Manchester September 2011

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 (shortened match due to rain delays).
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.