSL: Yup. Can't make another mistake at the Slam.
(Both are laughing)
SP: So good luck for your next tournament. And hopefully you can take a trophy.
MSL: Hahaha. I hope so.

[TJUN-ia]

After most of our players won out in the 1st half of Singles Round 1 here at the Cenian Open, Part 2 in Cenial just didn't work out at all. Here's why...

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Section 6: [24] Ty Kanelious (QAD) bt Felipe de la Rosa (TJU) (4-6, 6-1, 0-6, 7-5, 7-5)
Section 8: [31] Orsola Szabo (GGY) bt Joe Katsi (TJU) (6-4, 6-3, 7-5)

1) In one of the weirder games today, the 24th seed dispatched El Matador in 5 sets with clutch play. But this game was weird as hell, with Ty Kanelious of Qasden taking Set 2 dominantly only for Felipe de la Rosa to shut out the returning seed in Set 3. El Matador had a 2-1 advantage in sets but with clutch play, it would be the 24th seed who would win both Sets 4 and 5 7-5 to overcome the tie here today. El Matador can be happy with his effort today while he prepares for doubles action tomorrow.

2) Orsola Szabo came to play and it was, unfortunately, The Kat of Horizon who would feel her wrath first. Joe Katsi didn't really mind the beatdown he was delivered but the 31st seed of Gergary certainly made a statement in this straight-sets win over TJUN-ia's #4. The Kat will have to sit back and watch Baloui for the rest of the tournament, not that he minds that at all. Ona day where multiple seeds fell, it was the seeds TJUN-ia played today that survived. Weird how that works sometimes.

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Scheduled Matches

SINGLES - Round 2
Section 1: [13] Andy Amada (CEN) vs Shinji Makauchi (TJU) (08/01)
Section 2: [11] Jean van de Kloor (TJU) vs Julia Devoningstan (NWK) (08/01)
Section 3: [25] Valentina Spetsova (TJU) vs Margie Brown (GRU) (08/01)
Section 4: [30] Carmichael Brown (ETM) vs Philippe Baloui (TJU) (08/01)

DOUBLES - Round 1
Section 2: [13] Shinji Makauchi/Felipe de la Rosa (TJU) vs [WC] Eloise Mclean/Phoenix Ward (SIL) (08/01)
Section 3: [2] Valentina Spetsova/Austin McDanielson (TJU) vs Carrol Water/Cherrie Kane (SHT) (09/01)
Section 3: Vanessza Pataki/Armin Miksa (GGY) vs Vuyani Rabada/Kaui Kamakawiwo'ole (TJU) (09/01)
Section 4: [16] Kim Li Bo/Mei Li Bo (TJU) vs Val Korekal/Luciano Crepaldi (CEN/SOR) (09/01)

[Ferret Civilization]

“Ready for your third match?” ProudSmith asked Odelia over breakfast, referencing the fact that she had to go through two previous ones just to face off against Sameer of Flexanewmega for the first match of the tournament proper.

“Probably more ready than the two of you are.” She answered by pointing out that both ProudSmith and Milo got wildcards to go straight into the singles side of the tournament. Both sides ignored that they had switched roles when it came to the doubles and singles side, but even there Odelia had a one match lead over the combined one that the two boys had together.

“Can’t really be ready for going up against what I have to can I?” Milo half joked, he would be facing off against another top quality opponent from Northwest Kalactin even though according to the officials that ran the international tennis scene they were not as good as Bartolo was. Not that that was much comfort for the Ferret that was practically new to the scene after watching IllusiveTramp face a slowly worsening defeat to a superbly skilled player. ProudSmith would also have a slightly more uphill climb in facing off a player from Gergary, a place that was even more a part of the international tennis tournament scene by having their locations be where the NSTT hosted their tours. Out of the three of them playing today it seemed like Odelia would be the only one having any shot at a win today facing off against a newer player that also got themselves a wildcard to get right into the tournament, so by the face of things she might have a little bit more experience to be able to use with the Cenian court.

For the tournament set up Milo and ProudSmith were stuck into the same section that was 7 with Odelia being in section 8, everything else was so far out of their reach they really did not have to focus on it at all.

ProudSmith did not have much self confidence going on when he took the court going up against Vanessza, he had just watched his fellow Dogtaur get taken to school yesterday and that was the whole tournament day for them. The previous enterprise that saw Dogtaurs outside Salmagundi courts also really did not go all that well for them. All he could do was hope that when IllusiveTramp got schooled he learned something out of that experience just from watching on the sidelines. This time the roles were switched, he was on the court and she was busy being the face of courage in the crowd hoping for him to be a winner and show that yes, they did have a chance being in the international group. That thoroughly went down the drain over the course of the first set, with Vanessza taking the lead and holding it, only losing points when things just went according to sheer luck when things amazing went in the Salmagundi favor. However ProudSmith took the time to observe just how the Gergary player went about showing him who the boss was on the court and came back for a round two in the second set. Such a move did end up playing off as the Dogtaur was able to suddenly become a lot more competitive and face down his temporary foe across the net keeping the score tied all the way up to the five to five mark. Such a feat in the second set after getting a beating in the first was exhilarating, he wondered if that was how his teammate had felt managing to hold out against the best international tennis player on the scene. The emotion allowed him the energy to keep Vanessza from making the score six to six after the eleventh game and instead took the twelfth one for himself tying up the sets. The sudden shift from seemingly easy to defeat to being defeated must have come off as a surprise for Vanessza as in the third set the Dogtaur was the one to come out with a lead. Though the player from Gergary was able to take advantage of some novice mistakes ProudSmith made to keep from being on the receiving end of what they dished out in the first set. The Dogtaur was able to take a score of six to four in his favor, all he needed to do now was win the fourth set to win the match or lose it and still be in it to win the fifth one to recover. Vanessza was absolutely determined it seemed to make sure things went to a fifth set, anytime ProudSmith took a point they quickly took one for themselves, any mistake was corrected for just as fast to avoid giving any faults to the Salmagundi player. Such was the way that the match had turned into that things came down to a tiebreaker to settle the set with both sides just determined to win it. At the last second of a back and forth ProudSmith was able to walk away the winner. With IllusiveTramp being the first one there to celebrate.

Odelia was having quite a match against the Flexanewmega player Sameer, with the first set being where the two of them went at each other with anything either one of them could muster to the table. For a high speed kind of court this set was going to be going just as fast if not faster, an advantage a Human would have over a Ferret if things were to actually be prolonged in this state of the games. Just like with ProudSmith things had to come down to a tiebreaker right out of the gate in order to figure out who the winner would be, although with things going faster in this match Odelia swiftly ended things in order to take the set. With that out of the way it seemed that Sameer was the first one to break, giving the Ferret the entire second set with only delaying efforts to tucker out the Salmagundi player without further tiring out themselves, a tactic that would bear fruit to undermine the Ferret once the third set came around. Odelia who figured with that last set things were going to be in the bag for her but Sameer came around with a big oorah to take the lead and make the Ferret continue to have to work to keep up. The tactic surely would have worked too given that Odelia was going all in this entire time which was the most unwise thing she could do, however during the fourth set the perseverance paid off coming back at the tail end of the match to take the set and thus the match.

After the match was over with Odelia went to go find the other members of her team, which she found a happy looking ProudSmith and IllusiveTramp watching another match that was still ongoing. “Looks like someone managed to come out a winner.” She commented.

“Yeah, you are looking pretty upbeat yourself, also come out a winner.” ProudSmith answered and asked in return to which Odelia nodded her head that she had indeed won.

“So how is Milo doing?” Odelia asked.

“Well look for yourself, he is still going.” ProudSmith said pointing to the court that they were observing. Odelia looked and there was Milo still facing off against Northwest Kalactin player Juan. The story that the scoreboard had told so far was that Milo was able to after some serious effort, no doubt, that he was able to come away with the first set. Which given that was over a highly ranked opponent was no small feat and worth celebrating. However it seemed that Juan would not to be made a potential fool out of taking the Ferret down in the second set, showing that the Northwest Kalactin player earned their place at the top and would not be undone by some newcomer from nowhere. The third set seemed to mock the second one, it seemed that Milo was somehow able to turn the tables on his opponent and dish out the same treatment. Somehow that had put the Ferret ahead by a set.

“Got here at the end of the fourth if you are wondering.” IllusiveTramp pipped up, “Seems like they would go on forever during the tiebreaker, neither one making any faults and always getting the ball back across the net. It was amazing seeing Milo get that set winning point.”

“Wow.” Was all that Odelia could add to that, as of that moment Milo and Juan were still going neck and neck at each other with all that the court could even offer, with the score now going over six to six and not stopping with another tiebreaker this time around. Neither of the players could get the two point lead needed in order to come away the winner, so the score just kept going up and up. Seven to seven, eight to eight, nine to nine, and finally ten to ten. Anytime one of them got a point lead it appeared that the other was able to either gain a point to tie again or take two points just for the other to get another point to tie. Milo for all that it was worth was no longer fighting just Juan, but his own personal exhaustion just threatening to force him to forfeit what was now such a high stakes game for the first match of the tournament. By some miracle, or perhaps the exhaustion of Juan striking first, the Ferret was able to finally take the next two points after clawing out a ten to ten tie. With that over in a polar opposite to yesterday everyone on the team had once again won their own matches.

Milo was at the point of physically shaking once the match was over and he was the confirmed winner. Adrenaline being the sole thing that got him to walk off the court after all that was over and his whole team was there to meet up with him, his victory outshining both the wins that Odelia and ProudSmith had worked to get. Milo could barely focus on what they were saying, and passed out after ProudSmith picked him up in a celebratory manor.

“Really did yourself in there.” Odelia said once Milo was back to the land of the conscious after some time had passed. “Suppose you were ready in the wrong areas.” She added with a smile.

“Yeah.” Was all that he could say as his fellow Ferret handed a glass of water to him.

“Hopefully tomorrow should be easier for you, going up against more of what Flexanewmega has to offer. Should not be as bad for your health.”

“Have the doubles to worry about, another high ranked opponent.”

“One thing at a time,” Odelia pointed out. “You already proved yourself for today. Be happy with that.”

[Kohnhead]

A good day for Kohnhead but Theresa Wtaerford goes down

The second half of the main draw saw us go 3-1 in all games making our first round record 5-2 which is pretty good. However top 40 player and our third best Theresa Waterford would go down in a five set match which is a devastating blow to her. Theresa has fallen behind Mindy but was hoping for a good start to season 7 just like she got last year, fortunately top seed Mindy Waterford advanced.

Grady Maccay (KHD)               6   6   6   4   8
Zunaira Hardy (BUC)              3   3   7   6   6

Our first match of the day saw our 214th ranked Grady Maccay taking on Zunaira Hardy from our overseas colony of Bucklin. Hardy just like every Bucklin player is competing in her first ever NSTT tournament and she managed to take Maccay to five sets. Maccay won the first two sets which would have good at most tournaments but because this is a Grand Slam he had to win three sets. Hardy would come back with two close 7-6 and 6-4 wins to tie them at two sets a piece heading into the fifth. Maccay would take it 8-6 and it's not a good sign that Hardy pushed him to the limit here as he should have finished the match long before he did. Unfortunately Maccay will have a battle against returning Beepee player Ivo Dhjukharevic who is ranked 33rd in the World but needed three sets to beat Northwest Kalactin's Justin White. That does not tell the full story as Dhjukharevic went down 2-0 before coming back to win the final sets something Zunaira Hardy came very close to doing in this one.

Theresa Waterford (KHD)          4   6   3   6   4
Maddison Scott (ETM)             6   4   6   1   6

Ah yest the afore mentioned Theresa Waterford loss, as she would go down fighting in five sets against Electrum's Maddison Scott. Theresa considering she's ranked 34th in the World really needs to beat the 88th player in the World no matter how talented they are and no matter that they are from Electrum. Theresa would lose the first set but came back to win the second both finishing 6-4. The third set however would go to Madison Scott, 6-3 really putting the pressure on Theresa who delivered with a massive 6-1 set win and it looked like she would get away with this one. However she was unable to build off of her dominant fifth set and would go down 6-4 to Madison Scott in an upset that sees Theresa go down in the first round of a Grand Slam. If Theresa wants to get back to the top 20 player she was for part of last year she needs to go further in Grand Slams and will have a good chance to do that at the Electrum Slam.

Mindy Waterford (KHD)            7   4   6   6
Derek Dubrovnik (BRI)            6   6   3   2

Mindy Waterford her twin sister and 10th in the World had no problems dispatching Britonisea's Derek Dubrovnik the 99th ranked player in the World. While the first two sets were both very close with Mindy taking the first 7-6 and Dubrovnik taking the second 6-4, Mindy settled into her first match of season 7 and took the final two by a combined 12-5 to move on to the round of 64. Many are predicting her to at least make the round of 16 if not the quarterfinals so she still has work to do. Next up for her is high ranking and the number 42 in the World, Carla Tormo out of Aqual who easily beat The Grearish Union's Eva Brandt in her first match.

Leo Garry (BRI)                  6   6   2   5   3
Chad Cilsertin (KHD)             3   4   6   7   6

Taking on 19th seeded Leo Garry, Chad Cilsertin was definitely the underdog in this one as he lost the first two sets 6-3 and 6-4 respectively. It looked like another early exit for the 35 year old but he battled back to win the final three sets 6-2, 7-5, and 6-3 to advance into the round of 32. He actually gets quite a favorable matchup in the round of 64 with Odelia Ayers from Independent Salmagundi who came into this tournament unranked. However she is not an opponent to be taken lightly and Cilsertin knows this and he cannot let the fact that she qualified in cloud his judgment and the way she plays.


Tomorrow we see the two singles from the top half in Bartholomew Pole and Rodrick Uppatin play their second round matchups while we also see the doubles top half kick off. While there are four duos with Kohnheadians in them only Anna Humpford and Carter Kanasaw are in the top half as they take on a wildcard duo from Bucklin that includes Zunaira Hardy whom Grady Maccay beat earlier today.

[Squidroidia]

Sephora Calabrese's Diary

Cenian Open, Entry 2

Dear Diary,

Well this feels weird to me... I'm having an off day at the Polaris camp for the Cenian Open. They say it's because there are
so many singles players and whatnot, and you know what? I believe them. Most of the Squidroidian singles did get their matches
yesterday... Well, except for Diệp. She's that Octoling from the IU team, and for whatever reason she didn't really show up 
until today. So yeah! She at least looks... Cute.

But she was tired, and I can totally get why she wanted to have some time off. She just had a 5 set game against Livinia Moore.
You know, the person from Electrum? Always thought that was a funny name, Electrum... Didn't know it means electric bums!
Let's see here... Tight match, went to set 5, VdH losing... What I expected, really. Huh, I really am the last singles girl
standing. Didn't really expect this!

So yeah, will leave it here for now. Sorry for being so... Rushed. TTYL!

-Sephora <3

[Ceni]

2021 Cenian Open: Doubles draw breakdown

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1/7/2021 - Vyri Arcaina, chief correspondent

Even though singles play has already been going on for two days, the doubles competition has not yet started. With today marking the first set of doubles matches, Grand Slam is breaking down the doubles draw, offering its analysis and predictions as usual.

Section 1
There has been some shakeup at the top of the doubles rankings, but Sonya Gredello and Rosa Levinsky (known as Ronya to fans) have not split up quite yet. They have some things going for them — they are number one seeds, after all — but they are also playing in enemy territory, home of the Xal sisters, Ronya's most consistent rivals. In any case, they will definitely not see any Cenian pairs before the quarterfinals — they face Alexandra Barna of Gergary (no. 47 in doubles) and her new partner, Albert Taussig (no. 244) in the first round. If matches go according to seeding, they would face countrymen Kawasaki and Ho (seeded 14th) in the round of 16.

On the other side of this first section, Jeff Rogers and Martha McNeil — the doubles team that anchored Grearia's victory at the International Tennis Trophy — are at the top. Although they are seeded sixth, both players are also playing singles in this tournament, and McNeil looked rather rusty in her 5-set loss to Valery Ushakov of Waisnor in the first round. As luck would have it, though, they are playing doubles and singles on different days in the first few rounds. If seeding holds, they would face 9th seeds Coosal Darlcheri and Perger Rianor in the third round — and there will likely be significant home advantage for the Cenian pair, even if they are playing together for the first time. (Grand Slam will run a different feature on the changes in Ceni's doubles partnerships later today.)

Also in this section are Eka Putrawan and Dwi Ratmadi of Pemecutan, who recently won the Gold Medal in the Men's Doubles in the Olympics.

Quarterfinals: Gredello/Levinsky d. Darlcheri/Rianor

Section 2
The top seeds in this section are number 3 seeds Bartolo Sabanero and Qualo Tabos of Aqual, a relatively new nation on the tennis scene (at least when compared to countries like Ceni and Electrum). Sabanero and Tabos are known for making Grand Slam finals — they reached the finals in Hamilton and in Emberton last year, as well as the finals of the Tier 2 tournament in Istria — but they have never actually won a title on the NSTT. They will likely face off against one of Shinji Makauchi and Felipe de la Rosa of TJUN-ia — seeded thirteenth — or Will Nolovor and Kell Korden, former Cenian Open semifinalists in fact, in the third round. I personally favor one of these teams over the Aqualians; if Makauchi and de la Rosa can overcome the home court advantage and experience that Nolovor and Korden bring to the table (despite their relative youth), they can surely beat Sabanero and Tabos.

The major draw on the other side of the section will not be 7th seeds Deanne Smith and Leanne Stewart (two veteran Electrumites who have teamed up for this tournament). The rumor mill is swirling along that pair: Smith's longtime partner Sara Zhuo is instead teaming up with Gyrachor Rentos, and has it that Smith is leaning to retire by the end of the clay court season). Despite the rumors, though, the Xal sisters are clearly the fan favorites in this section, even though they are only seeded eleventh. Because of that strong home court advantage, they are also our favorites to emerge out of this section.

Also here is a match between the two doubles teams from the nation of Acastanha — although the Acastanhan National Federation has submitted a complaint to the draw organizers, they have not yet responded in the public eye.

Quarterfinals: Xal/Xal d. Makauchi/de la Rosa

Section 3
This will almost certainly be a competitive section of tennis. At the top, world no. 2 team Valentina Spetsova and Austin McDanielson is hoping for a solid performance on hard courts after success on clay at the Hamilton International on mainland Terranea last year. They look pretty good to reach at least the third round, where things look dicier — if everything goes to form (a big if, considering the big upsets that happened yesterday on the singles side), they will face Jóna Cabrera and Veronika McPhee, the Squidlings who have been tearing up the circuit with their good form recently.

Zhuo and Rentos will headline the other side of the section. The first partnership between a Cenian and an Electrumite, Zhuo and Rentos are seeded fifth. Rentos is definitely motivated to do well here — his ranking will plummet as the initial "legacy boost" to his rankings will disappear after this tournament, while Zhuo will certainly be hoping to prolong her tennis career and do well with a new partner. The other seeds in this part of the section are Leone Na and Abi Forrest of Britonisea, but they have not had much of an impact on last season beyond a solid performance at the Electrum Slam, where Britonisea did well overall.

Also here are the Recinella brothers of San Ortelio; if the doubles go the way that the singles have been going for that nation, they will definitely pose a challenge for Zhuo and Rentos in the second round.

Quarterfinals: Zhuo/Rentos d. Spetsova/McDanielson

Section 4
This section probably has the least star power of all four sections, but that doesn't mean it won't be competitive (or exciting). Spencer Kohnhead and Marcus Hathwar (one of the earliest mixed-nation pairings to do well in the NSTT) are seeded fourth and headline this section, but they could face a tough second round match in the form of Fiorenzo Tartoni and Andrea Vernagni of San Ortelio. Sixteenth seeds Kim and Mei Li Bo of TJUN-ia are favored to make it to the third round on paper, but they will also face a tough early-round challenge as they face Val Korekal (a former Cenian Open champion), partnered with the San Ortelian Luciano Crepaldi. With their explosive game play, watch for these two players to make a splash.

The other half of this section looks a little quieter. Fans from Pemecutan will be relieved that at least one of their teams will likely make it to the quarterfinals: Komang Antari and Kadek Andreawati are seeded eighth, while Oka Sulastra and Luh Putu Yundari (who recently made the decision to focus entirely on the doubles) are seeded tenth. Odelia Ayers and IllusiveTramp of Salmagundi, heirs of the Ferret Civilization legacy, might challenge Sulastra and Yundari in the first round, though.

Quarterfinals: Antari/Andreawati d. Korekal/Crepaldi

Knockout Rounds
Xal/Xal d. Gredello/Levinsky
Zhuo/Rentos d. Antari/Andreawati

Xal/Xal d. Zhuo/Rentos

[Ceni]

Who's ready for doubles? Cutoff!

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Singles — Round 2

Section 1
Bartolo Sabanero (AQL)           6   3   6   6
Amara Charles (BUC)              2   6   3   4

Janet Riley (ETM)                6   4   2   7   6
Kobie Laing (FLX)                0   6   6   5   3

Andy Amada (CEN)                 3   2   5
Shinji Makauchi (TJU)            6   6   7

Dioro Hansil (CEN)               2   3   2
Fiorenzo Tartoni (SOR)           6   6   6


Section 2
Botack Andiam (CEN)              6   6   4   6
Elizabeth Quehall (BRI)          3   3   6   3

Martin Khalizniakov (BPE)        6   4   1   3
Ayu Ratih Kemalasari (PCU)       3   6   6   6

Jean van de Kloor (TJU)          6   6   6   6
Julia Devoningstan (NWK)         7   0   3   3

Kika Dovan (CEN)                 6   6   7
Rodrick Uppatin (KHD)            2   4   5


Section 3
Ngurah Putra Muliawan (PCU)      7   6   6
Jack Ho (ETM)                    5   3   3

Valentina Spetsova (TJU)         6   6   6
Margie Brown (GRU)               3   1   4

Bartholomew Pole (KHD)           6   6   7   6
Davi Malakkar (ACS)              3   7   6   1

Jason Gordon (BRI)               4   2   5
Paula Suárez (AQL)               6   6   7


Section 4
Andrew Simmons (ETM)             0   6   6   6
Indah Susanti (PCU)              6   2   4   3

Carmichael Brown (ETM)           2   1   6   4
Philippe Baloui (TJU)            6   6   4   6

Marisa Maradona (CEN)            6   6   4   7   6
Bianka Arendt (GGY)              7   3   6   6   4

Sephora Calabrese (SQR)          3   0   1
Komang Agus Artawan (PCU)        6   6   6

Doubles — Round 1

Section 1
Sonya Gredello/Rosa Levinsky (ETM)              6   6
Alexandra Barna/Albert Taussig (GGY)            3   3

Eva Brandt/Grayson Norris (GRU)                 1   4
Jordi Pérez/Rubén Pérez (AQL)                   6   6

Anthony Kawasaki/Jack Ho (ETM)                  2   6
Adil Roberts/Kobie Laing (FLX)                  6   7

Franciszek Sloan/Frederic Mccallum (FLX)        7   6
Toma Karga/Dan Cowden (SQR)                     6   1

Jeff Rogers/Martha McNeil (GRU)                 6   3   6
Milo Ealdræd/ProudSmith (SSI)                   4   6   2

Eka Putrawan/Dwi Ratmadi (PCU)                  6   7
Diana Jansen/Haikal Jansen (SHT)                4   6

Coosal Darlcheri/Perger Rianor (CEN)            6   6
Teegan Sosa/Ada Nunez (GRU)                     4   2

Carla Tormo/Lara Navarro (AQL)                  7   4   6
Evgeny Kondratenko/Oleg Vlasov (WSN)            6   6   3


Section 2
Bartolo Sabanero/Qualo Tabos (AQL)              4   6   6
Luke Subdonez/Jeremy Glass (NWK/GRU)            6   4   3

Joe Fernández/Alan Sanchez (NWK)                6   1   6
Kaelan Day/Tymon Barnard (FLX)                  2   6   1

Shinji Makauchi/Felipe de la Rosa (TJU)         6   6
Eloise Mclean/Phoenix Ward (SIL)                2   2

Will Nolovor/Kell Korden (CEN)                  7   6
Martin Khalizniakov/Goran Bogdanovich (BPE)     6   4

Deanne Smith/Leanne Stewart (ETM)               6   6   0
Lance Mance/Ricardo Toli (BRI)                  2   7   6

Miguel Taberon/Pedro Arrachar (ACS)             6   6   7
Ana Radkkar/Eva Radkkar (ACS)                   7   4   5

Elia Xal/Fia Xal (CEN)                          3   7   6
Ilham Nugraha/Jayadi Ahmad (PCU)                6   6   1

Anna Humpford/Carter Kanasaw (KHD)              6   7
Margie Brown/Nelly Cooke (GRU)                  2   6

[Ferret Civilization]

“Welcome back to the land of the living,” ProudSmith said when he saw that Milo was finally awake. “Ready to try and take on another serious challenge.”

“I sure hope so.” Milo said with a smile. They would be going up against yet another highly skilled, this time being, players from The Grearish Union. Jeff and Martha were sure to be able to crush them on the court but given some of the bigger upsets that other newer players were able to pull off against their one more year experienced champions there was now a little more hope that chances could go in their favor. If not they would end up like IllusiveTramp and just spend the day being the only ones to play for their team and get schooled for it. It was going to be quite the experience either way.

“Good luck you two.” IllusiveTramp said, even if they did lose today they both were still in the tournament on the singles side of things. While she did not outwardly show it she frowned since all she had was tomorrow to look forward to making things up for failing so hard yesterday in the singles side of things. She really did hope that her two teammates would be able to pull off a win despite the odds, success for them would be success for her and all of them together.

With no one playing on the singles side of things there was really no need to pay attention to who was winning and losing there but IllusiveTramp took the time out to see how Bartolo from Aqual would fare against Amara from Bucklin. Seemed like Bartolo was being handed an easy plate given how they were first set up against a qualifier which happened to be her and then go on to face a wildcard which would be Amara today. Setup like that just felt wrong but that was the way things were set up for, she supposed if it was her in that spot she would not be complaining and that there was probably a good reason for such a setup to be like it was. Actually watching the match she really did not know who to root for, figuring that rooting for an underdog story to happen was the best way to go. During the second set of that match it really did get exciting to see Amara take the lead over the official best tennis player but that only ending up extending things for another two sets which they would end up losing.

“You notice that on the first day here we won three official matches just for IllusiveTramp to play alone the next day to lose. Just for us to win three official matches the next day after that.” Milo brought up to his teammate ProudSmith.

“You might be looking too hard into things, Odelia played two matches making it four that first day. What, you afraid that we are going to lose today over something like that?”

“Well no I am not afraid because I know we are going to lose.” Milo said with a sight laugh which ProudSmith returned.

“If we do lose today then we all win tomorrow right.”
“Well now I am afraid that since I brought it up we are all going to lose tomorrow and that will be that for that.”

“I hope that by saying both outcomes the more positive one will come true then. Though at this point I am not sure exactly how fate brought up works. Better just get out there and see.” ProudSmith finished with a shrug. They could get as philosophical as they wanted after reality either blessed them or left them to be. With that out of the way all they could do now was take to the court and face Jeff and Martha.

It turned out to end up being that they were slowly forced to lose. Milo and ProudSmith worked really well together keeping up with what their opponents brought to the court though over the course of the first set the gap between the score grew wider. The Salmagundi were unable to get a fifth point after eight games, with their opponents instead able to get a two point lead in the following games to take the set. The following set the pair doubled down to come out with a lead in the second set which was something that they did have to fight hard for. They were able to keep either Jeff or Martha from getting more than three points while the two of them whittled away at their competition in order to get the winning final games to take that set and push things to a tiebreaker. It was there that Martha and Jeff seemed to have enough fooling around with the new kids on the block and ended things nice and quickly. Taking advantage of the fast court to rack up the points for their side before the Salmagundi could even do anything in return.

“Wow, I really hope what you were saying was right so we can win tomorrow.” ProudSmith said once they were off the court.

“Don’t think that is how it works unfortunately.” Milo answered. Odelia and IllusiveTramp were there to offer a brighter view on things once they had all managed to meet back up again. While other matches were still going on it seemed like this was another group of sections that they were pushed out of and no longer beared any consequence to them in the other parts of the tournament at the moment. One could still hope that they would see the winner on the other side at the finals but that was just hope, for now it would have to end up in later tournaments when they were all more skilled to be able to get to that point. With another day out of the way all they had to do now was waste the rest of it and look forward to tomorrow.

[Electrum]

Pelissa Giannapolous felt positively ill as she woke up for the nth time that night. Opening her eyes, she saw the faint luminescent glow of the hotel alarm - 3:45am. But she could feel the liquid bubbling inside her stomach. She got herself out of bed, ran around the bed, nearly tripped on the bed, opened the bathroom door and turned on the light.

It was a mad scramble to the toilet but she made it in the nick of time, her vomit messily splattering the entire surface of the bowl, but none of it on the outside, thankfully. She wouldn't need to explain anything to anyone from the Orion. But amidst all the chaos, she neglected to consider her poor partner, Michael, who awoke to bathroom light streaming on his face and the sound of retching.

"I'm fine Michael, go back to sleep."

"D'ya mind closing the door?" Michael replied, eyes shut. Pelissa obliged and shut the door.

Not even bothering to comfort her, Michael stayed in bed while raising his voice now that she could hear him. It wasn't anything personal, Pelissa knew from personal experience that if he saw vomit, he would want to vomit, and they would even have a bigger mess on their hands.

"I told you not to eat those weird Cenian dishes. What type of cuisine serves raw sea scallop anyways?"

Thinking about those sea scallops reminded her that that metallic taste in her mouth was not just from the vomit, but also from the seafood she had gorged herself with earlier that day. She retched again.

"I've had it before. And Momentum is a top shelf restaurant. We've eaten there so many times before without problems, including all the raw seafood that you hate."

"You going to be ok for that next match tomorrow against that San Ortelian chick?"

"Man. And I hope so."

Michael didn't reply. He just wanted to fall asleep again. He had finally gotten used to the Cenian time zone, and being a partner to a tennis star who criss-crossed around the world, he always hated having to adjust his body clock.

"Actually Michael, I think I won't be fine. I think I might be pregnant. Well, being pregnant is fine. You know what I mean."

This time, Michael opened his eyes and was wide awake. She opened the bathroom door and looked at him. It was going to be a long night.

[Pemecutan]

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Friday, 8 January 2021 (Sukra Wage Wuku Wayang, Pawukon 1780)

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The Hosting Rivalry

Nilayam, Pemecutan - After the announcement of the establishment of Pemecutan Domestic Tour, many clubs and field owners are lobbying the officials for the hosting rights. As the official mention, there will be 12 main competition with a possibility of the 13th which is the Tour Final. Before the official announcement of the Tour schedule, clubs and field owners becomes so busy to promote their place. In total there are around 30 tennis court that are located in Pemecutan. Most of them are own by tennis clubs while others are government court. And now all of them are compete for the 12 spots.

Fortunately for grass and clay courts, there are larger opportunity for them to be selected that hard court fields. From 30 tennis fields around 70% of them have hard surface. The other 7 fields are grass (4 fields) and clay (3 fields). With the fact that each surface is given 3 tournaments, then all clay court fields are automatically selected as host. While there's only 1 grass fields that won't be selected. But there will be 18 hard surface fields that won't be selected. And for indoor hard tournaments will be held in multi-purpose buildings (just like NSTT Ubung Open which was held in a conference room).

One of the hardcourt field is Nilampatak Tennis Hall. The field is located near Nilayam, the largest city in State of Soracana Islands, the youngest state in the country. The owner, Duwanibala Gandabansa, is lobbying for his place to be selected as the hard surface tournament host.

"It would be a great deal for us if the tournament is held in Soracana. We won't be feel left out," says Gandabansa.

Soracanian are literally feel left out by the majority of Pemecutanian. As the newest addition to the country, Soracana makes a lot of adjustment to be engage more in Pemecutan. A sports league merger is one of them. Soracanian football and basketball league are being disbanded. While their clubs are being integrated with Pemecutan league. And if one of Soracanian tennis court is selected as a host, it will makes Soracanian feel whorty enough to be part of the country.

"I understand that it is a big efforts for us to be part of Pemecutan and being selected to host a domestic tournament is a big deal for us," says Iktamila Basurjana, Soracanian tennis player.

Tennis is a growing sports in Soracana. It is less popular than football and basketball in that state. The integration with Pemecutan have increase the popularity of tennis in the state as the sport is generally very popular in Pemecutan. It is the second most popular sports in the country (behind football and ahead of basketball). With the selection of Soracana as one of the Domestic Tour host, it will make tennis getting more recognition in the state. That's why several tennis field are lobbying the PTA official so that they can actually host a tournament.

[Waisnor]

Expectations were clearly not met

Yesterday on Cenian Open the doubles competition has begun. The main favorites in the tournament from Waisnor were Evgeny Kondratenko and Oleg Vlasov. However, the reality was very different from the expectations of the fans...

Carla Tormo/Lara Navarro (AQL)                  7   4   6
Evgeny Kondratenko/Oleg Vlasov (WSN)            6   6   3

Carla Tormo and Lara Navarro from Aqual became rivals of Evgeny and Oleg. From the very first set, it became clear that the match for Kondratenko and Vlasov would be difficult - in the first set, both pairs tried to put pressure on each other, and in this confrontation Carla and Lara won with a score of 7-6. In the second set, Evgeny and Oleg were able to seize the initiative, winning it with a score of 6-4. However, they were not enough for more - in the decisive third set, Tormo and Navarro were able to win with a score of 6-3 and go further in the tournament.

[TJUN-ia]

After some highs and lows in Singles Round 1, Round 2 arrived at the Cenian Open with a friend knows as Doubles Round 1. Yes, its time for more tennis and this time...let's just say we were more successful than yesterday.

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SINGLES - Round 2
Section 1: Shinji Makauchi (TJU) bt [13] Andy Amada (CEN) (6-3, 6-2, 5-7)
Section 2: [11] Jean van de Kloor (TJU) bt Julia Devoningstan (NWK) (6-7(8-10), 6-0, 6-3, 6-3)
Section 3: [25] Valentina Spetsova (TJU) bt Margie Brown (GRU) (6-3, 6-1, 6-4)
Section 4: Philippe Baloui (TJU) bt [30] Carmichael Brown (ETM) (6-2, 6-1, 4-6, 6-4)

All of our singles players won today. Yes, every single one of them. How did this happen? Let's find out!

Taking on the hometown 13th seed in Round 2 wasn't a very exciting prospect for Samurai Shinji entering this contest, especially a player of Andy Amada's ability in season's past, but apparently, he had nothing to worry about in this contest. If Makauchi wanted to make a statement about his abilities in the singles then it was definitely made here as he took out the home favourite in straight sets. Round 3 in the singles awaits the Samurai as he takes on Fiorenzo Tartoni of San Ortelio, a player you may remember from the Diamond Trophy at the end of last season.

In Section 2, De Kloor of Toropo was takin on his 2nd player from Northwest Kalactin in a row as he looked to take down Julia Devoningstan this time around. The first was tighter than expected and Julai certainly made her chances count with tiebreaker win but after that, De Kloor was unstoppable with a shutout Set 2 and 6-3 triumphs in 3 and 4. With an eye towards the glory he got last year, De Kloor will face a seeded player in the 3rd Round: 18th seed Kika Dovan of home nation Ceni.

While De Kloor was almost perfect in Section 2, Scarlet certainly was in Section 3 against Margie Brown of The Grearish Union. No nonsense here, just beautiful tennis all around and Spetsova put away her opposition in straight sets to move into a Round 3 duel with a player that needs no introduction: Pemecutan's Ngurah Putra Muliawan, the 4th seed in this tournament and one of the dominant forces in the entire NSTT. Taking her down will not be easy at all but if any TJUN-ian can, maybe Scarlet can do the unthinkable and take down this goddess of the sport.

As for L'artiste, he was taking on 30th seed Carmichael Brown of Electrum knowing full well that his new boyfriend, Joe Katsi, would be in the stands to cheer him on. If his presence was an inspiration to the performance of Baloui today then maybe these two have some sort of synergy between these two players. Baloui was dominant in the first 2 sets of this contest before it all kicked off towards the 3rd, BRwon fighting back to take set 3 6-4. But L'artiste didn't falter and managed a clutch tiebreak to take the 4th set and the match 6-4 to set up an even more difficult contest in Round 3 against another player from Electrum: 5th seed Andrew Simmons himself.

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DOUBLES - Round 1
Section 2: [13] Shinji Makauchi/Felipe de la Rosa (TJU) bt [WC] Eloise Mclean/Phoenix Ward (SIL) (6-2, 6-2)

Samurai Shinji was also in doubles action today with El Matador, as they took on Eloise Mclean and Phoenix Ward of Silvedania. This match didn't have that much drama either as TJUN-ia completed a clean sweep of wins for the first time in a long while. Locals in Will Nolovor and Kell Korden await these two after their straight-sets win today, but who will join them in Doubles Round 2? See you tomorrow for Doubles Day here in Cenial!

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Scheduled Matches

DOUBLES - Round 1
Section 3: [2] Valentina Spetsova/Austin McDanielson (TJU) vs Carrol Water/Cherrie Kane (SHT) (09/01)
Section 3: Vanessza Pataki/Armin Miksa (GGY) vs Vuyani Rabada/Kaui Kamakawiwo'ole (TJU) (09/01)
Section 4: [16] Kim Li Bo/Mei Li Bo (TJU) vs Val Korekal/Luciano Crepaldi (CEN/SOR) (09/01)

SINGLES - Round 3
Section 1: Shinji Makauchi (TJU) vs Fiorenzo Tartoni (SOR) (10/01)
Section 2: [11] Jean van de Kloor (TJU) vs [18] Kika Dovan (CEN) (10/01)
Section 3: [4] Ngurah Putra Muliawan (PCU) vs [25] Valentina Spetsova (TJU) (10/01)
Section 4: [5] Andrew Simmons (ETM) vs Philippe Baloui (TJU) (10/01)

DOUBLES - Round 2
Section 2: [13] Shinji Makauchi/Felipe de la Rosa (TJU) vs Will Nolovor/Kell Korden (CEN) (10/01)