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written by Panikos , Αύγουστος 24, 2009

Group A and D have 2 strong favourites each, Group B might be more competitive but Group C is very unpredictable. Mateo`s luck of practice and the existence of his multiple personalities, makes it hard to predict his performance.

Picks for next round:

Antonis Avraam vs Kkolis
Alive vs Costas Avraam
NIkos Charalambous vs Barrett
Menelaos vs Azais

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written by Akis Iosephides , Αύγουστος 24, 2009

GROUP A

koursa gia dyo aloga me ton antoni kai ton anastasi na ksexorizoun eno o oustas tha karadokei gia tin ekplixi. ton atho den ton exo dei pote na pezei krino oti apo ta apotelesmata tou sta proigoumena atp tha palepsei me ton antro gia tin triti kata pasa pithanotata thesi.

GROUP B
o menelaos apodidei me statherotita einai poly skliros antipalos (apo tin diki mou empiria) kai pisteyo oti tha kataferei na parei tin prokrisi. o nikos einai maxitis opos kai o charis vevaia kai pisteyo oti tha ginoun megales maxes. o teleytaios tis pareas mixalis dixnei na ysterei kapos se apotelesmata alla einai pektis pou an ton ypotimiseis tha sou kanei sigoura tin zimia.

Pick menelaos-nicos to qualify.

GROUP C

ekseretika amfiropos o tritos omilos me ton chari na prospathi na mbi sfina se mateo kai costa avraam. o charis einai fit eno o mateo den exei paignidia sta podia tou kai afto isos tou stoixisei. apo tin alli o costas einai ypodigmatika statheros kata tous teleytaious 10 mines kai tou aksizoun sigxaritiria. o filos mou costas sophocleous einai psixara poly competitive kai panta ta dinei ola sto gipedo.
diskoles oi provlepseis
pick costas avraam-mateo to qualify

GROUP D

o marc epanilthe stin kupro kai oi plirofories mou ton fernoun na einai fit kathos epeze kai stin gallia. einai poly skliros antipalos kai tha dosei maxi me ton barrett pou kai aytos einai poly kalos paiktis. ta alla dyo paidia den ta exo dei pote na pezoun, krino mono apo ta apotelesmata tou atp kai pisteyo oti tha einai poly diskolo na kontraroun tous dyo proanaferomenous

afta
meta to peras ton omilon tha dothoun prognostika gia tin fasi ton proimitelikon

Interesting fact...
written by Alive , Αύγουστος 24, 2009

Oloi, oswn ta onomata arxizoun apo 'A', paizoun sto Group A!!

Treis apo tous tesseris tou group C, exoun onomata pou arxizoun apo 'C'.

Useless observation...

Kali epitixia.....
written by Yiannos Trillides , Αύγουστος 26, 2009

Nice to see some hipe around the ladder matches....

My predictions are not very different from the already mentioned.

I disagree (yes i disagree) with not giving lots of chances to my friend Harris (air) as he has the game to even top group B, while also my doubles partner Alive will be the 'factor' in group A, as he can even beat a lately 'weaker' and untrained (down under) Antonis while he can also lose to either Oustoudin or Athos (both i think kept playing during summer) and if so, things will turn very complicated....
In Group C i see neglected Sofo, being able to trouble all the other 3 and why not. Mateo will be stiff, Harris has his ups and downs while he is the only player barring Papa to have beaten Costas in the past....
Group D looks like done and dusted, although a probable slip from an untrained Barrett (i don't think he is playing tennis in the US) to either of the weaker guys could make the group mallia-kouvarka....
Whatever comes, i wish to all, to have nice matches and to enjoy their games.....They say 'you need to be happy, to play good tennis'...

Love Guru....

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written by Akis Iosephides , Αύγουστος 31, 2009

ksekinisan me nikes ta favori. tha elega oti o melis diskoloxannei se ayton ton omilo afou nikise ton niko stin boc. anameno na do to paignidi tou me ton chari kathos akouo oti o charis veltiothike simantika ton teleytaio kairo. o marc aresketai se finish diarkeias kathos exei ta pneymonia na pexei 3 set. an kai perimena na kerdize pio eykola, entoutois i niki einai niki.
kali synexeia se olous

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written by Akis Iosephides , Αύγουστος 31, 2009

odds for group stage

GROUP A
antonis avraam 1.55
anastasis liveretos 2,15
andros oustas 3,30
athos rousounides 5,50

GROUP B
Menelaos Theodoulou 1,75
charis antoniades 2,55
nicos charalambous 4,10
michalis mavromichalis 9,00

GROUP C
Costas avraam 1,90
Andres mateo 2,65
charis kkolis 4,30
costas sofocleous 5,50

GROUP D
Marc Azais 1,75
Barrett costanian 1,85
Christos Maifoshis 7,50
Telis Charalambous 11,50

C. Kkolis vs C. Avraam 2-1 (7-6, 3-6, 6-4)
written by Costas Avraam , Σεπτέμβριος 02, 2009

Bravo Chari! This was our best match together and tonight you were clearly the better man. 3 hours of Great tennis, great drama and two guys drenched in sweat at the end. You played to a plan and stuck with it till the death. Your game was sharper than I've seen before, you attacked the net very well, your 1st serve percentage was good, your 2nd serve percentage was excellent and your ground strokes rock solid. Your depth was immaculate and you must have hit 4 dozen balls within 2-3 inches of side and baseline. In particular mention I thought you were supreme mentally and that's where you won the match. On our 2 previous encounters you faded at later stages of sets or the match. Tonight your concentration was unbelievable and you held everything together so well. Even when you were 3-4 and 15-40 in the 3rd set you fought brilliantly and rescued the game. Even when I poured plenty of pressure on you you came up with the goods. I can't say I am dissapointed, I played extremely well throughout the match with the only low point being my low first serve percentage and perhaps failing to close out the 8th game in 3rd set. Plenty of Highlights, some excellent volleys, no Double faults, fitness held up well through such a gruelling match consisting of countless ralleys exceeding 10 strokes or more. Deserved victory, well planned and executed. My best wishes to you for the rest of the event and thanks for proving what I have been saying about you for some time now. Keep up the good work, you now have victories over the 2 & 3 ranked players Papa watch out!!!

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written by Panikos , Σεπτέμβριος 03, 2009

Congratulations to both Costas and Harris for a good competitive match.
Congratulations (again) to Harris for his win.

I had predicted that Harris will progress to the next round, and this win says it all. I said in the past that to beat Costas someone has to combine
technical skills, good form and game plan (apart from Papa). I knew Harris had the skills, I knew he could be in good form and it depended on him whether he would have and execute a good game plan. According to Costas, he DID have a game plan.

Harris now found the blueprint

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written by Caris Kkolis , Σεπτέμβριος 04, 2009

Thanks Costas once again for that great memorable match, and thanks to everybody for their congratulations and good words. It's been 36 hours since the finish of the match and I'm still trying to recover physically and mentally. I new that in order to beat Costas I had to keep him very busy on every single point, so that was my plan. I hit aggressively throughout the match trying to keep Costas far away from the net, I was changing directions all the time to make him hit the balls on the run and also was varying the amount of spin on my strokes so that to make him loose some confidence and think more before hitting. So when I was doing these correctly I was getting most of the points but when I was slipping a little bit out of the plan Costas was taking control of the point and he was placing the ball beautifully close to the sides and was absolutely amazing on the net. At the end I won the match but in the process I pushed my self absolutely to the limits, it was easily my toughest match ever and I’m very proud of the outcome. I want to thank Costas for his sportsmanship and so friendly approach throughout the match, it’s a real joy to share a court with him, I also want to say that I got most of the lucky led balls, and that his line calls were absolutely spot on, gentleman staff. I wish Costas all the best for the rest of the ladder tournament and remember very well that he can still become the winner of it!!!!

Being a Gentleman.......
written by Yiannos Trillides , Σεπτέμβριος 04, 2009

Glad to see the kkolis' posting....It's nice to see him aknowledging Costas' line calling, as this is the far and most important element in every human (at least for males)...To be a gentleman....
I've recently watched some ill calling inside the courts but i'm glad to see that the very top matches are being played in a correct manner, regardless of the points' importance....Once one starts making discounts in these minor details there is no stopping and no way back.....
Costas is surelly not out of the ladder tourn, but surelly must be feeling the pressure in his upcoming matches, especially vs Mateo....

Shockshelled....
written by Yiannos Trillides , Σεπτέμβριος 07, 2009

I knew that Alive could have troubles with pesky Athos as i know what a good and smart player he is....But the score line is....

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written by Akis Iosephides , Σεπτέμβριος 10, 2009

congrats to charis kkolis for his two wins over two of the best tennistas on tour. i call him the giant killer from now on.

keep it up mr gaioktimona

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written by Caris Kkolis , Σεπτέμβριος 10, 2009

Thanks Akis and everybody, Mateo is a great player but out of shape, he can produce pro level shots and serves but with too many UE. The comparison between us could be described as if I was a good inform player ranked around 90 in ATP playing against a top 5 player immediately coming back from injury, with lack of competitive games. We both enjoyed the match with agressive hitting and serving and few good rallies. I think Mateo will be in top form in 2 months time, ready to beat anybody if he stays away from injuries.
Congrats to all the winners, especially to Melis for his convincing victories against 2 very good players, and to Costas Avraam for his brilliant win against Sofo, fantastic score, watch out everybody, Costas is coming back with great momentum!!!

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written by Akis Iosephides , Σεπτέμβριος 11, 2009

bravo kai sto meloudin pou noris noris katharise ton omilo.

kaly synexeia meloudin

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written by Costas Avraam , Οκτώβριος 28, 2009

Morning, I feel like a train wreck after the Semi last night. Menelaos started strong but unfortunately finished poorly. He created many opportunities to close out both sets but lacked the killer finishing touches to his good work. I know he is dissapointed with the result but as Charis mentioned last night and I agree, Menelaos played very well and deserved a better result. For me, this was a case of Die Hard 5, when a trophy is up for grabs I refuse to lie down. No flu or travel sickness or lack of match play gets in the way. If I am on the court, I am out to win. Commiserations Menelae, you should be proud of your achievement in the Ladder considering you started at position 43.