TENNIS TOURNAMENTS PETER DE BRUYNI

Champions Race, Palm Springs-USA February 2012

2011-12-03T21:20:00.021Z

UPDATE January 2012:

My lovely mum has very kindly helped me out financially, so I am actually able to travel to Palm Springs to compete in the most important tournament of the year, the icing on the cake.

THANK YOU MUM, I LOVE YOU!

Also, a BIG thank you to everyone for viewing, reading and commenting on my blog, as the counter is now over 2000 views! AMAZING!

Email from GLTA Commissioner Friday, 2 December 2011, 4:25 :

GLTA WORLD TOUR CHAMPIONSHIPS - OFFICIAL INVITATION

CONGRATULATIONS

You have qualified for D Singles and you are officially invited to participate in the:

GLTA WORLD TOUR CHAMPIONSHIPS
Palm Springs, CA
February 3-5, 2012

We appreciate your support of the GLTA, and we hope you will be able to join us for our year-end Championships. Please respond to this email at your earliest convenience, and I will register you for the tournament.

We will be sending out another email very soon regarding our official host hotel and other information to help you plan your trip to Palm Springs.

Congratulations again on a very successful year on the GLTA WORLD TOUR!!

Wow, so I qualified with still 2 tournaments to go! My most successful year so far will get an extra dessert: let's save money for the flight, or find a sponsor. It will probably my last moment of glory, as I will move up to C from 2012 onwards.

So..... I could use all the help I need and if you know someone or an organisation/company that might be able to lend me a hand, PLEASE get in touch: p.debruyni@yahoo.co.uk

Email from GLTA Commissioner Sunday, 15 January 2012, 23:31:

FYI....I've added all of you to D Doubles, but if you only want to play Singles, please let me know ASAP.

Needless to say I want to play in the Doubles as well: I did actually end 2011 on rank 9 in D-Doubles, only just outside the Top 8.

And please please please, have a look at the refreshing new look of the GLTA website:

www.glta.net

Manchester September 2011

2011-09-11T19:22:00.010+01:00

Only 3 weeks after my big doubles success in London, it is time for Manchester.
And I do remember losing in the first round in D-Singles after I had just won the D-Singles in the Zurich Masters, so I will need to be extra focused.

I am seeded in D-Singles, but not in D-Doubles. That is because of my previous results in the doubles, or better: lack of.
My doubles partner will be Nigel again. If we start how we finished last year, then we will be good.
Here are the seedings:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/seeds.aspx?id=3237B6DF-AA92-429F-9829-7D82997E1905

First round in Singles, I played against Eoin from Ireland. I won 6-2, 6-4 but it was not easy, as I was trailing 3-4 in the 2nd set!

Our first Round Robin match in Doubles was against Cathal (Ireland), and "don't you just LOVE the catsuit" David, who lives fairly local. Because of rain delays, we played a shortened match: sets until 4. We lost eventually by 3-4 (5-7 in tie-break), 2-4:

My next Singles match was the Quarter Final, against Anil from the Manchester area.
Amazingly I won 6-0, 6-0:

The Semi Final was against Brian, from the USA, Washington DC more precisely.

He is a lovely guy and the Union Jack hat looks fabulous! O yes, the result: in a shortened match, I won 4-0, 4-0. But the way the match went, did not reflect the score at all.

Our second Round Robin Doubles match was a very close one: against Shaun & Jon from Ireland we lost 2-4, 4-3 (7-5 in tie-break), 8-10 in champions tie-break, and we saved 1 matchpoint. Nigel & I played so well, but Shaun & Jon won the D-Doubles in the end, so it was no shame to get so close.

Our third and final Round Robin match was against Christophe & Anil: this time we did win 4-0, 4-2.
And believe it or not, with my soft serve, I hit 2 aces!

The grand Final of D-Singles, my 6th so far and I only won 1 of the previous 5. My opponent was Neil from Ireland, and he played amazingly well. So I had to have nerves of steel.

In the end I did, as I won 6-2 (after 2-0 and 2-2), 1-6, 10-8 in the champions tie-break, which went even until 7-7. Then I got 2 matchpoints at 9-7; Neil then saved 1 matchpoint, but at my 2nd matchpoint, I won it!

MY 2ND D-SINGLES TITLE!

I AM THE D-SINGLES CHAMPION!!!!! Yes, after Zurich 3 years ago, this is my second singles title.
Which means I will move up to C from 2012 onwards, as promised in my winner's speech:

A very proud Peter with his well deserved trophy:

And a closer look at the trophy:

I am dedicating this tournament win to my love, who is "stuck" on the other side of the world at the moment.

These are the results for D-Singles and D-Doubles:
http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draw.aspx?id=3237B6DF-AA92-429F-9829-7D82997E1905&draw=4
http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draw.aspx?id=3237B6DF-AA92-429F-9829-7D82997E1905&draw=24

These are my matches and stats:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/player.aspx?id=3237B6DF-AA92-429F-9829-7D82997E1905&player=2

And, the list of Champions/Winners (nice to see my name in there):

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/winners.aspx?id=3237B6DF-AA92-429F-9829-7D82997E1905

A BIG thank you to the steady hands of James, Declan, Godwin, Adrian, Nigel and Brian for taking photos and videos for this blog.
And thanks to Nigel for being such a lovely doubles partner.

London Sutton August 2011 (Masters)

2011-08-16T19:06:00.074+01:00

Back in London, my home for 10 years before I moved to Brighton a year ago. This is the tournament I have played most: including 2011, I have played here 5 times.
And, this year it is a Masters tournament, so do I need more motivation to do well here?

And, despite early exits in most of my last tournaments, I am seeded nr4 in D-Singles and even nr1 in D-Doubles. But that is thanks to my doubles partner Nic from Dublin, who won a few doubles matches in C in New York earlier this year.
Here are the seedings:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/seeds.aspx?id=BB809027-BEF6-4D87-B620-78758AE82CE2

My first match in D-Singles was against Oliver from Manchester.
I won 6-1 6-2, so not a bad start of a Masters.

My Quarter Final was against Tom from London; it was his first GLTA tournament.

It was really tough, because he had everything back and was really fast.
In the end, I won 2-6 6-2 and 10-1 in the super tie-break, which replaced a 3rd set in the earlier rounds, in 2 hours.

No time to rest though, as my tuna sandwich was interrupted by the announcement that I had to play my singles Semi-Final.

That was against Terry, who was really strong.

Our match had to be stopped because of the rain, and we had to continue indoors.

In the end, I had no chance against him and lost 6-2 1-6 0-6, in over 2 hours as well.

Only a little rest before our first doubles match. Our opponents were Matthew and Edward, who was my doubles partner last year in Sutton. Amazingly, we won 6-0 6-0.

And because that was the Semi-Final already, Nic & I made it to the final!
Our opponents were Terry (yes, the one I lost to in singles) and Paul Hickey, my doubles partner from 2 years ago.
All the finals, except for D-Singles for some unknown reason, were led by an official LTA umpire AND a linesman.

In an epic final that lasted 2 and a half hours, Nic & I won! It was 5-7, 6-0 6-3 in the end.

The prize ceremony started when Nic was still playing his D-Singles Consolation final. Luckily he won.
O, and D-Singles was won by Terry, no surprise there as he was so very strong.

The proud owners of a well deserved winners trophy:

And a close up of this beauty, the trophy I mean:

Here are the results for D-Singles and D-Doubles:
http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draw.aspx?id=BB809027-BEF6-4D87-B620-78758AE82CE2&draw=21

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draw.aspx?id=BB809027-BEF6-4D87-B620-78758AE82CE2&draw=23

And here is a link to my tournament statistics:
http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/player.aspx?id=BB809027-BEF6-4D87-B620-78758AE82CE2&player=33

Last but not least, the List of Winners:
http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/winners.aspx?id=BB809027-BEF6-4D87-B620-78758AE82CE2

Thanks to Gilles, Declan, Oliver, Tony and Wilbert (the player, not my brother) for taking photos and videos and being so generous.
And thank you Nic for being a GREAT doubles partner: congratulations on your win!

Madrid July 2011

2011-07-22T20:41:00.003+01:00

For the first time in Madrid, so ofcourse also the first time in the Madrid Tennis Tournament.

This gorgeous brandnew venue just outside central Madrid was founded by Emilio Sanchez and his sister Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, former well known pro players.

We played on the hardcourt outdoor courts in the scorching heat, and not on the covered clay courts.

Amazingly, after some poor results last and this year so far, I was still seeded nr 2 in D-Singles:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/seeds.aspx?id=479A1DB7-02F2-45C3-B47E-2D72A96D1A05

My doubles partner was Borja, a local guy who I was paired up with.

Even though there were 8 players in D-Singles, there were 2 groups of 4 and the Final was the winner of each group against each other. At least 3 matches for everyone: for me that was more than most previous tournaments in the last 2 years...

There were 5 pairs in D-doubles and therefore a round-robin: also good, because I played guaranteed 4 matches.
I don't think I ever played 4 doubles matches in any tournament before.

My first Friday match, was a Singles match against Paolo from Milan. I won 6-3, 6-2, at my first matchpoint, which is some achievement for me...

My second Singles match of the day was against Borja, my doubles partner. I won 6-1, 6-3.
But in the 2nd set I was 4-0 up and the heat got too much. Imagine, it was 2PM and on the court it must have been close to 40C. Borja came back: 4-1, 4-2, 4-3. But then Borja lost his serve and at my own serve, I finished the match and won at my 3rd matchpoint.

The evening match was our first Doubles match, against Spanish guys Fernando & Fernando. They were better, and they deservedly won 1-6, 3-6.
On the photo the 2 Fernando's are on the left, and Cesc Fabregas look-a-like Borja is on my right.

Saturday morning Borja & I played our second Doubles match, against Paolo (again) and Marcos, the Spanish nr1 seed in D-Singles. We lost 0-6, 3-6 but were were 2-0 up in the 2nd set.

Then my last group match in Singles was against Jordi from Andorra, who had also won 2 matches: needless to say the winner of our match would play the final. The match was played on a proper Centre Court: nice experience but down on the court it was mega-hot.

During the match the outside official temperature was 36C, so you can inagine how much hotter it must have been down on the court.....
After nearly 2 and a half hours, Jordi was much better than me and he won 1-6, 6-3 (yes I tried to fight), 2-6, where I even saved 2 matchpoints.
I told Jordi he would definitely win matches in C, as he was way too good for me.

My suffering was still not over, because in the early evening there was still another Doubles match to play: against Javier & Mariano we won! The final score was 6-4, 6-2 and we played really well.

On Sunday morning Borja & I still had 1 more Doubles match to play, against Dutch guys Dave & Ruud, the nr1 seeds in D-Doubles. They won the D-Doubles tournament in Amsterdam just a month before Madrid. To win that, they did not lose a single set, and on average they only allowed their opponents 3 games per match!
We gave it our best shot, and boy, did we play well.
In the 1st set we were 1-3 behind, but we fought back to being 4-3 up! Then we lost the set 4-6.
In the 2nd set we were 1-3 behind again, and we fought back to 3-3. In the end they won 4-6.

Unfortunately there is no photo with the Dutch guys, as they left the venue in a hurry after the match.

In the D-Singles final Jordi played against the nr1 seed Marcos. Marcos won and Jordi told me afterwards he was too nervous to play well.

And that was not Marcos' only winner's trophy, as he & Paolo won D-Doubles!

Ofcourse I had to go on a photo with both finalists; also because the trophies are the most beautiful I have ever seen. And, I have played a few tournaments.....

Here are the results in D-Singles and D-Doubles:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draw.aspx?id=479A1DB7-02F2-45C3-B47E-2D72A96D1A05&draw=15

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draw.aspx?id=479A1DB7-02F2-45C3-B47E-2D72A96D1A05&draw=17

And here are my personal results and stats for this tournament:
http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/player.aspx?id=479A1DB7-02F2-45C3-B47E-2D72A96D1A05&player=18

Despite the murdering heat, this tournament was very friendly and I met many old and new friends.
Jose Manuel, a real gentleman, who I played against in London a few years ago, lives in Madrid and I had his support in this tournament. Not only was he cheering for me, but he also was a brilliant translator (cafe cortado instead of con leche) and he even drove me back to my hotel in his car.
Jose, you are a great friend, so thanks very much for all your support.

The following photos were made by Jose:

This last photo shows all the players who attended the prize ceremony on the last day Sunday.

Amsterdam June 2011 (Masters)

2011-06-01T20:38:00.006+01:00

The Amsterdam tournament is a Masters tournament in 2011.
In D-Singles there are 6 seeds. The nr 6 seed has 18 ranking points, and I have 16.
However, in D-Mixed Doubles, Godelinde & myself are the nr 2 seeds. No pressure there...

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/seeds.aspx?id=9555A2AB-2CBF-466B-82C4-D96509D8DEC9

My brother noticed that my name and this blog got a mention on the Facebook page of the Pinkster Tournament! Have a look, scroll down until you see my name and the link to my blog:

http://www.facebook.com/PinksterTournament

Thanks guys! :-)

Upon arrival at the beautiful tennis venue that Amstelpark is, you could see the rainbow flags advertising this tournament amongst the regular venue flags: great!

For my first round D-Singles match, against local Dutch guy Paul Dautzenberg, I waited for over an hour, but he never showed up...... Such a shame, because that was going to be my only match on the first day Friday, so I could have visited my family, who live a 2 and a half hour train ride away........
Tournament organiser Andre then officially told me I had a walk-over.
However, later in the results and draws I had been given a bye, and the name of Paul Dautzenberg had just vanished off the D-singles draw! Strangely enough, I only heard through the grapevine that Paul never signed up for the singles and that it had been a mistake by the organisers.
Needless to say, I felt VERY annoyed, whoever's fault it was.

On the Saturday I played my 2nd Round D-Singles match, against David Caria. It was a very long match, 2 and a half hours, and was even stopped because of rain. We did continue playing in the rain, and even thunderstorm later.

In the end, I was the unlucky one to lose: 3-6, 6-4, 4-6 but David did play really well.

On that same Saturday Godelinde & I started our first round (which was already the QF) D-Mixed Doubles match at 7.30PM against compatriots Bonny & Evert, and it was going to be a loooooong match.

If you thought my singles match against David was a marathon match, that was nothing compared to this match, as it lasted for 3 and a half hours!
We won, and the final score was 7-6 (12-10 in the tie-break after 1-5 down in the tie-break!), 4-6, 7-6 (7-5 in the tie-break). In the 3rd and final set, we were 5-1 up, we even had a matchpoint. Bonny & evert came back to 5-5, and then we made it 6-5.

Because I did lose my first Singles match, I was entered in the Consolation draw.
My first match, QF, was against Owen from Dublin. The match was played indoors and I won 8-1.
I was surprised how well and patiently I played. I guess I prefer the indoor surface...

Our Semi-Final Mixed Doubles match was against Dominique & Vasso from Belgium.
My brother arrived just in time to watch this match, and he-and all other spectators- got value for money, as this match lasted for 3 hours.

Here are a few photos and videos my brother Wilbert made of the match. Can you see my little Dutch flag? It served as a kind of lucky charm.

After 3 hours we just lost: 1-6, 6-3, 5-7. Godelinde & I played well, but Vasso & Dominique were a little better, but it was a great match.

Of course these tournaments are not just about competition, but about meeting new friends and socialising. Here I am with (from left to right) Noom from Thailand, and Rob & Waz from Australia.

At the players' party in club "Home", Alan from London took this photo of me, Firman and Godelinde: the 3 good friends re-united.

After a bit of partying, I had to play my Semi-Final in the Consolation round at 9AM on the Monday.
My opponent was Wai from the USA, who played the Amsterdam tournament with the support of his boyfriend.
The match was played indoors and I won 8-1.

Right after I played this Semi-Final, I had to play the Consolation FINAL, outdoors, against Tim from The Netherlands.

You can hear my fans cheering: Thanks Firman, Waz & Rob!

One of my infamous lobs......

Well, what a tough match it was, as Tim had a huge forehand. With the support from Firman, Waz & Rob, I won 8-3! I think I played quite well actually: hardly any mistake and a few beautiful winning shots.

The well deserved award at the prize ceremony: Winner of D-Singles Consolation:

Wow, what a great tournament it was, tenniswise as well as socialwise.

Here are the results for D-Singles and D-Mixed Doubles:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draw.aspx?id=9555A2AB-2CBF-466B-82C4-D96509D8DEC9&draw=24

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draw.aspx?id=9555A2AB-2CBF-466B-82C4-D96509D8DEC9&draw=39

And here is the link to my matches and stats: if you look at the number of games played, won and lost, you can see I played 64 games in only 2 doubles matches.
The total time I have been on court this tournament was close to 12 hours....

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/player.aspx?id=9555A2AB-2CBF-466B-82C4-D96509D8DEC9&player=114

Last but not least, many thanks to Firman, Robert, Warwick, Noom, and of course my brother Wilbert for all your support.
Godelinde, you get a special mention for being such a wonderful and lovely doubles partner, and friend!

Dublin April-May 2011

2011-04-18T12:18:00.007+01:00

For the first time, I played a tournament in Dublin, which is where I used to live. It is my first tournament in 2011, my first full year living in Brighton.
My doubles partner is John Miller from Manchester, and believe it or not: we are seeded nr 1!
I am the nr 3 seeded player in D-singles. Here are the seedings in D-singles and D-doubles:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/seeds.aspx?id=8F48F154-050C-4B0B-BB73-7429B3F2FE16

I had a bye in the first Round, and in the 2nd Round I played against Thomas Heuer, my doubles partner in Dusseldorf in 2008.

In a very tough match, on the very slow and sandy artificial grass surface, I won 6-3, 6-7 (5-7 in the tie-break), 6-2. I even had 2 matchpoints in the 2nd set.

The results of matches were shown on a giant TV screen:

Early morning on the Sunday, John and I played our first match. That was because we had a bye in the 1st Round. So straight into the Quarter Finals.
Unfortunately, 1 of our opponents got injured in his singles match, so he had to be replaced. But unfortunately for John and me, the replacement was a C-player. He proved way too good for us, but especially in the first set, we played really well. We lost in the end with 6-7 (after having had a setpoint!), 1-6.

From left to right: John, myself, Ronan and Tom. Ronan & Tom actually lost in the next round in 3 sets.

In my singles Quarter Final, I played against local Dubliner Shaun. Both of us not only battled against each other, but also against the hard wind.
Below are a few photos taken by John, my doubles partner:

Stretching to hit a service return back.

Always time for a smile.

A not-so-elegant service.....

This is how bad the wind was:

This photo was taken by the official tournament photographer, by the way.

In the end I lost 3-6, 3-6. Shaun was the better player.
A real shame, because in the 2nd set I was making a come back after 0-4 down, but on 3-5 at 30 all, I served my first double fault of the match that gave Shaun a matchpoint.....

Shaun made it to the final, as he beat Joan Valdosera in the Semi-Final, so not such a big shame after all.

The player's banquet was quite exclusive, as it was held in the beautiful historic Mansion House, which now hosts the Fire Restaurant, but was the place where the very first Irish parliament met for the first time after having become independent from England.

Here are the results for D-Singles and D-Doubles:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draw.aspx?id=8F48F154-050C-4B0B-BB73-7429B3F2FE16&draw=8

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draw.aspx?id=8F48F154-050C-4B0B-BB73-7429B3F2FE16&draw=9

And an overview of my matches:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/player.aspx?id=8F48F154-050C-4B0B-BB73-7429B3F2FE16&player=15

Last but not least, I would like to thank Adrian, Brian, Zul and John for taking the pictures and videos.
John, also thanks for the great doubles' partnership.
Frank and your team, thanks for a great tournament and congratulations on a very smooth and successful organisation and running of it.

Manchester September 2010

2010-09-12T01:49:00.002+01:00

For the first time I am the nr 1 seed in the regular D-Singles!
And even in D Doubles I am seeded. I am playing with Nigel again:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/seeds.aspx?id=6FC69F00-1A37-4B36-A7C7-9B2C9CD02188

First Round in Singles was against Tom, from Dublin:

I won 6-2, 4-6, 10-4 in 2 hours: the third set was a Champions Tie-Break (regular tie-break until 10 points).

The next round was the quarter final, and I played against Dennis, also from Dublin:

In a 2 hour match, I lost 1-6, 5-7. In the second set I came back from 3-5 down and played well.

The Doubles was Round Robin, and Nigel & I played 2 group matches.
The first one was against Irish guys Manu & Owen: we lost 3-6, 4-6 but played quite well.

The second match, played on on Sunday morning ,was against Mark & Malcolm, both from Bristol:

As you might be able to guess, by Nigel's proud smile, we won! After 0-3 down in the first set, we won 6-3, 6-3.

Here are the results:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draw.aspx?id=6FC69F00-1A37-4B36-A7C7-9B2C9CD02188&draw=6

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draw.aspx?id=6FC69F00-1A37-4B36-A7C7-9B2C9CD02188&draw=16

And here is the link to my personal stats of this tournament:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/player.aspx?id=6FC69F00-1A37-4B36-A7C7-9B2C9CD02188&player=32

London Sutton August 2010

2010-08-26T22:38:00.001+01:00

The London tournament in Sutton is the tournament I have played most times: this is the 4th year in a row.
Also, it was the first time I "visited" London, after my move to Brighton.

I was the nr3 seed in D singles:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/seeds.aspx?id=D9AD06D6-B064-4126-923E-01293316694E

My first round in singles was against Ian, who was very tall. In a very long match, 3 sets, I eventually lost 6-4, 2-6, 4-6. I was even 4-1 up in the final set!

The Doubles in D was Round Robin, so at least we got to play 3 matches.
Ed, Canadian in London, was a great doubles partner. You can see our results here below.

The Consolation draw in the singles was a rollercoaster ride:
The first round which was the Quarter Final was supposed to be against Phil, who I played against in Sutton in the past 2 years, but he had to withdraw with an injury.
So, the Semi Final then, against John, who is from Cork but lives in London.
At 6-3 for me, he suddenly left the match and said I won. He said I was dishonest and he didn't like me motivating myself (!).
So, I got to the Consolation Final! I played against Tomas from Prague. I played against him in Prague last year.

I won, after 2 and a half hours, 6-4, and I was 0-4 down (!), 7-6 (after 3-5 down!), 9-7 in the tie-break.
I had a matchpoint at 6-4 in the tie-break already.

This is my Spanish friend Jose Manuel, who I played against in Sutton last year. He won the D singles this year!

Here is the prize ceremony:

I was happy with my trophy, because after I lost my first round match, I thought it was going to be a bad weekend.

And here is the trophy in close up:

Here are the results for D Singles and D Doubles:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draw.aspx?id=D9AD06D6-B064-4126-923E-01293316694E&draw=47

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draw.aspx?id=D9AD06D6-B064-4126-923E-01293316694E&draw=46

Here are the details of my matches:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/player.aspx?id=D9AD06D6-B064-4126-923E-01293316694E&player=11

I am even included in the winners, as Ed and I ended as 3rd in D-Doubles:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/winners.aspx?id=D9AD06D6-B064-4126-923E-01293316694E

Last but not least: Tony, thanks for your camera skills!

Cologne Gay Games August 2010

2010-08-01T22:18:00.006+01:00

Just like the Olympics, the Gay Games are only held every 4 years, and after Chicago 4 years ago, the Games are now being held in Europe: how exciting!

Here is the list of seeded players: I am the nr2 seed! But the nr1 seed is Zaenuddin, who actually has too many ranking points to still be in D.... So he would need to play in C.

And Godelinde & me are nr1 seed in D Mixed Doubles! Wow!

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/seeds.aspx?id=5D8BA0EE-4BAC-4152-ABC6-3B3625CCAF7A

It really did feel like I was an Olympic athlete, as there were street signs in Cologne about the Games, and the Opening Ceremony was held in the big stadium:

This photo is a bit blurry, because the "Gay Games" text was moving from right to left. It was taken in one of the underground stations.

I had a bye in Singles first round, and in Round 2, I played fellow Dutchman Frank Ebbink:
I won 6-0, 7-6 (7-3 in the tie-break). In de second set I had to come back from 3-5 down, as Frank started to play really well.

Frank and I enjoyed a beer after our match.

The third round was against German guy Christian, who was way too good for me. especially in the first set, he showed me all corners of the court, proving he was more of a top C player than a D player.....
I lost 1-6, 4-6 in the end. In the second set I was leading 3-0, but after that, he "toyed" with me.

Proud Christian.

Then it was time for our first Mixed Doubles match. and because another couple had withdrawn, the winner of this match would play in the final. We played against Rob and Gladys, both also from Holland. I played against Rob in Amsterdam as well previously. Godelinde and I won 6-2, 6-1!

The Mixed Doubles Final was against Frank (again) and Annemiek, also Dutch.

This was the final point of the game.
After a very long match, more than 2 and a half hours we only lost 5-7, 5-7 but it was a great match. In the second set we were 0-4 down, but fought back to 5-4 ahead.

Here is the medal ceremony:

And because I am so proud of this medal, here it is in close up:

Here are the results for both D-Singles and D Mixed Doubles:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draw.aspx?id=5D8BA0EE-4BAC-4152-ABC6-3B3625CCAF7A&draw=19

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draw.aspx?id=5D8BA0EE-4BAC-4152-ABC6-3B3625CCAF7A&draw=40

And here are the details of my matches:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/player.aspx?id=5D8BA0EE-4BAC-4152-ABC6-3B3625CCAF7A&player=131

And Godelinde and I are mentioned in the list of winners:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/winners.aspx?id=5D8BA0EE-4BAC-4152-ABC6-3B3625CCAF7A

And a last word: many thanks Lies and Oliver for your camera actions!

Munich June 2010 (Masters)

2010-06-16T23:29:00.005+01:00

First time I will play in the Munich tournament. It is always played at the Olympiapark, right behind the legendary, marvellous Olympia Stadium. The tournament is a Masters, so enough reasons to play well.

In D-Singles I am seeded nr3. Strangely enough, a female is seeded nr1, because she earned her points in the women's tournaments. Where there is a lot at stake in a Masters tournament, a very unexplainable decision.

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/seeds.aspx?id=D975D3EB-F98D-4FB7-8740-6EBF0D3A2A5F

My doubles partner in D is my good friend Christian from Aachen, Germany.

First round in singles I had a bye. Second round was against jolly Belgian Dominique.

Final matchpoint:

I won 6-0, 6-2.

Second round, QF, against Hynek, my doubles partner from Prague 2009 (where we were finalists).
So I knew it was going to be difficult.

I lost 2-6, 3-6. Especially in the first set, I played really bad...

The Doubles: 1st round was a bye, and the second round, QF, was against nr1 seeds Spanish guys Gabriel & Joan. We lost, but nearly won: 6-4, 6-7 (2-7), 7-10 (Champions Tie-break). In the second set at 4-4, we had 4 breakpoints we did not convert...
In the Champions Tie-break I scored an incredible point at the net, 2 impossible quick reactions within 5 seconds.

Here are the results for D-singles and D-doubles:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draw.aspx?id=D975D3EB-F98D-4FB7-8740-6EBF0D3A2A5F&draw=9

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draw.aspx?id=D975D3EB-F98D-4FB7-8740-6EBF0D3A2A5F&draw=10

My stats for this tournament:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/player.aspx?id=D975D3EB-F98D-4FB7-8740-6EBF0D3A2A5F&player=45

Thank you so much Christian for being a great friend, a wonderful doubles partner, and an amazing camera handler!

Amsterdam May 2010

2010-05-10T13:48:00.015+01:00

I registered late for this tournament, as I was not sure if I was able to attend.
Therefore, I was too late to enter D-Singles, so I entered D-Singles 40+. I am 41, after all...

Also, I am playing mixed doubles again with Godelinde!

I am seeded nr 1 in D-Singles 40+:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/seeds.aspx?id=818680DB-BE6F-4F2C-AA84-BAF0E76B0AEB

First round mixed doubles, against Dutch duo Rob & Willemien. We won 6-2, 6-3! What a start!

First round in D Singles 40+ was QF, against Bob, who I played against last year in Amsterdam.
I won 6-0, 6-1.

Secound round mixed doubles was QF, against very experienced Dutch duo Niels & Emma.

We lost 2-6, 3-6. But we played well, especially in the second set.

Semi-Final in Singles against Dutch guy Erik:

I lost 6-1, 3-6 (after leading 3-1!), 2-6. Until 3-1 in the second set I played really well, but after that nothing worked anymore...
That is what I told Godelinde in the post-match interview, in Dutch:

Here are my results:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draw.aspx?id=818680DB-BE6F-4F2C-AA84-BAF0E76B0AEB&draw=28

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draw.aspx?id=818680DB-BE6F-4F2C-AA84-BAF0E76B0AEB&draw=36

And here are my stats for this tournament:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/player.aspx?id=818680DB-BE6F-4F2C-AA84-BAF0E76B0AEB&player=425

Dusseldorf April 2010

2010-04-08T21:10:00.069+01:00

I was seeded Nr 3 in D singles, and I played in D-doubles with my German friend Christian as doubles partner.

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/seeds.aspx?id=D69531FC-0478-4901-A607-DF15210CF23F

First round Singles was against Stephan from Germany, who beat me in Dusseldorf last year in the doubles, with Giraldo.

Here a great, almost imposible point by Stephan: I promised him to upload this for him.

I won 6-4, 6-2.

Second round, quarter final, was against my doubles partner Christian:
I won 6-4, 6-2.
Unfortunately there was nobody available at 8AM to take photos or videos of the match...

Semi Final against my nemesis Giraldo:

Here is the final matchpoint:

In more than 2 hours I kept my cool, and my tactics worked:
I won 7-6 (7-1 in the tie-break), 5-7, 6-2. I won it on Giraldo's service at the 7th matchpoint!

In the Doubles, our first round match was against Giraldo (!) and Rafael, who plays in C now:
Christian and I played very well, especially in the 2nd set, but it was not enough: 3-6, 4-6.

So I reached the D-Singles Final! I played against Zaenudin, another nemesis.

He proved again he that belongs in C, as I lost 4-6, 4-6. But I fought really hard and played really well.
In the second set I was 0-4 down and I fought all the way back, by changing my tactics into attacking play.

A proud moment, the trophy ceremoney:

Here are the results for D-singles and D-doubles:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draw.aspx?id=D69531FC-0478-4901-A607-DF15210CF23F&draw=4

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draw.aspx?id=D69531FC-0478-4901-A607-DF15210CF23F&draw=16

Here are my stats for this tournament:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/player.aspx?id=D69531FC-0478-4901-A607-DF15210CF23F&player=2

Thanks so much Christian for being such a great friend, camera handler and doubles partner!

Also lots of thanks to Gilles, Tony and Declan for your support.

Eindhoven February 2010

2010-02-02T13:24:00.006Z

Exciting, as this is my first tournament where I play in Mixed Doubles!

The lovely bubbly Godelinde Gubbels is my partner in the D Mixed Doubles.

In D-singles I am seeded as nr 2:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/seeds.aspx?id=9E0BFDA7-E510-410B-8E7F-E3257FCA07A9

My first match in D-Singles was the 2nd Round, as I had a bye in Round 1. My opponent was Randal, who I met just a week before in the Champions Race Tournament in Amsterdam:

I played really well and won 6-2, 6-1.

The first round match in D Mixed Doubles was against the nr 1 seeds, but we never played , as my back became too painful just before the match started!

Then luck stroke me as fast as my backpain: my Singles opponent in the Quarter Final, Oliver, had withdrawn because of an injury! So I had a whole day to rest my back.

Semi-Final in D-Singles was early on the Sunday, against Giraldo, my angstgegner...

Again, he was too strong for me, but this time I played well (unlike in Manchester last year): 2-6, 3-6.

Time for the Consolation Draw in D Mixed Doubles.
The Semi-Final was against fellow Dutch players Luc & Judith. We won 8-2!

So we played the Consolation Final, against Belgian Genevieve & French guy Nicholas:

We won the Consolation Final 8-4, and took home the trophy of WINNER Consolation!

Here are the results of D-Singles:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draw.aspx?id=9E0BFDA7-E510-410B-8E7F-E3257FCA07A9&draw=25

And D Mixed Doubles:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draw.aspx?id=9E0BFDA7-E510-410B-8E7F-E3257FCA07A9&draw=31

All my results at a glance:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/player.aspx?id=9E0BFDA7-E510-410B-8E7F-E3257FCA07A9&player=40

And the Winners' listings:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/winners.aspx?id=9E0BFDA7-E510-410B-8E7F-E3257FCA07A9

The trophy in close up:

Godelinde, thank you so much for being my successful partner!

Dear Firman, many thanks for your support!

Amsterdam Champions Race January 2010

2010-01-03T16:26:00.014Z

After New Year celebrations with my family in Holland, I received this email:

Your official invite to the GLTA Championships in Amsterdam.
Congratulations Peter,
You are officially invited to play in the GLTA Champions Race (singles D) in Amsterdam.
Please let us know if you can attend at the Champions Race finals.
If you can't play, please let us know as well. We will then invite the next on the list.
Can you please respond soon, because otherwise we need to move on to the next on the list.
Hopefully looking forward seeing you in Amsterdam in January
Kind regards
Hein Jan Lapidaire
GLTA Commissioner.

Needless to say I replied straight away confirming my presence. Great start of 2010!

Also, because of a late cancellation, I was asked to play in D-doubles as well, which I gladly accepted.

The updated draw shows I am seeded 6th in D-singles, and I am in Group B:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/event.aspx?id=96892D6B-9852-4796-9489-0DAF420C85E1&event=9

First Singles match was against Joan, again...

Unfortunately I lost, after a long, tight match, in 3 hours: 7-6, 4-6, 4-6.

Next match was against the lovely Brian from Chicago. In a strange, 2-hour long match, I eventually won
6-4, 0-6, 6-1:

After this, it was Doubles time: playing 3 matches with the same 4 people, so with 3 alternate partners:
First match was with Joe from Florida, who's partner Bruce was here with him (!), against fellow Americans Randal and Brian:

Joe and I were leading, but we could not finish our match, as time was up...

Next day, last group match in Singles, against good friend Tony Pham, who I met in last year's Champions Race Tournament in Hollywood:

Tony was too good for me, but it was a lovely match: 3-6, 2-6. No semi-finals for me this year.
But later on, it was Doubles time again:
Joe and I finished our first match, winning 6-4, 6-3.
Straight after, it was Brian & me against Joe & Randal: we lost 3-6, 4-6.
And like true die hards, we played our last group match as well.
This time it was Randal & me against Joe & Brian. We lost 5-7, 3-6.

Everything wa splayed in good spirit. It was then cruel, that Randal, Brian and me all ended in 2nd place, with the same amount of sets won and lost! So, our names went into the hat, and Brian was the lucky one to proceed to the Doubles Final.
In that final, he and fellow American Kevin beat Joe & Tony Pham to take home the D- Doubles Winners' Trophy!

The GLTA Awards Ceremony also signalled the goodbye of Hein Jan as GLTA board member.
Here is a photo of the GLTA board:

During the ceremony, all qualified players were honoured:

And here is my Certificate of Excellence:

Poor Tony Pham lost the D-Singles Final, against Chrisian Kuster: Tony's second lost Champions Race Final in a row, but he does win the price for the nicest guy.

Here are my results in D-singles:
http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draw.aspx?id=96892D6B-9852-4796-9489-0DAF420C85E1&draw=14

And my results in D-Doubles:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/player.aspx?id=96892D6B-9852-4796-9489-0DAF420C85E1&player=229

My stats for these Championships:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/player.aspx?id=96892D6B-9852-4796-9489-0DAF420C85E1&player=229

Manchester September 2009

2009-09-03T14:30:00.014+01:00

Look, I am the nr 2 seed in D-singles. The points for London have not been updated for this tournament, otherwise I would be the nr 1 seed:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/seeds.aspx?id=FA8D4BCC-5290-495A-BAC2-DCBAA9118D44

Paul Hickey could not make it this year, so I played doubles with Nigel again.

The D-doubles was Round Robin and our first match was against well knows Rafael & Giraldo:

Nigel and I didn't play well at all, especially in the first set, but in all fairness (Myk), the Spanish guys were better. Well, no wonder, as they are partners in real life too!
Score was 2-6, 3-6.

First singles match was the Quarter Final, as I had a bye in Round 1. Guess who I was up against: Giraldo.

I really let myself down and had no chance against him. I played aweful..... I lost 2-6, 0-6.

So, trying my luck in the Consolation again, just like last year. I played against Irish guy Eugene and it was a great tight match.

I lost 7-8, unlucky.

Our second doubles match was against Irish guys Eugene (again) and Seamus.

We played quite well, but lost 4-6, 3-6 on a cold and windy outdoor court.

Our last doubles match was against Jacob and Joan. I played doubles against them in Prague and I won. Would there finally be some success for me in this tournament?

It was a great match and we scored some awesome points, and we won 7-6, 3-6 and 10-7 in the champions tie-break which replaced the 3rd set.

Here are the results for D-singles:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draw.aspx?id=FA8D4BCC-5290-495A-BAC2-DCBAA9118D44&draw=2

And D-doubles (with Nigel again) is Round Robin:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draw.aspx?id=FA8D4BCC-5290-495A-BAC2-DCBAA9118D44&draw=1

My stats for this tournament:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/player.aspx?id=FA8D4BCC-5290-495A-BAC2-DCBAA9118D44&player=3

London Sutton August 2009

2009-08-20T13:52:00.020+01:00

The London tournament, held for the 14th time. Here is the promo video from the organisation:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtzWvHkBYys

It will be my first tournament I wil play for the 3rd time. And, I am the 4th seed in D-singles:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/seeds.aspx?id=EE2761FE-DC84-43CD-9C42-A0B2393337AF ware.com/sport/seeds.aspx?id=EE2761FE-DC84-43CD-9C42-A0B2393337AF

First up was round 1 of the doubles: Paul and I played Brodie and David, childhood friends.

Especially David was too good and we lost 1-6, 0-6.

Round 1 in singles I had a bye and in round 2 I played Phil, who I played against last year in Sutton as well:

This time I won 6-2, 6-2.

The Quarter Final was a very long and tiring match against Spanish Jose Manuel, a real gentleman.

I won eventually 7-5, 7-6 with 7-0 in the tie-break.

I only got half an hour rest from the tournament organisation, and not even time for a proper meal, before I had to play my Semi-Final match! I am not a pro!

It was a long 3-setter on a windy outdoor court, and I lost in the end 7-5, 4-6, 2-6.

I did fight very hard, in fact so hard that the D singles Final was NOT played: my opponent in the semi's was apparently too tired to play the final.
I do feel cheated, as this is not good sportsmanship... That's what happens when you let D-players play 2 matches with no real break in between.

Here are the results, first D-singles and then D-doubles:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draw.aspx?id=EE2761FE-DC84-43CD-9C42-A0B2393337AF&draw=18

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draw.aspx?id=EE2761FE-DC84-43CD-9C42-A0B2393337AF&draw=12

My stats for this tournament:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/player.aspx?id=EE2761FE-DC84-43CD-9C42-A0B2393337AF&player=31

My average ranking points are now the highest I ever had: 38.

And, in the Champions ranking, I am closing in on a top-8 spot.....

Zurich August 2009

2009-08-06T20:40:00.020+01:00

In Zurich I am the Nr 4 seed in D singles. Initially I was nr 3 seed, but Rafael came back from C to play in D...

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/seeds.aspx?id=F16DE4D0-DBF6-4275-BC41-D42FE534F30E

My first round match was against local Zurich guy Ralph, who played his very first tournament:

I won 6-0, 6-1, a good start.

And look who is here: Manuela Malejeva (former world nr 3!) played an exhibition match especially for this tournament:

My second round, the Quarter Final, was against Spanish guy Jose: a true gentleman.

I won 6-4, 6-1.

Another Semi-Final, and guess against who: Joan, who beat me in the Prague Final!

This time it was me who won: 6-2, 6-2. I certainly knew now how to beat him:

I am in the Final, again! Second time in a row!

O and there was also doubles ofcourse: I played with Thomas Heuer again.

Because we had a walk-over, we played the Semi-Final already. It was an evening match against Giraldo and Xiaobing:

Unfortunately we lost 1-6, 3-6. because it was Thomas' and my first match, we were a bit rusty in the first set. In the second set we were a bit more competitive, but it was too late.

Well, Giraldo and Xiaobing ended up winning the D-doubles, so at least we lost against the winners.

The D-singles Final was played with an umpire (Amir) on my request. There had been some controversy in previous matches of my opponent, Italian Antonio Trotta. His friend Paolo had caused a bit of a stir by interfering in calls made and scores, whicvh is not allowed on GLTA, nor is coaching. I just wanted to start fresh, with a neutral umpire to avoid problems.

I lost the match though, in a very good match: 4-6, 2-6. It was a good learning experience, as he was very good from the baseline and I was a bit unlucky at times as well.

This year there was time to attend the general awards ceremony:

Here is the Runners Up trophy in close up:

Here are the results, singles first and then doubles:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draw.aspx?id=F16DE4D0-DBF6-4275-BC41-D42FE534F30E&draw=22

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draw.aspx?id=F16DE4D0-DBF6-4275-BC41-D42FE534F30E&draw=17

My stats for this tournament:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/player.aspx?id=F16DE4D0-DBF6-4275-BC41-D42FE534F30E&player=26

And finally, here is the list of Winners of the tournament, with myself included in Singles and Doubles:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/winners.aspx?id=F16DE4D0-DBF6-4275-BC41-D42FE534F30E

Prague, July 2009

2009-07-12T18:50:00.014+01:00

This is the first time Prague is hosting a GLTA tournament: http://www.friendlytennis.com/

These are the seedings. Please note, I am the nr. 3 seed in D-singles and nr. 2 seed in D-doubles, with Paul Hickey:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/seeds.aspx?id=08D43F75-3A78-4DB0-BB6A-51D2CCED0815

Unfortunately Paul could not come to Prague due to personal reasons, and luckily the tournament organisers found a local guy called Hynek to be my doubles partner.

First Round match, against German guy Stefan:

This is at match point:

I won the match 6-1, 6-0: a good start.

Only the next day I played my Second Round (Quarter Final) match, against local guy Tomas.

See how much it rained?

Because of the rain, we had to stop playing and carry on our match indoors, later on in the day.

Look closely at the indoor surface: looks like Lego blocks!

I won 8-6, after 4-5 down outdoors on clay. So the indoor surface was a blessing for me!

I did need 5 matchpoints to win it, in all fairness.....

All D-doubles matches were also played indoors because of the rain.

Our first match in the Round Robin Group B was against Philip, American, and Stefan again:

We won 8-6!

The next match was against Danish Jakob and Spanish Joan.

This is matchpoint:

Believe it or not, but we won 8-1!

It took me some time to realise that we had actually reached the Final!

Sunday was semi Final and Finals day:

In the early morning I played my singles Semi Final against Philip:

This is matchpoint:

I won! 6-2, 6-1, but it was much tougher than that, also because of the heat.

I am in the Final!

The Final was against Spanish guy Joan, a very fine player:

Well, the final score is on the photo: I lost, in case you wondered.

However, I played really well. It was a long match, 2h30m, and we both could have won.

Whilst I was playing this D singles Final, my name was called to play the D doubles Final!

The Doubles Final was very shortly afterwards, against Spanish giants Gabriel and Michel.

Michel had made a come-back, after his last tournament in Zurich in 2008 (where I played against him).

Hynek and I gave it our very best, but we lost 10-1 in the Super Tie-Break which replaced a 3rd set.

But wow, what a tournament: 2 finals! Even though I lost them both, I played really well throughout the tournament and I won 1 set in each final.

Unfortunately I could not stay until the Award ceremony, but I did get my trophies:

Finalist in D Singles:

Finalist in D Doubles: My first Doubles trophy!

Here are the results in D-singles:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draw.aspx?id=08D43F75-3A78-4DB0-BB6A-51D2CCED0815&draw=9

D-doubles, which was a Round Robin.

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draw.aspx?id=08D43F75-3A78-4DB0-BB6A-51D2CCED0815&draw=11

My stats for this tournament:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/player.aspx?id=08D43F75-3A78-4DB0-BB6A-51D2CCED0815&player=10

It is nice to see my name twice on the winner's page:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/winners.aspx?id=08D43F75-3A78-4DB0-BB6A-51D2CCED0815

Special thanks to Myk for your support, for just being there, and for taking the pictures and videos. :-)

Look at this link: I am in one of the official tournament photos!

http://www.friendlytennis.com/en-gallery-turnament_2009-2

Amsterdam May-June 2009

2009-05-19T12:50:00.007+01:00

The Amsterdam tournament (biggest one on GLTA Tour) is being held the weekend after the Dusseldorf tournament.

Look: I am nr2 seed in D-singles (!) and nr 6 seed in D-doubles (!) with Paul Hickey:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/seeds.aspx?id=6183BB4F-922A-4BCA-831E-DA04A546CF84

In the 1st Round I played fellow Dutchman Bob.

O look who is playing on the court next to me. Christian, my semi-final opponent in Dusseldorf. He was playing in C in Amsterdam:

Tennis is a lonely sport as you can see, when even the ball does not want to be your friend.....

I think this is a fine forehand shot:

Bob in action, a close up:

Too bad the match was finished so quickly: I won 6-0, 6-0.

Bob and me. Bob was one of the nicest guys I ever played.

Many thanks to Bob, and his friend (sorry, I forgot her name) for taking the photos.

In the 2nd Round I played Roelof, my doubles partner from Antwerp 2007:

Paul was not sure how my camera worked:

I was 0-2 behind, but won eventually 6-3, 6-0. So now I am in the Quarter-Finals.

But first doubles: Paul and I had a bye in the 1st round. Our 2nd round match was against 2 Dutchmen:

I was showing off my new tennis shoes (bought with TennisPlanet ofcourse!) to Godelinde during a break:

We lost unfortunately 3-6, 6-7. The tie-break score was 5-7, after 4-1 lead.

Sorry no photos of our opponents. The reason is that the day after they had beaten us, one of them just did not turn up for their next round match, whilst Paul and me were ready to play....

Next day I played my Quarter Final against fellow dutchman Frank at 8.30 AM. He was very chatty before the match and during the first few games.Then my brother arrived at around 9.00 AM after a 2 hour drive. The moment my brother said "come on Peter", Frank told him to shut up!

This last video showed that the wind was a big factor in the second set.

Anyway, I lost 2-6, 3-6, but the match lasted over 2 hours, so it was much closer.

Here are the results for D singles and doubles:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draw.aspx?id=6183BB4F-922A-4BCA-831E-DA04A546CF84&draw=46

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draw.aspx?id=6183BB4F-922A-4BCA-831E-DA04A546CF84&draw=27

And my stats for this tournament:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/player.aspx?id=6183BB4F-922A-4BCA-831E-DA04A546CF84&player=141

Many many thanks Paul, Martina and Wilbert for using my camera :-)

Dusseldorf May 2009

2009-05-03T23:17:00.015+01:00

My blog has had a revamp after my confirmed partnership with http://www.tennisplanet.co.uk/

I am the nr 2 seed in D singles, so with my family coming to watch me play, there will be absolutely no pressure.....

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/seeds.aspx?id=C3452DC8-3C8A-4BCE-97E6-DBEF5B966D68

I had a bye in the first round, so straight in the QF, against Spanish player Giraldo, friend of Rafael. Nel and Vincent were here to support me:

See my new shoes?

Next video shows me with my hands in the air. I had just won my only game in the 2nd set;
I lost it 1-6.

Eventually I won it in 3 sets, so I reached the semi-finals.

But first doubles with Nigel. We had a Bye in the 1st round, so we went straight to the semi-finals! We played Stephan and.... Giraldo again:

We lost 4-6, 4-6, but played well.

Semi-final singles, against Swiss Christian Kuster:

In a good and close match, Christian won 6-4, 6-4. He was better but I fought really well.

Christian went on to beat Erwin in the final.

The results are here below, first singles and then doubles:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draw.aspx?id=C3452DC8-3C8A-4BCE-97E6-DBEF5B966D68&draw=7

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draw.aspx?id=C3452DC8-3C8A-4BCE-97E6-DBEF5B966D68&draw=11

My stats for this tournament:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/player.aspx?id=C3452DC8-3C8A-4BCE-97E6-DBEF5B966D68&player=26

Thank you Nel, Vincent and Lies for your support and the photos and videos!

Eindhoven February 2009 (Masters)

2009-02-07T16:43:00.021Z

First regular tournament in 2009 is a Masters.
And it is held in Eindhoven, Netherlands, near where my family lives, so no pressure (after my succes in Hollywood), hahaha.

Look, I am the nr. 2 seed in D-singles, and nr. 3 seed in D-doubles, with Paul Hickey:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/seeds.aspx?id=24756

My first singles match was against Zaenuddin, who I met in Antwerp in July 2007 (see blog entry). In Antwerp he played in C doubles.

I lost 1-6, 2-6: he was just too good and would do really well in C...

Also, during the match, my glasses broke, so I had to play most of the match without glasses!
This photo was taken after the match:

So, Consolation then: I played against Spanish ace Leo Garcia: In the Madrid tournament in 2008, very recently, he beat Jose Molina, who is now the nr1 seed in D singles here in Eindhoven. Also, he beat Ximo Peres easily...
Leo was only in the Consolation Round, because he only arrived during the day. And, I did not have the chance to fix my glasses on time before this match. Good luck Peter...

No surprise I lost 3-8. Also no surprise that Leo won the D Consolation Final in the end. He is definitely not a D-player...

Thanks Omar for shooting the videos!

With Paul's help, I managed to fix my glasses before our doubles match. My brother Wilbert was here to cheer us on, and to shoot photos and videos of course:

Watch the end of this video; it shows an incredible point by me. This is exactly what makes doubles tennis so spectacular:

We lost against this Belgian duo Jeff and Rafael, 3-6, 1-6. Not shameful, if you know that Jeff reached the semi-final in C-singles!

My bad luck was not finished yet (after all, it WAS the weekend of Friday the 13th...), because our Consolation match in D-doubles was against Spanish guys Leo (yes, the same one...) and Juan David, who I played against in D-doubles at the Eurogames in Antwerpen in 2007. And Nel and Vincent and Wilbert were here to cheer us on, some very useful moral support:

When things do not always go our way, you have to discuss tactics:

This last video showed the Spanish guys, Leo that is, were too good, as expected. We lost 2-8.

We are all friends, after the match as well. From left to right:
Paul, Leo, Juan David, and me.

Results in D singles and D doubles:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draw.aspx?id=24756&draw=18

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draw.aspx?id=24756&draw=20

My stats for this tournament:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/player.aspx?id=B3B8E0B0-2816-403C-AC06-BB713821FDD9&player=34

Los Angeles Hollywood Champions Race January 2009

2009-01-02T14:13:00.017Z

As you can see below: I ended 2008 as number 5 in D-singles of the Champions ranking.
This means, first 8 in each category qualify, I have qualified for this Tournament of Champions!

Final GLTA Championships Ranking 2008 Men's Singles D:
1. [BEL] Troy Cox
2. [NOR] Sven Erik Dahl
3. [USA] Jo Chen
4. [USA] Pacifico Marquez
5. [GBR] Peter De Bruyni
6. [USA] Matt Green
7. [GBR] Thomas James Kidd
8. [USA] Alan Leighton
9. [USA] Antonio Clarke
10 [USA] James Mrkvicka
11 [GBR] William Dachris
12 [BEL] Alain Michils
13 [USA] Gaetan Barthelemy
14 [USA] Tony Pham

This means, first 8 in each category qualify, I have qualified for this Tournament of Champions! Not only have I qualified, I have officially been invited for this tournament by the GLTA Board.

This tournament of champions is even covered and listed by some websites:

http://www.active.com/page/Event_Details.htm?event_id=1668354&assetId=accdb596-4bb4-4536-9de5-1ccabc93e915

http://www.ziptogaytravel.com/calendar_events.php

http://www.frontierspublishing.com/2719/agenda/agenda_op.html

The tournament is being held at Burbank Tennis Center.

Below is the seedings and particpants' list of D-singles. And look: I am even 3rd seed!

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/seeds.aspx?id=25926

At the Registration Welcome Party in West Hollywood, all players were given a congratulations letter, signed by all GLTA Board members:

At the GLTA Awards Ceremony, West Hollywood Mayor Jeff Prang held a speech and the GLTA Awards 2008 were announced, just like the Oscars.

Also, all qualified players were honoured. Here are all D participants:

And at this Award event, every invited player received a certificate of excellence, handed out by GLTA Board member Mike Myers:

First round is a round robin with 4 players in each group.

My group was called "Blue", and "Davenport", and my opponents are James, Jo and I will also be playing Gaetan, the Belgian guy I met in L.A. last year.

First match, against James (from Chicago), was disturbed by the rain and we had to finish the match later. And because of the rain, matches were played as super set (first to 8 wins).

As you can see in the video above: rain stopped our play. I was leading 7-6.

I was 0-2 down and 6-3 up, then James came back to 6-6.

Thanks Gaetan for taking photos and videos of the match!

More than 2 hours later, we were able to resume:

And fist in the air: I won 8-6.

Thanks James, you were such a great sport and lots of cheek!

Second match, was against number 1 seed, Jo. Matches were now 1 set only:

A big smile on my face, because after 1-2 down, I kept my nerves and WON 6-2!

This meant I already qualified for the semi-finals after 2 of the 3 first round matches!

Third match against Gaetan I lost 0-6, so he won the group and I ended second.

Here are the results in Group Davenport, Blue:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draw.aspx?id=25926&draw=11

Results from the other group, Red, Henin:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draw.aspx?id=25926&draw=12

Next day was Semi-finals and finals day: I played Pacifico from New York City and here we posed for the paperazzi just before the match.

Warming up:

And the match:

Pacifico deservedly won: 6-3, 6-2, so he plays the final.

The final between Pacifico and Tony (who beat Gaetan in the other semi-final) went over 3 sets and in the end Pacifico won.

The video below is matchpoint:

Results of the final round:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draw.aspx?id=25926&draw=21

Here is a photo of the Top 3 in D-singles, posing for the paperazzi (well, it was Hollywood....). From left to right: Tony, me and Pacifico: (Gaetan had already gone home)

Here are all winners:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/winners.aspx?id=25926

So, no trophy for me, but a brilliant result, 3rd!

Last, but certainly not least, thanks so much to my new friends who took these photos and videos for me and who drove me around: Steven and Antonio from NYC, and of course Rodney.

From left to right: Rodney, Steven, me, Pacifico, Antonio. William is sitting in front of us (he qualified for singles and doubles).

And my stats for these Championships:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/player.aspx?id=095E1461-BAB8-462B-B783-9D6C179C41E0&player=106

Manchester September 2008

2008-09-12T12:50:00.013+01:00

Manchester 2008 was a GLTA tournament for the first time:

I was 3rd seed in D singles, thanks to my win in Zurich. William was the number 1 seed: congratulations to him!

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/seeds.aspx?id=19293

For matches that went into a third set a super tie-break was played instead a full set: the first player to win the tie-break until 10 points, wins.

I had a bye in the first round. My second round match was against Erik the Viking:

I lost the match....... in the super tiebreak! That means: Consolation Round for me next.

In the doubles I played with my old friend Thomas from Basel; well, he is not old, but old in the sense that we were doubles partners in Dusseldorf (click on that tournament to the right of the page).
First round, we played against the nr 2 seeds, William and Omar: yes the same William from the epic heroic final in Zurich. O, isn't it nice to play with a view over the City of Manchester Stadium:

We lost the match 2-6, 5-7 but we played well in the second set.

Time to concentrate on the Consolations. The consolaion rounds are played with a super set: first to win 8 games, wins. First round was a bye, and I played Nigel from Manchester in the quarter finals. I won 9-7 in a very tough match:

Semi finals: I played Paul Hickey from London. I won 8-4 in another tough match:

That meant: another final to play. Even though i is only Consolation, it is still a final.

I played Spanish player Rafael:

In the first set I was 0-4 down, came back to a tie-break, even had a setpoint, but lost the set still 7-6. I won the second set 6-4. Again a super-tie break had to decide: I lost 1-10, so no come-back like in Zurich:

Here are then the draws and results for D singles and D doubles:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draw.aspx?id=19293&draw=11

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draw.aspx?id=19293&draw=12

My stats for this tournament:

http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/player.aspx?id=22AEB8F9-5C41-41F7-8455-25281D4D9104&player=114